L'ATELIER
ROBERT COANE
- THE CARAMEL AWARD -
 |
 |
 |
for the
WORST
ART DEAD OR ALIVE ,
blunders
and Art-rageous attacks against Art
and Artists
...and
the Winter 2004 ~ 2005
goes to...
|
|
"Don't let VANITY get the better of you.
Everyone whose e-mail or URL appears on www.Atelier-RC.com, INCLUDING JEANETTE PEPPERCORN who is a "missing person", was "approved" by the "internal committee [who] saw your work in your website and approves your participation in this Biennale 2005 that will be held in the Fortezza da Basso from 3 to 11 December [2004]." What they did was "dredge" e-mail addresses from art sites and mass e-mailed everyone they dredged, a common practice.
A 1- week "Biennale". All that UN / "Dialogue among Civilizations"/ Kofi Annan bullshit is hogwash, a com'on. No connection what-so-ever.
When it's too good to be true... IT IS!
It costs MONEY, $2000 per artist, to participate. That doesn't even include shipping costs. Even the
biannually discredited / reviled Whitney Biennale is by INVITATION, NO CHARGE!
From Italian artist Andrea Sfiligoi:
|
Mon,
August 2, 2004 2:21 am |
 |
By
their account, approximately 800 artists
participate. That's $1,600,000!!! The space is government owned and probably free or, at least, cut-rate. Add that to the spoils and it's a clean sweep. I'd like to know how many people visit it during those 8 days in the middle of winter. |
From Dubliner Roger Cummiskey and with his permission to publish:
|
Sun, August 1, 2004 5:23 am I
have to admit to being suckered in last time. Your observations are
absolutely correct. It was a ten day shambles for most of the 800 artists.
There were practically no visitors as there was a $15.00 entry fee and
a craft/Christmas Fair next door was crawling with people all the time.
The count that was made seems to have been of the artists coming and
going. Roger |
Maybe
I should start a NY Biennale or maybe
a Bob's Biennale or Bob's
New York Biennale (nice ring).
It's really easy to rip off "starving" artists because they're desperate
for exposure and may think "vanity shows" might get them
THE
BIG BREAK !
These
offers are meant to trick artists. After sending out a several warnings over
the summer, I received
innumerable responses from artists connected with this website, whether as
members or links,
who had been contacted by the so-called FLORENCE
BIENNALE and others. Many of them not even visual artists but
dancers, performers, models, musicians, galleries, museums, even restaurants!
For a number of individuals who asked not to have their e-mail addresses posted,
I got invitations because MY address was listed on their page. This was the
case with Jeanette Peppercorn whom I have never
been able to locate.
Several years ago an artist friend saw some small portraits by her at a thrift shop here in NYC and suggested I take a look. I bought one for $5 and made her Atelier-RC.com's first "Featured Artist" hoping, unsuccessfully, to locate her or get some information about her. Obviously, the so-called Biennale committee never looked at the work.
There are robot programs designed to seek out e-mail addresses from websites and copy or "dredge" them. That's how they compile their mailing lists to "spam". I know because I once belonged to a group website, NYFew.com, where the webmaster was doing exactly that (among other illegal or, at the very least, deceptive practices) so I disassociated myself from them and started my own. They're still doing their thing, claiming to be some kind of contemporary figurative New York group when there is no group anywhere and the head guy and schlockmeister isn't even in New York but in Paris.
|
"The
only cure for vanity is laughter, and the only fault that's laughable is vanity." ~ Henri Bergson |
 |
| PIETER
CLAESZ Vanitas |
There
are innumerable "galleries" that prey on exposure-starved artists,
'VANITY GALLERIES'
Among the most notorious here in NYC is AGORA GALLERY,
which I constantly see links to from artist's websites worldwide. FAUX!
All sorts of exaggerated claims and charging huge amounts
for wall space.
