Auction Preview: Photographies, L’Imaginaire du Nu, June 28, 2011 @Yann Le Mouel

Before the summer distractions set in, Yann Le Mouel has scheduled a single subject sale of generally low priced nudes next week in Paris. The vast majority of the lots are priced under 2000€, with a wide selection of female and male nudes, ranging from daguerreotypes and 19th century scenes to contemporary images. Overall, there are a total of 248 lots on offer, with a Total High Estimate of 350650€.

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 242
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 284650€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 6
Total Mid Estimate: 66000€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top lot by High estimate is lot 129, Peter Lindbergh, Milla Jovovitch, NYC, Italian Vogue, 1996, at 15000-20000€. (Image at right, top, via Yann Le Mouel.)

Here is a short list of the photographers who are represented by five or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Pierre Boucher (9)
Gaudenzio Marconi (6)
Guglielmo Pluschow (6)
Andre Steiner (5)
Lehnert & Landrock (5)
Pierre Molinier (5)
Monsieur X (5)

(Lot 30, Rene-Jacques, Royan, Charente-Maritime, 1927, at 2000-3000€, image at right, middle, and lot 239, Jeanluop Sieff, Nu en diagonale, 1964, at 1500-2000€, image at right, bottom, both via Yann Le Mouel.)

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Photographies, L’Imaginaire du Nu
June 28th

Yann Le Mouel
22, Rue Chauchat
75009 Paris

Always the Young Strangers @Higher Pictures

JTF (just the facts): A group show consisting of a total of 29 works by 17 different photographers, variously framed and matted, and hung against white walls in the small main gallery space and the viewing alcove. (Installation shots at right.)

The following photographers have been included in the show, with image numbers and details in parentheses:

Erica Allen (2 digital c-prints, each 14×11, editions of 3, 2008)
Cortney Andrews (2 videos with sound, editions of 3, 2010)
Talia Chetrit (2 gelatin silver prints, 24×20 and 20×16, editions of 4, 2010)
Jessica Eaton (1 archival pigment print, 40×30, edition of 3, 2010)
LaToya Ruby Frazier (1 photolithograph/silkscreen, 17×14, 2011)
Anna Krachey (1 archival pigment print, 18×25, edition of 4, 2010)
Jessica Labatte (1 archival inkjet print, 71×59, edition of 5, 2010)
Andrea Longacre-White (1 archival inkjet print, 36×24, unique, 2011)
Aspen Mays (2 gelatin silver prints, 12×16 and 7×5, unique, 2011, with bag of buttons)
MPA + Katherine Hubbard (6 polaroids, each 4×6, unique, 2010)
Yamini Nayar (1 c-print, 36×48, edition of 5, 2010)
Emily Roysdon (1 digital chromogenic print, paper litho, wood block, collage, 35×48, unique, 2010)
Carrie Schneider (1 c-print, 40×50, edition of 5, 2011)
Kate Steciw (1 c-print, 30×24, edition of 5, 2010)
Letha Wilson 1 c-print, cheesecloth, cement, 24x20x7, unique, 2011, and 1 wood frame, glass, cement, c-print, plywood, 17x13x2, unique, 2011)
Ann Woo (3 c-prints, each 14×11, editions of 5, 2009)

Comments/Context: If this well-edited show is any indication, a contemporary photography revolution is underway, where the old truths and rules from the recent past have been rejected or simply left behind as irrelevant, and fresh ideas are springing forth to redefine what the medium can and should mean. If there is any one common theme to the diverse set of works on display here, it is a conscious deliberateness; there are no decisive moments or lucky shots here. In fact, these cerebral photographs make the consistent argument that it isn’t enough just to do one simple or straightforward thing anymore; the cutting edge now requires combining and referencing all kinds of other artistic and visual sources, juxtaposing and remixing them into something more layered and thoughtful.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a short essay on “digital craftsmanship” and the challenges faced by the increasing perfection offered by digital tools (here). As I reviewed the images in this show, I began to think that they can provide an unexpected answer to some of the questions raised by that discussion. If we take as a given that most photographers will no longer be able to differentiate themselves on printing craft alone, the “handmadeness” of the art, and the visceral touch of the artist, will need to come out in other ways. Nearly every image in this show turns on the process being used by the artist; I’m not talking about chemicals and print types (that’s old school thinking), but the activity that takes place as part of (before, during, and after) the image making. A sense of brainy involvement pervades all of these works.

