The Armory Show New York 2011 - Entry 11

When we approached the booth of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York the smell of soil and moisture filled the air. We entered the space through sheets of plastic, the type used in the fabrication of green houses and found a world of plants. At first we did not know what to make of the installation that occupied Feldman’s full booth. There were trees, lights, planter boxes and power cords everywhere. Watching our step, we wandered through the booth and found artist Sam Van Aken who gave us an overview of his work. Basically, Van Aken is grafting trees. In time he hopes to make that one perfect tree that will bear multiple species of fruit including peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines and apricots. Born in Reading Pennsylvania, in 1972 Van Aken received his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. Since this time his work has been exhibited nationally and internationally receiving numerous honors including an Association of International Curator’s of Art award he is one of the recipients of the 2010 Joan Mitchell Foundation Award. Sam Van Aken is currently an Associate Professor and the Sculpture Program Director at Syracuse. For additional information on Van Aken’s work see his website at http://www.samvanaken.com/.

Hand Made Hats from New York

During our trip to New York we had a moment to speak with Satya Twena, a beautiful 28-year-old multi-talented designer who recently launched her new hand made hats at ABC Carpets in Manhattan. Satya who began as an interior designer lives and works out of her studio in the East Village. When we spoke to her she was in the last hours of completing her new line and was organizing a photo shoot for the next day. Needless to say she was very busy.  Each of Satya's hats are hand made using vintage and unique blocks. Check out her new line of hats starting at $100 on her website satyatwena.com and tell her we sent you. 

The Armory Show New York 2011 - Entry 10

Tony Matelli's  "Pussy" 2011 is a tempting piece to touch. Tempting in that you want to go right up to it and write your name but upon closer inspection you see that the “dust” is actually enamel sprayed on the mirror. Each mirror seen in the photo is 48” x 36” and are two separate works at $14,000 each. The one on the left was sold. Matelli was born in 1971 in Chicago and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. You can see more of Matelli works including one of our favorites “Abandon Weed” 2009 at ArtNet.com. Tony Matelli was shown at the Amory Show by Leo Koening Inc. New York.

The Armory Show New York 2011 - Entry 9

There is one in every show and this one belongs to Wilfredo Prieto. Shown by Nogueras Blanchard Gallery of Spain, Prieto’s piece "Eclipse" 2011 consisted of 2 quarters placed on a small wooden pine shelf. We looked more closely at the piece hoping for some deeper meaning or the use of some material that might be very rare and costly such as the ground horn of a unicorn but no, it was just two U.S. minted quarters. We had a word with gallery owner Alex Hogueras and asked about the piece. Hougueras was very proud to tell us that the piece was selling for $10,000 and that there was an edition of 3. Hummm, between the two of us we had at least two bucks is quarters so it looked like our New York trip was paid for. Hogueras promptly pulled out a catalog of Wilfredo Prieto’s work and proceeded to tell us about another piece that he just sold for $10,000 that consisted of one small piece of granite and one small sugar cube, both were one inch wide. I guess Hogueras felt this would sell us on the "Eclipse" piece but we didn’t bite. Don’t let the quarter piece fool you, Wilfredo Prieto a 32 year old from Cuba who currently lives and works in Spain is a very interesting artists. Some of his other works can be seen on the website Havana-Cultura. Oh and by the way, if  we know you, a replica of Prieto’s "Eclipse" piece might be your next holiday gift.

Open Call for our International Survey Periodical

Crussell Fine Arts is pleased to announce an open call for our summer 2011 reference journal: International Survey. This fine art periodical will be a reference book for curators, gallery directors and collectors, which will assist them in the development of shows and collections. We are seeking artists who work in all medias to submit three outstanding pieces created within the past two years. Selected artists will be included in the summer 2011 edition of International Survey with a single image of their work and direct contact information.

All submissions should be postmarked by May 1, 2011

SUBMIT  YOUR  ARTWORK  TO  INTERNATIONAL  SURVEY  HERE