VANITY GALLERIES have no standing and no reputation
in the art market. No collectors, certainly no museums would ever deal with
them. They're also never reviewed. Art critics never visit them. They're not
selective. What's shown is not shown for it's value or quality but rather
they show anyone, good or bad, as long as they pay the fee. They're into making
money, not promoting artists. A BUSINESS. Needless to say,
NO $ALE$.
Neither do they care. They've made THEIR money...OFF
YOU!
Well, the folks at AGORA have moved from VANITY GALLERIES to VANITY MAGAZINES. Here's the deal straight from the horse's mouth: Angela Di Bello, Agora Gallery Director, Editor-in-Chief ArtisSpectrum Magazine, in an "invitation" received by moi on Fri, December 10, 2004, 11:30 am:
|
Dear
Robert Coane, I hope that this finds you well. It continues: "As
part of your
efforts
to gain additional promotion, please consider a review of your work
published in the next issue of ArtisSpectrum Magazine. Your review,
along with an image or images of your art work,
will be
seen in print and online by THOUSANDS
of art enthusiasts - including collectors,
curators, and corporate |
Geez,
I can get reviewed and be
seen in print and online by
thousands of art enthusiasts - including
collectors, curators, and corporate art buyers!!!
THINK
AGAIN, BOOBIE!
Let's
take a look at the rate
/ submission form with participation instructions....
But, these are ADVERTISING RATES....
I'm just interested in that REVIEW....
DU-UH...!
Well,
there is no review without ADVERTISING.
Of course, if you're an
Agora Gallery Artist,
you get a 15% discount !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW DOES ONE BECOME AN
Agora Gallery Artist,
I pray thee tell?
YOU PAY, YOU PAY, YOU PAY!
Explanation from Christine De Lisle, Marketing Director, ArtisSpectrum Magazine:
"Robert: Looking
again at the Rates/Specifications page we realize that it
wasn't clear enough that the rates are for the paid review. Thanks
for the comment. We will make it clearer in the future." |
And that
"distribution
list", all those
thousands
of art enthusiasts - including collectors, curators,
and corporate art buyers...
DREAM
ON!
I reviewed it. Although their attachment lists a host of galleries, institutions,
schools and the like,
I must plead ignorance in that I've never seen
or heard of ArtisSpectrum
Magazine
except from Agora's e-mails. Neither
have any of my press contacts @
El Museo del Barrio
(which owns 2 pieces of mine), the Guggenheim, MoMA, the MMA, the New Museum,
the Minneapolis
Museum of Art (where I've exhibited), MoCA-Chicago, RISD, Seattle Art Museum,
the Wadsworth, the Walker (where I've been a consultant in Latin American
art and where I'm well acquainted with director, Kathy Halbreich), Tate Modern,
The Picasso Paris, The Art Students League (where I've been a member since
1983), Asia Society, Japan Society (where my Press / PR contact is a very
good friend and former model), The National Arts Club ( which is just blocks
from my home ), The Spanish Institute (where I'm known for my debunking of
Juán José Junquera's "THE BLACK PAINTINGS OF GOYA"
- please see ROSTER
OF HORRORS, SPRING 2003: JUÁN JOSÉ JUNQUERA,
"THE BLACK PAINTINGS OF GOYA"
on this page), the Canadian (my wife is a Canadian citizen) or Spanish (I
conduct a lot of business in Spain) consulates, Chase Gallery ( in Boston?),
Columbia, FIT, Hunter, Marymount Manhattan, NY Academy of Art ( where I've
both studied and taught ), SVA, Parsons (where I taught for 12 years), Pratt,
Tisch or Yale.
Are
they lying? Not
really.... It's a "WHAT DO YOU
MEAN BY DISTRIBUTION"
kinda thing.
Just slippery enough to get them by and keep them out of legal trouble.
The way the game
works is they contact the PR or Advertising person, say at the Metropolitan,
make a sales pitch and subscribe that individual to the publication.