Many of the photographs on view are images of constructed environments, places for performances, or installations made solely to be photographed. Others employ analog, digital, and even physical processes to modify the nature of the imagery, moving it beyond the representational to the interpretive. Ideas are pushed and pulled and twisted back on themselves, blurring the definitional lines to which we have become accustomed. Terms like landscape, still life, portrait and even abstraction seem woefully inadequate as useful categorizations, since many of the works which might normally fall into one of those buckets actually function on multiple discrete levels.

While I can’t say that every image hit the mark for me, this show is full of potential answers to the question of “where is photography headed?” These works are evidence of a growing rejection of the glossy, large scale, art object deadpan that has dominated contemporary photography for the past decade or two, and a potential return to the introspective, intellectual and personal. While no consensus has yet formed out of this swirling, chaotic multiplicity of competing ideas and hand crafted approaches, there are certainly enough data points to start to see a pattern emerging.

Collector’s POV: The images in the show are priced as follows:

Erica Allen ($700 each)
Cortney Andrews ($2000 each)
Talia Chetrit ($3000 and $2500)
Jessica Eaton ($3500)
LaToya Ruby Frazier (NFS)
Anna Krachey ($1600)
Jessica Labatte ($8500)
Andrea Longacre-White ($1500)
Aspen Mays ($3500 and $3200)
MPA + Katherine Hubbard ($1000 each)
Yamini Nayar ($5000)
Emily Roysdon ($6500)
Carrie Schneider ($5000)
Kate Steciw ($1500)
Letha Wilson ($2500 and $1250)
Ann Woo ($650 each)

While a few of the photographers in this show may be familiar to collectors, none of the artists has any significant secondary market history; the work is just too new. As such, gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.

My favorite image in the exhibit was Letha Wilson’s Bryce Canyon Cement Pour, 2011; it’s on the far left in the top installation shot. I liked it’s conceptual mixing of artistic genres, where photography meets sculptural plywood and poured cement, referencing both Land Art and Minimalism.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

Reviews/Features: New York Times (here), New Yorker (here)
Letha Wilson artist site (here)

Always the Young Strangers
Through July 9th

Higher Pictures
764 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10065

Auction Previews: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions, June 29 and 30, 2011 @Sotheby’s London

Sotheby’s finishes up the Spring Contemporary Art season with Evening and Day sales next week in London. The top photography lots include works by Gursky, Eliasson, and Gilbert & George. There is also a Gillian Wearing commission available as a benefit for Serpentine Sackler Gallery. Overall, there are a total of 40 photo lots available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of £2783000.

Here’s the usual statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 1
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £5000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 23
Total Mid Estimate: £378000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 16
Total High Estimate: £2400000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 39, Andreas Gursky, Engadin II, 2006, at £500000-700000. (Image at right, middle, via Sotheby’s.)

Here is a list of the photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Gilbert & George (4)
Andreas Gursky (4)
Vik Muniz (3)
Cindy Sherman (2)
Thomas Struth (2)
Hiroshi Sugimoto (2)

(Lot 288, Gilbert & George, Black Buds, 1980, at £150000-200000, at right, top, and lot 290, Rashid Rana, What Lies Between Skin and Flesh, 2009, at £50000-70000, at right, bottom, via Sotheby’s.)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Contemporary Art Evening
June 29th

Contemporary Art Day
June 30th

Sotheby’s
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

The Kate Moss Portfolio and Other Stories @Danziger

JTF (just the facts): A total of 37 black and white and color photographs, variously framed without mats, and hung against white walls in the two room gallery space. (Installation shots at right.)

