Friday, February 05, 2016

ART AND TERRORISM - Winter 2016

Unfortunately, we really don't even know how bad the destruction of ancient sites is at the hands of ISIS. However, some never let a crisis go to waste so immediately there are those that put forth the premise that the sale of illegal antiquities is a major source of revenue for terrorism. See the article below from the terrific newsletter put out by the Committee for Cultural Policy. I have been hearing for forty years about the millions of dollars being made in the illegal Prehistoric pottery market in the US. These statements like those coming our of the Middle East are nonsense, never proven,  and put forth to further an agenda. But people believe it. Take the newsletter it is worth it to have an unbiased statement of what is really going on in this area. JB


1. Iraq’s earliest Christian monastery has been destroyed by Isil extremists. Satellite imagery recorded by DigitalGlobe for the US-based Associated Press apparently shows the complete destruction of Mar Elia (St Elijah) monastery. This seems to have occurred in September 2014, three months after the site on the southern outskirts of Mosul was seized by Isil forces.

The monastery is believed to have been founded by Mar Elia in 595. It was severely damaged by Persian invaders in 1743 when the monks living there were massacred. The buildings were partially restored in the early 20th century. Some damage occurred during the 2003 Coalition invasion and the subsequent US occupation.

If the near-total destruction of Mar Elia is confirmed, 16 months after the event, it is worrying that it went unreported, since it suggests that other Christian sites may have also been destroyed without publicity. The Isil propaganda videos showing the destruction of archaeological and religious sites only began to be released in early 2015. Erica C.D. Hunter, a specialist in Eastern Christianity at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, describes the loss of Mar Elia as “another devastating incident of destruction of Christian sites in Iraq”.

The American journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by Isil extremists in August 2014, wrote about Mar Elia for the Washington, DC-based Smithsonian magazine in 2008. The monastery, he said, was then being conserved “for future generations of Iraqis who will hopefully soon have the security to appreciate it”.
antiquities.
http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/isil-extremists-destroy-iraq-s-oldest-christian-monastery/

2. Debunking the ISIS Antiquities Funding Myth
Commentary by Kate Fitz Gibbon, December 6, 2015.  Ben Taub’s New Yorker article, The Real Value of the ISIS Antiquities Trade, blows apart the State Department, Department of Justice, and Antiquities Coalition claims that ISIS is raking in tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of antiquities.

Some archaeologists and cultural heritage specialists have spoken out to agree with Taub: Neil Brodie and Derek Fincham have disowned the ludicrously exaggerated numbers claimed by federal agencies and appear ready to abandon the claim that ISIS is receiving significant funding from looted

Why promote this phony story in the first place? One obvious answer is that much ISIS funding is coming from illegal oil sales from captured infrastructure laundered through Turkey; distracting attention from ISIS’ illegal oil sales suits US officials concerned about diplomatic and military relationships in the region. Another reason is that it is expedient for anti-art trade activists to associate art dealers and collectors – and even museums – with the horrors of ISIS’ terrorist activities.

Both Fincham and Brodie refer to using phony numbers to influence public and government opinion. Fincham’s post entitled, Inflated estimates bring bad attention too, states: “These large estimates, which are perhaps meant to shift the needle of public action, may induce some to loot, thinking wrongly that there is a much bigger reward based on these reports. One hopes this would give pause to even the hackiest of art crime scholars.”

Brodie too acknowledges that the archaeological lobby has spun their tale of ISIS financing to further an anti-trade agenda:

“There is an opinion within the archaeological community that highlighting the financial importance to ISIL of the antiquities trade will make it an issue of national security and ensure a strong government response.”

(Brodie’s and Fincham’s comments about false appearances and overvalued antiquities echo what the Committee for Cultural Policy has been saying since last April. See, for example, Masterpiece Theater: Homeland Security Returns Antiquities to Iraq, April 1, 2015))
Other interests are certainly served by promoting a Big Lie. Archaeological hardliners such as the Antiquities Coalition have used the phony narrative about a 100 million to multi-billion antiquities trade to promote passage of H.R. 1493/S.1887, the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act. ISIS is a handy excuse for encouraging passage of this law that creates a new and unnecessary bureaucracy. The new committee could place blanket import restrictions on art from any country where there was civil unrest without input from all stakeholders. Although ostensibly proposed in response to looting in Syria, a draft law to create this new cultural committee was in the works before ISIS began its destructive campaign.