ERGO, ArtisSpectrum
Magazine is
'DISTRIBUTED' to the Metropolitan.
The implication and the impression they want to create is, however, that all
the curators, directors, etc., view the publication regularly and are somehow
influenced by it and that the publication is endorsed and sold at the venue.
Says one press officer of my acquaintance:
"The magazine is distributed to the pr-marketing
people at these museums.
They can't / don't make any decisions about whose work gets shown or enters
the permanent collection. This is bull----."
SMOKE AND MIRRORS!
Some institutions WILL buy an ad to
get them out of their hair. The Met does have a half page ad in it
regularly with the clear understanding that "that's as far as it goes".
"It's no loss to us",
I was told at the Met.
|
"It
is difficult to esteem a man as highly as he would wish." "Il est difficile d'estimer quelqu'un comme il veut l'etre." ~ Luc de Clapier de Vauvanargues Reflexions (LXVII) |
 |
|
TITIAN Vanity |
Ditto (inverted) for NYArts Magazine which promises promotion, publicity and articles in their magazine and a show in their gallery, 450 BROADWAY GALLERY, which, although it exists in the inaccessible, interminable, unclimable 4th floor walkup at that address, isn't even listed on the local Gallery Guide. It IS listed in, where else, in NYArts Magazine.
With
fewer than 10,000 circulation, I have personally seen hundreds of issues just
sitting there in their offices. And
that impressive "MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION
- Available monthly at over 2,000 U.S. and international locations",
the only place I've
ever actually seen it sold
is a news stand two doors away from their SoHo offices at 473 Broadway.
From the X
Museum: "Yes, add NYArts Magazine to this
list. I have been BADGERED
by that publisher to buy advertising there."
HEY, YOU PAY,
THEY PUBLISH
even if nobody ever sees it.
By the way, they don't even pay their writers who are freelancers writing
for the by-line.
HOW SWEET A DEAL!
Or
you may be tempted to go for one of their on-line deals....
- To Link Your Homepage to www.nyartsmagazine.com
*MONTHLY SPECIAL - Complimentary copy of NY Arts Magazine + 6 months active
link on our website + one time 1/4 page size advertising for
only $600
- To Post Your Gallery @ www.nyartsmagazine.com
Complimentary copy of NY Arts Magazine + 6 months active link and gallery
information on our website for ONLY $300
- To Post Your Banner @ www.nyartsmagazine.com
Complimentary copy of NY Arts Magazine + active banner on our website for
ONLY
$250 per month.
I OFFERED THEM A RECIPROCAL LINK BUT THEY WOULDN'T GO FOR IT.
 |
These I know from personal experience since I was snookered by them a couple of years ago when I was still part of NYFew.com. Yeah, yeah, all the stories about biennials, international exposure, exhibits at their New York 'galleries' (oh, there's a second one in a space behind their offices), et all. Well, it all ended badly when NYFew.com schlepmeister Lawrence Day decided he was going to set up a pyramid scheme using the advertising "campaign" for the website then split for Paris come the new year. That's when I split with them.
|
AND
NOW PRESENTING, NEWLY MINTED....
Dated Wed,,
August 11, 2004
(my birth date -- could they have known?)
|
Dear Mr. Coane, After reviewing it, I would like to offer you, in collaboration with NY Arts Magazine, a $325 annual package available to a selected group of artists and aimed at promoting you: *Your web site featured in our Daily Newsletter
that is sent to 10,000 |
*SAME ADDRESS AS, GUESS? -- NYArts Magazine....
Mr.
LUBESKI has a short memory. I DON'T.
Abraham Lubelski,
Director, World Art Media
Abraham Lubelski, Publisher
/ Editorial Director, NYArts Magazine
Abraham
Lubelski, Berliner
Kunstprojekt, berliner-kunst@t-online.de,
http://nyartsmagazine.com/bkprojekt
 |
= |
 |
= |
 |
= |
 |
 |
"You
shovel the same old shit and call it sugar."
|
"There
is nothing so agonizing to the fine skin of vanity as the application of a rough truth." ~ Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton |
 |
| BRIAN
RILEY Vanitas |
AND
THE SAME OLD SHIT IT CERTAINLY IS! SAME FLEAS, NEW DOG.