The Kate Moss portfolio consists of 11 signed pigment prints, each 30×24 (or reverse), packaged in a box. Each of the images in the portfolio is framed in white and displayed in the front gallery space, in chronological order from left to right. The portfolio is available in an edition of 30. The photographers included and relevant dates are listed below:

Mario Sorrenti (1993)
Glen Luchford (1994)
Terry Richardson (1997)
Bruce Weber (1999)
Annie Leibovitz (1999)
Juergen Teller (2000)
Chuck Close (2005)
David Sims (2006)
Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin (2007)
Mario Testino (2008)
Mert & Marcus (2008)

The back gallery space contains additional images of Moss not included in the portfolio. Details on these images are below, as available:

Gene Lemuel (9 black and white images, each 11×14, in editions of 9, from 1988)
Glen Luchford (3 black and white images, 30×40, in editions of 10+2AP and 2 black and white images, 20×24, in editions of 15+4AP, all from 1994)
Herb Ritts (4 gold toned gelatin silver prints, in editions of 3, from 1997)
Mary McCartney (3 color images, in editions of 10, from 2004)
Peter Blake (5 images, from 2010)

Comments/Context: This review of the collected images of Kate Moss now on view at Danziger Projects desperately wanted to write itself with the painfully obvious “model as muse” story line, placing the celebrity supermodel at the center of it all for the better part of two decades, with the photographers who made the images in her shadow, paying tribute to her unforgettable, easygoing beauty. Such is the power of massive fame that its force sucks all the air out of the room.

What struck me most, however, about this new 11 image portfolio (and the supporting images in the adjoining room) was just how diverse the pictures really were, given that they are all variations on the same subject. Circling the walls, Moss is alternately quietly vulnerable, playfully brash, classically innocent, confidently elegant, deadpan blunt, low-down trashy, fashionably seductive and just plain glamorous. Depending on your perspective, this might be attributed to Moss’ substantial range, her ability to shape shift, or her flexible talent for looking fantastic whatever the circumstances. On the other hand, perhaps the recognition ought to lie with the photographer’s themselves, and their ability to successfully imprint their own artistic vision on such a wildly famous face.

While paring down to Moss’ simple natural beauty is perhaps the most straightforward approach taken here, in a few cases, particularly the works by Juergen Teller, Terry Richardson and Chuck Close, the fact that the model is Kate Moss is almost incidental to the overall visual statement, so strong and recognizable is their control of the aesthetics. In these cases, there is a kind of ironic inversion that goes on (is that really Kate Moss?), where the fact that Moss has been taken so far outside the norms of how we typically see her plays with our now well ingrained expectations of how she is supposed to look. This acknowledgement of her role as a cultural icon makes this exhibit less a parade of glamour shots and more a layered picture of the evolution of a public persona over twenty years. She starts out as a certain young type, and the proceeds to both reinforce and play against that type over the succeeding decades, to the point where she has become both all of them and none of them at the same time.

This changeable morphing is at the heart of this show. Beauty is where it starts, but in the hands of so many talented photographers, that simplistic image of Kate Moss diverges, leaving behind something both durably memorable and oddly ephemeral. Fragments of personalities, both real and imagined, hang in the air, with the unseen Kate Moss hiding somewhere in between. And the underlying question with which I began remains stubbornly unanswered: is that a Mario Testino or a Kate Moss up there on the wall?

Collector’s POV: The images in the Kate Moss portfolio are not available individually; the entire 11 print portfolio starts at $75000 and will ratchet to $100000 and $125000 as the portfolio sells. The other images in the show are priced as follows:

Gene Lemuel: $3500 each, with set of 9 for $22500
Glen Luchford: $7500 each for 20×24 prints, $15000 each for the 40×30 prints
Herb Ritts: either $8000 or $10000
Mary McCartney: $3000 to $4000
Peter Blake: $2500 to $4000

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

Feature/Interview: New York Times T Magazine (here)

The Kate Moss Portfolio and Other Stories
Through June 30th

Danziger Projects
527 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

Auction Previews: Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions, June 28 and 29, 2011 @Christie’s King Street

The photography found in Christie’s upcoming Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day auctions at King Street next week follows a now familiar pattern: a high priced Cindy Sherman headlines the sales, with additional top lots on offer from Sherman, Struth, Baldessari, and Gursky. Overall, there are 33 photography lots available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate for photography of £3786000.

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 2
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £9000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 15
Total Mid Estimate: £262000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 16
Total High Estimate: £3515000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 16, Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1983, at £1000000-1500000. (Image at right, top, via Christie’s.)

Here is the list of photographers who are represented by two or more lots in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Thomas Ruff (3)
John Baldessari (2)
Thomas Demand (2)
Idris Khan (2)
Vik Muniz (2)
Cindy Sherman (2)
Thomas Struth (2)
Hiroshi Sugimoto (2)
.

