The Royal College of Art Secret Postcard fundraiser via The Guardian

-The Royal College of Art’s Secret 2009 event has 2,500 postcards for sale for £40, made by artists including Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry and Yoko Ono.  Though buyers don’t know who the artist is until after they buy. [Times UK]

-Penelope Curtis has been appointed director of Tate Britain, the first woman to hold a directorship at Tate. [Guardian]

-Tracey Emin opens a new exhibition in New York, that, while popular, comes nowhere near the levels of sales or attendance she normal receives in Britain. [NY Times]

An artist’s rendering of Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Cirkelbroen’ bridge to be built in Copenhagen via Artinfo

-Olafur Eliasson has designed a bridge to be completed by 2012 in Copenhagen’s harbor. Called ‘Brikelbroen,’ the bridge is comprised of five circles that take pedestrians on a winding path rather than straight across. [Artinfo]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)

Mirror, Hope Atherton via Rental

Leading art collectors provide works from their collections to a show organized by Claire Distenfeld- a 23 year old curator who came up with the concept of selling works that are “not masterpieces” yet are by contemporary artists with well-established names. The idea was realized quickly, within a few weeks, through Claire’s personal extensive network. Works by artists like Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, Elizabeth Peyton, Barnaby Furnas, Jack Goldstein, Ingrid Calame, George Condo, John Wesley, Richard Prince, Mr., Marilyn Minter, Marnie Weber, David Salle, Nobuyoshi Araki, Hope Atherton, and Ryan McGuinness are on show through August, 8.

Related Links:
Don’t Panic I am Selling My Collection [Rental]
“Don’t Panic I am Selling my Collection” Exhibition [NYAB]
With Warhol, $350,000 Murakami, Hip Gallery Says: “Don’t Panic!” [Bloomberg]
Don’t Panic I am Selling My Collection- Press Release [Art News]

Untitled, George Condo at Rental via Art News

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Grayson Perry; Entrance To The Forest; 2002; Victoria Miro Gallery; London -Photos by ArtObserved

“The surprise is the business we are doing. Frankly, people are expressing more confidence in the art market than the government or Wall Street right now,” said Sean Kelly of Sean Kelly Gallery. The night of December 2nd, Vernissage attendees glittered and Piper Heidsieck champagne flowed.  More importantly, buyers were in attendance, asking questions and indeed, according to most of the galleries interviewed for this article, buying.  On Thursday afternoon, Douglas Baxter, President of Pace Wildenstein professed “We’ve met expectations.” Also on Thursday, when asked his feelings on sales from the night before, a representative at Cheim & Read insisted his artists have been selling well, pointing to Jack Pierson sculpture and a pile of William Eggleston’s photos.  Margherita Belaief of Peres Projects had the same confidence, “It’s hard to say so early but in general, Dash Snow’s pieces are selling strong.”  While hesitant to disclose precise numbers, the overall sentiment of the top galleries was optimistic.

However, it’s important to note while the larger known artists have been selling strong, some galleries have reported some difficulty selling lesser known artist pieces.  Alfons Klosterfelde at Klosterfelde was most direct: “People are asking more questions and really want to know the details,” but he said pointedly as of Thursday, “there have been less sales” and Klosterfelde remarked the pieces sold were from the gallery’s more known artists.

Photos and Writing by Faith-Ann Young

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