It comes in myriad guises. Here
are a few more.
GRUPO
BATIK ART
This from "Bettina"
in a forum on www.totalnonsense.com
"I am an artist and I warn you against the Batik Art Group of Barcelona
(Miami and San Francisco)....
EXPLANATION
OF THE BATIK ART GROUP FRAUD SYSTEM:
First, the Gallery will tell you that the artistic department of the Batik
Art Group have visited your web page
and due to it has seen in it, you are invited (selected by the Artistic Department)
to participate in one of their
exhibitions in Barcelona. But you have to pay for that, more or less $400
for 2 lineal meters and $800 for 6 lineal meters.
There is no artistic department and no selection
at all, it is an automatic research from a computer.
After
the exhibition, the Batik Art Group will tell you that one (or more) of your
paintings is sold but
they still have to get the money from an alleged client. You will also be
advised by the "artistic department"
that you have been selected for a new contract at special conditions because
the art critic and the feeling of the public
about your work is very good (you are talented!). You must pay (again) a fee
to have "the privilege" of participating
in some exhibitions in Miami, Barcelona and other international exhibitions.
Their promises will never be achieved.
It is just a trap ! The price of the fee for this new
contract will depend on the price of your paintings "sold".
If you agree and there is a difference between the money the Group Batik owes
you for the sale of your paintings and the fee of the contract, you have to
pay. If more, you must pay them again. There is no client at all ( the client
is only the Batik Art Group and they try to "buy" your paintings
through clearing). After the clearing the Batik Art Group can sell a second
time the painting to a real client and keep, this time, 100% of the sales.
So, their profits are double: For one they take the money from the artists
up to the maximum they can. For the second hand they keep 100% of the sales
of paintings sold to real clients. If you refused the proposed contract, the
Batik Art Group will advise you that the client has changed his mind. They
take no risk to lose money and it will be very, very, very difficult for you
to get your paintings back if you are not living in Barcelona because they
will do nothing for that. Moreover, it is very difficult to speak English
to anybody when you get problems."
Be
careful, JUST SKIP IT IF ANYTHIING STRIKES YOU AS SUSPECT! CLOSELY EXAMINE
ALL PROPOSITIONS FROM THE GRUPO BATIK ART of BARCELONA, MIAMI OR SAN FRANSISCO.*
( *Point of information: As far as our research has been able
to determine, there is no Batik Art either in Miami or San Francisco.)
THIS HOLDS TRUE FOR ALL GRATUITOUS OFFERS FROM ANYONE IN CYBERSPACE.
 |
| PLINIO
MARTELLI Vanitas Holliwood |
OTHERS
 |
Galleria
Ill Millenio, Venice, wants you to participate in the Venice Biennale
for a measly 400€ - Dear Artist, The Galleria d'Arte III Millennio organizes IIª Contemporary Art Group Exhibition Biennale di Venezia® in occasion of 9ª Biennale di Venezia Sezione Architettura "Metamorph". A selected group of artists, painters and sculptors, will show theirs works at the Galleria d'arte III Millennio. To participate please read attentively the following agreement: Original work will be admitted to the show that will be go on for twenty eight ( 28 ) days, during the Biennale between 2 September and 2 November 2004. |
 |
Dear Artist After having seen their works for internet and valued their work with our artdirector, we consider that their works can be introduced in the Spanish market with success, for this reason we want to offer a reserved agreement to few artists. The contract with all the points included previously will have a cost of 1500 € plus shipping that will have to be paid by bank deposit with the following data: VirtuArt will be with 15% of the sold works. WALL 3 LINEAL METERS LONG, 450 € |
 |
ARTROM
Gallery is having a SALE on One Person
Shows!!! |
 |
Initiation fee for "membership" is $1,000. $500 is payable upon joining the gallery and $500 is payable six months later. 2 types of membership: NYC “and environs” $520/quarter ($2080/year); Inactive $675 per quarter. There are 30 artists listed on their site. If a show lasts the standard month, you might get a show every 2.5 years at a cost of $6750 ( + the $1000 initiation fee ). |
 |
Gotta love
their website! 5 pages of reception photos - no info - an announcement
in English and Spanish seeking out artists: •MONTSERRAT Gallery is currently reviewing artists' portofolios. • Artistas interesados en exponer, pueden enviar fotos y resume. and e-mail address. |
HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU?