(Lot 22, Thomas Struth, Art Institute of Chicago I, 1990, at £250000-350000, image at right, middle, and lot 160, Idris Khan, Every…Bernd and Hilla Becher Spherical Type Gasholders, 2004, at £18000-25000, image at right, bottom, both via Christie’s.)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction
June 28th
.
Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction
June 29th
.
Christie’s
8 King Street, St. James’s
London SW1Y 6QT

Auction Previews: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, June 27 and 28, 2011 @Phillips London

Phillips begins the June Contemporary Art season in London next week with a pair of Evening and Day sales. It’s a generally straightforward selection, with few notable or unexpected standouts. Overall, there are a total of 53 lots of photography available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate for photography of £1736000.

Here’s the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 5
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £24000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 35
Total Mid Estimate: £437000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 13
Total High Estimate: £1275000
.
The top lot by High estimate is lot 5, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #4, 1977, at £250000-350000.

Here is the short list of the photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Ryan McGinley (3)
Doug Aitken (2)
Thomas Demand (2)
Nan Goldin (2)
Gordon Matta-Clark (2)
Marilyn Minter (2)
Zhang Huan (2)

(Lot 145, Walead Beshty, The Phenomenology of Shopping, 2001-2003, at £10000-15000, image at right, middle, lot 293, Elger Esser, Ameland Pier IX, 2000, at £20000-30000, image at right, bottom, and lot 296, Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting, 1974, at £12000-18000, image at right, top, all via Phillips.)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Contemporary Art Evening Sale
June 27th
.
Contemporary Art Day Sale
June 28th

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

Boris Mikhailov: Case History @MoMA

JTF (just the facts): A total of 19 large scale photographs, unframed and pinned directly to the wall, and hung in a single room space on the 3rd floor (the normal divider wall has been removed). While exact dimensions were not available, the prints are larger than life size and have additional white strips at the top and bottom. The images were made between 1996 and 1997 as part of a much larger series, and a monograph of this body of work was published by Scalo in 1999. The exhibit was curated by Eva Respini. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: Boris Mikhailov’s photographs of homeless people in Kharkov, Ukraine, in the aftermath of the post-Soviet collapse are tough, often disturbing images. Taken in the late 1990s, the images depict worn down men and weary women as they stand in the snow in dirty winter overcoats or huddle in forgotten grubby parklands, often exposing their naked sagging flesh with bored indifference or a twinkle of wry complicity. The images are a sad parade of down trodden vulnerability, punctuated by black eyes, skin welts, dirty toilets and explicit flashing.

What’s different about Mikhailov’s portraits is just how involved he is with the sitters; it’s almost as if he’s in the frame himself. While the pictures have the patina of documents (the interiors often flash lit), there is plenty of mannered posing and collaboration going on here, which absolutely crosses the line into performance, voyeurism and exploitation. In many of the portraits, the sitters seem to treat the exercise like a joke or a lark, as if this one last humiliation of pulling down their pants or vamping with a dead fish is no worse than whatever else has come before. There is a palpable sense of theater in the works, as if allegorical stories are being played out by these unlikely actors.

Compositionally, several of the images reference Christian iconography or art historical precedents, adding a layer of painterly control to seemingly loose snapshots. A man in a snowy coat stands with outstretched arms as though on the cross, while another slumps shirtless in a classic pieta. Given the size of the prints, I was

often drawn to connections to classic paintings of portraits and nudes across the ages, and then roughly ripped back to reality by the dingy grime or abject craziness of the settings and lives on display. A bearded man pretends to sleep in the snow with a rock as his pillow, with the fallen glory of a hulking mansion in the background; he seems like the perfect symbol for the new world order. Another wields an ax while wearing an old army uniform; it could easily be a portrait of a former general or hero, and yet, it’s clear that unbalanced delusion is really at work.

This exhibit had me torn, in that I found several of the images to be mesmerizing and spectacular, while plenty of others left me cold or just unmoved by their blunt staginess. This isn’t an easy show to like, but one that I think is worth the investment of time to read carefully.

Collector’s POV: As this is a museum show, there are of course no posted prices. Mikhailov’s work has only been intermittently available in the secondary markets in recent years; prices have ranged between roughly $3000 and $30000, but the number of lots available has been small. As a result, gallery retail may still be the best option for those collectors interested in his work. Mikhailov is represented by Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York (here) and Galerie Barbara Weiss in Berlin (here).