Why are State Department careerists and the Department of Justice so willing to promote the ISIS/antiquities myth? Why give potential aid to the enemy by distracting the press and the public from the real sources of ISIS funding? Brodie’s statement above is the key: “…highlighting the financial importance to ISIL of the antiquities trade will make it an issue of national security and ensure a strong government response.”

There is a long history of bizarrely exaggerated claims against the art trade, going back more than a decade. The media has failed again and again to question these dangerous fallacies, as Ivan Macquisten pointed out in his article Less box ticking, more research – the survey and statistics crisis. Macquisten uses the example of phony claims about a multi-billion dollar illegal antiquities trade to illustrate his article, saying that “Questionable survey marketing and lazy journalism threaten the media, public debate and the legitimate art and antiques trade.”

There is a hidden agenda behind adoption of a story that promotes the Big Lie of ISIS’ funding through antiquities – the denigration and destruction of the legitimate international trade in art. US energies should not be wasted against ephemeral enemies.  We should aim – swiftly – against the real targets who are providing funding for ISIS.
http://committeeforculturalpolicy.org/debunking-the-isis-antiquities-funding-myth/

OUTSIDER ART MARKET - Winter 2016

 For a number of years the gallery has been involved in outsider art primarily from self taught southern artists. While there is certainly a high end to this market, there are a number of artists many of which were not even heard of until the 1970's that are very talented and have a much lower price point. In our photo section we have included a number of images of objects that can also be found on the website at www.arttrak.com

1.Christie’s Keeps At Outsider Art Market
January 8, 2016 by Marion Maneker
Christie’s continues to try to expand the market for Outsider art both through the Contemporary art market and as an extension of the American art market. Bloomberg’s James Tarmy has a story on the latter approach:
Christie’s […] is holding an auction of Outsider & Vernacular art on Jan. 22, which will coincide with the Outsider Art Fair, which runs Jan. 21–24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York.
Christie’s top lot is a sculpture by William Edmondson (1874-1951), which has a high estimate of $250,000. [above] Other lots include a graphite and crayon drawing by Martín Ramírez from 1953, Untitled (Seven Stags), which has a high estimate of $100,000, and a child-like painting by William Hawkins of a spotted leopard from 1988, which carries a high estimate of $40,000.
http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2016/01/08/christies-keeps-at-outsider-art-market/

2. NEW YORK Outsider Art Goes Mainstream (Bloomberg Business) American Primitive, an Upper East Side gallery that specializes in Outsider Art, lists some of its prices online. An animal sculpture covered in bottle caps by Terry Turrell is on sale for $3,800. A semi-abstract picture of figures on a boat by Max Romain, a Haitian self-taught artist now living in New York, is offered for $1,800. For anyone who’s tried to pry a price list from the unwilling hands of a New York gallery attendant, this kind of transparency is nothing short of unprecedented.
Bill Traylor, Untitled, woman with purple blouse, c. 1939-42
Bill Traylor, Untitled, woman with purple blouse, c. 1939-42
Source: Courtesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York

“I live in another universe, apparently,” says Aarne Anton, the gallery’s owner. “Nonetheless, Outsider Art really is art, and fortunately, it’s recognized as such these days.”

Outsider Art—otherwise known as “self-taught” art or “folk art”—is a loose term for work by people who don't come from a traditional art school or gallery background and who often create art for themselves rather than to generate income. At this point, though, many outsider artists have acquired a dedicated following of dealers and collectors, and artwork by these artists has begun to sell for five and six figures. This surge in popularity in price isn't without its pitfalls, however, and the movement's backers are treading an increasingly uneasy line between highlighting artworks' uniqueness and easing the genre into the mainstream art market.

There's no doubt Outsider Art's visibility has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York accepted a gift of 57 works by outsider artists. The same year, the Studio Museum in Harlem had a show devoted to Outsider Art in relation to contemporary art and the South. Then last year, the new Whitney Museum of American Art’s inaugural exhibition included a work by Bill Traylor, another outsider artist.
Henry Darger, Untitled (Come We Will Carry the Others for You. Its Going to Storm), n.d
Henry Darger, Untitled (Come We Will Carry the Others for You. Its Going to Storm), n.d
Source: Courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery

Christie’s, meanwhile, is holding an auction of Outsider & Vernacular art on Jan. 22, which will coincide with the Outsider Art Fair, which runs Jan. 21–24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York.