|
"Vain-glorious
men are the scorn of the wise, the admiration of fools, the idols of paradise and the slaves of their own vaunts." ~ Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Renaissance Author, Courtier, and Father of Deductive Reasoning |
A
note on Advertising rates -
It has been impossible to get straightforward
circulation information from NYArts Magazine. Claims have been made of anywhere
between 10,000 to 65,000, all of which makes me think that it's another case
of what-do-you-mean-by-circulation-itis. But keep in mind that the
circulation of ARTnews
is 83,000 and
Gallery Guide's
New York edition's is 35,000.
The
efficacy of print advertising is measured in CPMs (Cost Per Thousand),
a comparative figure representing
the price of an ad ÷ thousands in circulation.
Agora's ArtisSpectrum
Magazine claims ( ? ) a circulation
of 5000.
The price of a half-page full color ad in
ArtisSpectrum
Magazine is $900.
That equals a CPM of $ .18 ( if 5000 really is their
circulation but, then, who's counting? ).
Gallery
Guide's
circulation, GUARANTEED by independent, professional industry researchers
is 35,000.
A
half-page full color ad in Gallery
Guide,
GUARANTEED TO BE SEEN by just about everyone everywhere, will cost you $1080,
$180 more than at ArtisSpectrum
Magazine,
a CPM of $ .03
What's
more, if you have that kind of money to splurge on promoting yourself,
go for it, all the way, no half measures, go for broke!
Take out that ad in ARTnews,
which, at $5975 for the four-color half-page
and a somewhat steep $ .71 CPM, is guaranteed to deliver a circulation of
83,000 worldwide with a lot more clout, a lot more credibility, a lot more
class and NO RISK.
If you're gonna spend, at least spend wisely.
The
sad truth is that, whether it be in
VANITY BIENNIALS, VANITY
GALLERIES or VANITY PUBLICATIONS
YOU LOSE!
1- IT WILL COST YOU 2- NO ONE OF ANY IMPORT
EVER SEES THE WORK
and 3- Sales, IF ANY, are minimal.
Adding these to a resumé is laughable.
Can't
be TOO careful...
BE FOREWARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also
see >>>
|
MANY
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR INVALUABLE INPUT, Denis
Achacoso, Nikolai Chystiakov, Karen Crosby (UK), Roger Cummiskey (Ireland),
Pamela D, Frank & Marge Escalet, Raquel Martins, Joanne Mattera,
Elisa Nadzieja, Edita Nazaraite, Jennifer O, Brian Riley, Andrea Sfiligoi
(Italy), Sudi, |
|
So,
to
VANITY VENUES ALL...
|
"Nor
wonder how I lost my wits;
Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!"
- Jonathan Swift
WE HUMBLY ACCEPT NOMINATIONS
TO SUBMIT
E-mailrcoane
atelier-rc.com
The
criteria, views and opinions expressed in the CARAMEL AWARD are exclusively
those of Robert Coane who is solely responsible for its
content and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the other
participants in www.Atelier-RC.com or of the members of L'Atelier.
> |
> |
> |
CARAMEL
AWARD |
ROBERT COANE 2002 to 2005 © All rights reserved