As an aside, after I had spent some time with this show, I stood and watched the stream of casual visitors as they entered the gallery, to see how they reacted when they were confronted by the images on display. A meaningful number had an aghast reaction and decided that they didn’t need to see any more, quickly making a detour or reversing course. For the random tourist taking in a sampler of artistic delights at the museum, this exhibit was clearly a splash of cold water, and one which many just didn’t have the stomach to engage with.
.
Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

Reviews: NY Times (here), Wall Street Journal (here)
Features: Time LightBox (here), LensCulture (here)

Boris Mikhailov: Case History
Through September 5th
.
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019

Auction Results: Important Photobooks & Photographs, May 19, 2011 @Swann

The results of Swann’s recent combination sale of photographic books and photographs were generally consistent with previous incarnations of this type of sale at the auction house. In both sections of the sale, the buy-in rate was over 35% and the Total Sale Proceeds fell below the estimate range.
.
The summary statistics across the two portions of the sale are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total of Both

Total Lots: 391
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $1169650
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1704150
Total Lots Sold: 243
Total Lots Bought In: 148
Buy In %: 37.85%
Total Sale Proceeds: $964281

Important Photobooks Only

Total Lots: 128
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $208050
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $312050
Total Lots Sold: 80
Total Lots Bought In: 48
Buy In %: 37.50%
Total Sale Proceeds: $160772

Photographs Only

Total Lots: 263
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $961600
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1392100
Total Lots Sold: 163
Total Lots Bought In: 100
Buy In %: 38.02%
Total Sale Proceeds: $803509

Here is the breakdown, separated into two sections (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Important Photobooks Only

Low Total Lots: 122
Low Sold: 76
Low Bought In: 46
Buy In %: 37.70%
Total Low Estimate: $208050
Total Low Sold: $99812

Mid Total Lots: 5
Mid Sold: 4
Mid Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 20.00%
Total Mid Estimate: $104000
Total Mid Sold: $60960

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 0
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total High Estimate: “Refer to Department”
Total High Sold: $0

The top lot by High estimate in the book section was lot 99, 21ST Editions, Collection, 1998-2010, at “Refer to Department”; it did not sell. The top book outcome was lot 13, Alfred Stieglitz, 291, Numbers 1-12, 1915-1916, at $31200. (Image at right, middle, via Swann.)

Only 62.50% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range in this portion of the sale. There were two surprises in this section (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 76, Eugene Smith, Minamata: Life – Sacred and Profane, 1973, at $960
Lot 119, Richard Avedon, An Autobiography, 1993, at $3840

Photographs Only

Low Total Lots: 242
Low Sold: 151
Low Bought In: 91
Buy In %: 37.60%
Total Low Estimate: $1003100
Total Low Sold: $576709

Mid Total Lots: 21
Mid Sold: 12
Mid Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 42.86%
Total Mid Estimate: $389000
Total Mid Sold: $226800

High Total Lots: 0
High Sold: NA
High Bought In: NA
Buy In %: NA
Total High Estimate: $0
Total High Sold: NA

The top lot by High estimate in the photographs section was tied between two lots: lot 161, Ansel Adams, Clearing Storm, Mount Williamson, From Manzanar, Sierra Nevada, California, 1944/1970s, and lot 212, Walker Evans, 5 photographs from the portfolio Walker Evans, 1935-36/1971, both at $20000-30000; the Adams did not sell and the Evans sold for $21600.The top outcome of this section of the sale was lot 289, Andre Kertesz, A Hungarian Memory portfolio, 1914-1923/1980, at $48000.