Christie’s top lot is a sculpture by William Edmondson (1874-1951), which has a high estimate of $250,000. Other lots include a graphite and crayon drawing by Martín Ramírez from 1953, Untitled (Seven Stags), which has a high estimate of $100,000, and a child-like painting by William Hawkins of a spotted leopard from 1988, which carries a high estimate of $40,000.
Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Train and Tunnels), 1954
Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Train and Tunnels), 1954
Source: Courtesy Ricco Maresca Gallery

“Collectors who have been supporting this market for the past 20, 30, even 40 years are excited for new discoveries at the fair, and to see how their old discoveries are now valued much higher,” says Becca Hoffman, director of the Outsider Art Fair. “This is about everyone sort of prospering from the growth of Outsider Art.”

It’s been a long time coming. In the mid-20th century, the genre drew academic interest in Europe and then in the U.S.—the modernist painter Jean Dubuffet had a 1,000-piece collection devoted to Outsider Art, which he coined Art Brut—but it was largely overlooked by the American art market until roughly seven years ago. Since then, “there’s been a surge,” says Hoffman, the fair director.
The auction results for self-taught artist Bill Traylor
The auction results for self-taught artist Bill Traylor
Courtesy of Artnet Analytics

There are multiple possible reasons for the genre’s popularity: the unique history of many self-taught artists; the booming contemporary art market generally; and the (not insignificant) fact that much of the art looks uncannily like the modern and contemporary art that sells for millions. (Martín Ramírez's drawings, for instance, bear a striking resemblance to, say, Italian futurism.)

As the genre increases in visibility and price, its proponents, eager to draw it into the mainstream, appear stuck in a mild identity crisis. “I don’t like to delineate between outsider art and art in general,” Hoffman says. “It’s all art.”
Henry Darger, At Jennie Richee, Violet and her Sisters are Captured . . ., c. 1945-1950
Henry Darger, At Jennie Richee, Violet and her Sisters are Captured . . ., c. 1945-1950
Source: Courtesy Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago

James Fuentes, whose influential Lower East Side gallery represents a mixture of contemporary and self-taught artists, uses similar language.

“It’s ultimately about excellent work and interesting art,” he says. “I don’t see any difference between Lonnie Holley,” a self-taught artist Fuentes represents, whose prices range from $5,000 to $30,000—about the range of many young, gallery-represented contemporary artists—“and one of our artists with an MFA.”
Raymond Materson's miniature Metamorphosis, 2010 was made in prison from threads he took from his socks.
Raymond Materson's miniature Metamorphosis, 2010 was made in prison from threads he took from his socks.
Source: American Primitive Gallery

But downplaying Outsider Artists’ biographies comes with some risk: The narrative behind many self-taught artists is a powerful draw, and the literal outsider status of these works—their galleries listing the price online, the comparative affordability of much of the art, the thrill of discovering yet another self-taught artist toiling in obscurity—is part of what makes the genre so special. Take away the "self-taught" aspect, in other words, and the work can lose some of its allure.

Some older dealers agree. “I can’t imagine not being interested in the backstory,” says Anton, the owner of American Primitive gallery. “To me, it’s so intertwined.”

He uses the miniature handstitched pictures of Raymond Matterson, which sell for $2,500 to $3,000, as an example. “He was in prison and had no material,” Anton explains. “So he had to unravel his socks to get colored thread.” That kind of story, he says, “adds to the value.”
Lonnie Holley, Memorial at Friendship Church, 2006
Lonnie Holley, Memorial at Friendship Church, 2006
Source: James Fuentes

Fuentes, however, says that the background of the artists is embedded in the artwork itself— there’s no need, therefore, for backstory.

“When someone appreciates a work by Lonnie Holley, they’re tapping into something with soul, for lack of a better word,” Fuentes says. “Especially if they see other contemporary artists who are taking an ironic position, or an antagonistic position against the viewer, they're going to appreciate his work as sincere.” (As opposed, for instance, to the blithe cynicism of Richard Prince's "Instagram Paintings", or even the we-know-this-is-all-a-joke snideness of Damien Hirst.)

That, Fuentes says, is the secret to Outsider Art’s success: In contrast to the hyper-ironic art produced by artists in the traditional art world, Outsider Art is “a f---ing breath of fresh air."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-08/outsider-art-goes-mainstream