66.26% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 11 surprises in this section (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 131, Japanese Imperial Family, Stacked wooden box with photographs, 1912, at $2400
Lot 142, Frederick Gutekunst, Group of 50 photographs, 1878, at $15600
Lot 153, Edward Curtis, An Oasis in the Badlands, 1905, at $9600
Lot 216, Press Photography, 350 topical news photographs, 1930-1940s, at $3600
Lot 220, Roman Vishniac, Studying Cabala in a Basement in Kazimierz, the Old Ghetto of Cracow, 1936/1970s, at $6240 (image at right, middle, via Swann)
Lot 250, David Vestal, Group of 3 photographs, 1959-1960, at $6000
Lot 278, Julius Shulman, Case Study House #22, Pierre Koenig, Los Angeles, 1950/1980s, at $6240 (image at right, top, via Swann)
Lot 289, Andre Kertesz, A Hungarian Memory portfolio, 1914-1923/1980, at $48000
Lot 298, Hollywood, Group of 68 photographs, 1930s, at $19200
Lot 307, Garry Winogrand, Untitled from Women are Beautiful, 1968/1981, at $10800
Lot 372, Marry Ellen Mark, Untitled (prostitute of Bombay), 1978, at $5040

Complete lot by lot results for both sections can be found here.

Swann Galleries
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010

Memories of the Future: Ana Barrado/Rockets @Bell

JTF (just the facts): A total of 21 black and white photographs, generally framed in black and matted, and hung in the single room gallery space against blue and white walls. All of the prints are gelatin silver prints made between 1978 and 1996, and are either strictly vintage or printed within a few years of the negative date. Physical dimensions range from 12×10 to 22×18 (or reverse), and the prints have not been editioned. The exhibit was organized in conjunction with Paul M. Hertzmann Inc. (here). (Installation shots at right, via Deborah Bell.)

Comments/Context: Venturing into space is one of the most inherently aspirational of human pursuits; we look to the immense sky above and optimistically challenge ourselves to reach for the stars. Ana Barrado’s images of sleek booster rockets, space capsules and astronaut gear from across the years are simultaneously dated and futuristic, giving us a glimpse of the technological dreams of our recent past and deepening our reverence for the power (or folly) of our own machine age wonders.

Most of Barrado’s photographs capture the conical forms of rockets, either on display or on the launchpad. The white projectile forms are surprisingly sculptural; nose cones, tubular bodies and angular tail fins provide overlapping geometric interest, while black engines jut and slash from the undersides. Taken with infrared film, the rockets gleam with a faint fuzzy patina, enhancing the contrasts (particularly the blinding white) and darkening the wispy Florida skies. Space suits, moon rocks, solar system displays and other relics of space flight add to the science fiction mythology, becoming a family friendly form of self congratulatory tourism.

Barrado’s landscapes full of mothballed missles have an unexpectedly surreal quality to them; objects built for speed and distance are firmly rooted to slabs of concrete and grassy lawns, the open skies above mocking their status as museum monuments. I think the best of the pictures in this show move beyond the technical specifics and become more visually abstract, transforming the forms of the rockets into symbols of that ambitious quality in us all, the one that sees the excitement in stretching beyond our limits.

Collector’s POV: The works in this show are priced between $3500 and $5500, generally based on size. Barrado’s work has not yet entered the secondary markets in any significant manner, so gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

Artist site (here)
Feature: Photograph (here)

Memories of the Future: Ana Barrado/Rockets
Vintage Photographs 1980s-1990s
Through June 25th

Deborah Bell Photographs
511 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001

Auction Results: Photographs, May 19, 2011 @Phillips London

The results of the recent Photographs sale at Phillips in London generally met expectations. The overall Buy-In rate was over 30%, but a large number of positive surprises and decent performance by the top lots helped push the Total Sale Proceeds right into the middle of the estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 188
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £1177100
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £1627600
Total Lots Sold: 125
Total Lots Bought In: 63
Buy In %: 33.51%
Total Sale Proceeds: £1420438

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 82
Low Sold: 49
Low Bought In: 33
Buy In %: 40.24%
Total Low Estimate: £279100
Total Low Sold: £189125

Mid Total Lots: 97
Mid Sold: 69
Mid Bought In: 28
Buy In %: 28.87%
Total Mid Estimate: £980500
Total Mid Sold: £920413

High Total Lots: 9
High Sold: 7
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 22.22%
Total High Estimate: £368000
Total High Sold: £310900

The top lot by High estimate was lot 94, Leni Riefenstahl, Nuba Portfolio, 2002, at £60000-80000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at £85250.

97.60% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 12 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).

Lot 5, Albert Watson, Yvette, Berlin, 7th July, 1990, at £5000
Lot 46, Stephen Shore, Beverly Boulevard and LaBrea Avenue, Los Angeles, California, June 21, 1975/Later, at £16250 (image at right, bottom, via Phillips)
Lot 65, Robert Frank, New York City, 1947/Later, at £37250
Lot 88, Josef Koudelka, Invasion by Warsaw Pact Troops, Prague, August, 1968/2008, at £13750 (image at right, middle, via Phillips)
Lot 96, Nick Brandt, Elephants Resting, Amboseli, 2007, at £17500
Lot 111, El Lissitzky, Hans (Jean) Arp, 1924, at £55250 (image at right, top, via Phillips)
Lot 112, Alexander Rodchenko, Rodchenko Museum Series Portfolio #2: Portraits, Various/Later, at £32450
Lot 115, Irving Penn, Alfred Hitchcock, New York, May 23, 1947/Early, at £51650
Lot 117, Norman Parkinson, Pamela Minchin, Isle of Wight for Harper’s Bazaar, 1939/Later, at £6875
Lot 138, Dan Holdsworth, Blackout 08, 2010, at £23750
Lot 173, Christer Strömholm, Lago di Maggiore, 1950, at £10625
Lot 184, Toni Schneiders, Untitled, December, 1956, at £3000

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

Jeff Mermelstein, Work Oeuvre Opera @Wester

JTF (just the facts): A total of 13 color photographs, framed in black and unmatted, and hung in the single room gallery space against grey and white walls. All of the works are chromogenic prints on Kodak Endura ultra matte paper, made in 2010. The prints are either 14×22 or 28×41 (or reverse); there are 6 of the smaller size and 7 of the larger size in the show. Edition sizes are either 6 or 8, depending on the image. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: Jeff Mermelstein’s images of Fashion Week in Milan, Paris, and New York from 2010 are witty examples of outsider anthropology. On assignment for New York magazine, he dropped into this eccentric subculture and captured off-the-catwalk moments of backstage oddity and harried showmanship. It’s a sharp look at the stylized world of fashion, delivered with dry, quirky humor.

Many of Mermelstein’s images surround moments of fit and finish, where models are being prepared and head-to-toe looks are being optimized: an unruly pile of wigs and hair extensions becomes a tangled mess, pink lipstick is smeared across the lips of a model covered in hair clips, and another leggy model in short shorts wears huge orange sunglasses near a jumbled gathering of potential shoe options. A stuffed tiger, a handful of red fingernails, an androgynous model in body paint, and the electric explosion of Grace Coddington’s orange hair only add to the weirdness of it all.

These images take Mermelstein away from his usual street photography and toward the aesthetic of Martin Parr, which I think works quite effectively given the subject matter. While not every photograph on view here is entirely memorable, there are enough strikingly unconventional and idiosyncratic snippets of the underside of fashion to keep the show plenty lively.
.

Collector’s POV: The works in this show are priced at either $3500 or $5500, based on size. Mermelstein’s work has not yet entered the secondary markets in any significant manner, so gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.
.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
.

Transit Hub:

Reviews/Features: New Yorker (here), Photo Booth (here), New York (here)

Jeff Mermelstein, Work Oeuvre Opera

Through June 25th

Rick Wester Fine Art

511 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001

Deborah Bell to Join Christie’s Photographs Department

Last week, I did an afternoon swing through Chelsea and stopped by to see the Ana Barrado show at Deborah Bell Photographs (review coming later this week). After kicking around the nuances of infrared film with my ever welcoming and knowledgeable host, she mentioned that this would be the last show at the gallery; she was closing up shop after more than a decade to join Christie’s as the Head of the Photographs Department. What a surprise!

In my head, I think the well worn path usually runs in the opposite direction, in that auction house specialists eventually tend to move on to galleries (brand names or new ones of their own), but Deborah made a compelling case that given the changes in how material is now moving through markets, joining Christie’s would give her a better opportunity to see and work with a bigger sample of high quality material from across time periods and styles. I think that this logic probably does hold, especially if you are running a smaller, more niche gallery program like hers.

I’m sure that the transition from running her own gallery to working for a large corporate entity will have its own mix of bittersweet moments and new opportunities, but luckily for her, the existing Christie’s Photographs team is already strong and successful. As a collector, I’ll certainly look forward to seeing her unpretentious brand of Minnesota friendliness at work in the showrooms this fall.

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter