Modern Art Obsession

Photography Portfolio Review x3 ...and an Opportunity to get your Photographs in a Gallery Show.

If you're an aspiring art photographer, and looking for honest feedback from experienced eyes,  there are several emerging photography portfolio reviews going on this fall art season in NYC.

These review session can be a great and efficient way to get some honest,and very valuable feedback to take your art career to the next level.

FYI.. Some portfolio reviews are  perhaps borderline extortion, a total rip off,very expensive more affordable and useful than others.... so you need to choose wisely.  (photo: This painting from the 19th century depicts Italian scientist Galileo at the Vatican in Rome in the 17th century inquisition)

But there's one (actually 3 reviews) for only $150 which actually gives you the chance to get your work immediately into a NYC and LA gallery show.

Here's the press release.... for the Hous Projects Gallery.. Portfolio Review... Space is almost filled up.. so you need to call now if you're interested.

Time	Saturday, October 9 · 10:00am - 6:00pm and Saturday, October 16  10:00am - 6:00pm
Location	hous projects Gallery Address: 31 Howard Street , Second Floor,SoHo, New York NY 10013 212-965-1238
Created By	Elizabeth Houston, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, and Mike Mao
More Info	Fall Portfolio Review- Manhattan, New York City ...Location: hous projects Gallery Address: 31 Howard Street , Second Floor,SoHo, New York NY and the number is 212-965-1238 Phone number is 212-965-1238 or 212 -965-1251 Please call to schedule an appointment

 

We cordially invite you to be a part of a new Fall Portfolio Review in NYC at the SOHO branch of the hous projects gallery.  This is an opportunity to have your portfolio reviewed by 3 prominent figures in the Manhattan Photo Art World.

This is an exploratory portfolio review focused mostly on FINE ART Photography but, we will also consider FINE ART painting, video and sculpture. The main objective is to find new talent on the East Coast for an upcoming bi coastal portraiture show opening simultaneously in hous projects NYC and Los Angeles galleries during January 2011.

The show will be titled "EAST MEETS WEST".

The administrative fee for the portfolio review is only $150.00 and it will guarantee time with each of our three experts : Michael, Elizabeth and Ruben. They will consider work to be inclued in the portraiture show at hous projects gallery if applicable. This is a great opportunity to have your work reviewed by three experienced NYC contemporary art enthusiasts coming from three completely different points of view.. The Collector, the Curator, and the Art Dealer.

1. Micheal MAO- Art Collector, Curator, Member of the Guggenheim Photo-Acquisition Committee, Editor in Chief of this award winning Modern Art Obsession Blog and Co-Chair of the Aperture Foundation 2010 Fall Photo Auction.


2. Ruben Natal-San Miguel-Curator /Art Collector /Photographer/ Photolucida Critical Mass judge and pre screener/ARTmostfierce Art Blog Editor in Chief

3 Elizabeth Houston- hous projects gallery owner/Gallerist/ Art Collector/ Photolucida's Critical Mass Judge.

 

The MAO Summer Vacation....

MAO has been away on a much needed vacation...

Posting to return again soon.

(Photo by

John Arsenault

The Last Resort, 2000

Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso

Chromogenic print

30 x 30 inches)

Happy New Year 2008

Happy New Year to Everyone!!

Let's hope 2008 can't get any worse on wall street is better than 2007.

Here's one of the first Year End 07 reviews by Linda Sandler of Bloomberg News.. I'm sure there will be many more boring ones to come!

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Bill Gross's Stamps, J.K. Rowling Tale Starred at 2007 Auctions
2007-12-30 19:49 (New York)

By Linda Sandler
     Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- This was the year Bill Gross said his
stamps had outperformed his bond fund, Stanley Ho beat Damien
Hirst in bidding for a truffle, and Amazon.com Inc. paid 39 times
estimates for a book of J.K. Rowling stories. Among the mishaps,
Marie Antoinette's pearls and a Van Gogh painting didn't sell.
     New money poured into the salerooms in New York, London and
Hong Kong, swelling auctions by 46 percent at Sotheby's, to $5.33
billion; Christie's International's totals aren't in yet. Andy
Warhol and Mark Rothko paintings fetched more than $70 million
apiece in May, and Jeff Koons in November deposed Hirst as the
priciest living artist.
     Analysts are watching to see if prices continue to rise in
2008. The biggest financial institutions have marked down more
than $80 billion after a surge in U.S. subprime mortgage defaults
prompted investors to shun higher-risk debt.
     ``The art market will soften, and an adjustment in values
will take place, but it may not happen for six months to a
year,'' California collector Eli Broad said in August. ``Many of
the buyers of contemporary art have been hedge-fund managers and
other investors who obviously are having a difficult time and
have lost lots of money,'' Broad said in an e-mail.
     The 2007 boom boosted values of all kinds of collectibles,
from Chinese ceramics and antiquities to diamonds and stamps.
Here are some high points and low points of the auction year:

                           Pimco Profit

     -- Billionaire fund manager Gross raised $9.1 million for
charity in June by selling early British stamps -- mostly bought
in 2000 -- that outperformed his Pacific Investment Management
Co.'s bond fund, the world's largest.
     ``It's four times cost,'' Gross said after the sale in New
York. ``It's better than the stock market.''
     -- Amazon, after selling more than 12 million Harry Potter
books online, paid almost $4 million at Sotheby's for Rowling's
``The Tales of Beedle the Bard.'' Amazon's Web site has summaries
and reviews of the best-selling author's handwritten stories,
which no one currently has permission to publish.
     -- Christie's sold Steve McQueen's 1963 Ferrari Lusso for
$2.3 million, or twice the top estimate at a California auction
in August. Christie's soon after dismantled its car auction
business, which has much lower commissions than art sales.
     -- Casino billionaire Ho this month paid $330,000 for a
white Italian truffle at a charity auction, exceeding the
previous record by about 50 percent. In September, Ho paid
HK$69.1 million ($8.9 million), the highest price ever for a Qing
Dynasty bronze horse head, giving it to the Chinese government,
which is trying to recover its treasures.
     -- Banksy's ``Di Faced Tenners,'' or 10-pound banknotes
carrying Princess Diana's face instead of Queen Elizabeth II's,
tripled their top estimate at a Bonhams sale in October, fetching
24,000 pounds ($48,000) as demand for the artist soared. Not
everyone is so enthusiastic about the Bristol, England-born
graffiti painter: On London's Charterhouse Street, a defaced
Banksy rat image says, ``Go Back to Bristol, Boy.''

                             No Buyers

     There were scattered signs the auction houses are entering
more difficult markets, in items that found no buyers after
featuring in the press from the Middle East to Europe, the U.S.
and Asia.
     -- A necklace made from the pearls of Marie Antoinette, who
was guillotined in 1793, failed to sell on Dec. 12 at Christie's,
which valued it at as much as 400,000 pounds.
     -- The same day, Maria Callas's love letters to Giovanni
Battista Meneghini, her former husband and mentor, failed to sell
at a Milan auction. Sotheby's, which had priced the opera
singer's letters at as much as 70,000 euros ($102,739), reoffered
them successfully at the end of the auction at a 50 percent
discount.
     -- The year's big loser was Vincent van Gogh's ``The Fields
(Wheat Fields),'' estimated by Sotheby's at as much as $35
million. It received no bids at a Nov. 7 auction and Sotheby's
stock plunged 35 percent over three days as it took a $14.6
million loss on guaranteed impressionist works that sold below
their estimates.

See You Later Decorator!! TOP DESIGN on Bravo.

Sorry.. for the infrequency of posts.. it's been a crazy few weeks in the office.. to get a hint of the shit show problems check out this funny finance blog.. Mortgage-Lending-Implode Blog

But in the interim we've been obsessed with the fluffy night time Bravo TV show, Top Design. We first only tuned into watch DCKT Gallery Artist, Ryan Humphrey get his wise-guy ass kicked off the show.

(Photo #1 by Ryan Humphrey, United States of Embarrassment, 2005-2006,acrylic on canvas,29 1/2" diameter)

But Dr. Quiz and MAO have since become totally addicted. Just a few thoughts to share about last nights Semi-Finals...

• - Head Judge, Jonathan Adler (also a blogger) needs to learn how to tie a smaller knot - With that silly pok-a-dot Tie in an huge queen over-sized knot.. he always looks like a combination of Bozo The Clown and The Joker from Batman. Tacky..Tacky..Tacky!
• Even if Andrea didn't have the worst design last night, she should have been kicked off for wearing that stupid ugly hideous dress! Who'd ever hire a Designer with such bad fashion taste.. Honey get a Mirror!!
• It's about time Judge, Kelly Wearstler got her hair under control.
• Sadly, all of their designs last night looked very dull, boring, and quite un-original. They should have never kicked off our favorite Asian Drama Queen Designer Goil.
• Matt is most certainly the "Top" best designer on the show, but someone needs to tell his wife he's NOT Straight !!

Anyway...we can't wait to watch the finals!

HAPPY FESTIVUS!! From Rock Center!

Happy FESTIVUS!!, Merry Christmas, Ho Ho Ho and Happy Holidays...!

A true work of comic art : The tradition of Festivus begins with an aluminum pole, which Frank praises for its "very high strength-to-weight ratio." During Festivus, the unadorned Festivus Pole is displayed. The pole was chosen apparently in opposition to the commercialization of highly decorated Christmas trees, because it is "very low-maintenance," and also because the holiday's patron, Frank Costanza, "find[s] tinsel distracting."

Just a few photo's from my push walk through the insane crowds at Rockefeller Center last night. 

FYI.. The 2006 Tree is 88 feet tall of Norway Spruce, ~70-80 years old from Ridgefield, CT.... oh and how could we forget those Valerie Clarebout herald angels!!! And, like who the hell was Valerie Clarebout anyway??

Happy Halloween Art Photo's

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Everyone has those indelible images which come to mind whenever you hear the words Halloween and Masks..

Here are the 5 haunting images, stuck in my twisted art crazed mind I always remember. Enjoy!

• Arthur Tress
• Ralph Eugene Meatyard
• Helen Levitt
• Diane Arbus
• Michael Meads

Stuck in NYC for the HOT weekend

OH! those funny GAYS out there on Fire Island..

How I missed them all so much this weekend.

And NO.. While, this is one handsome girlfriend fellow..

This is neither MAO, nor Dr.Quiz!! Just an original photo taken by the staff at MAO... FYI.. signed limited edition prints still available...please inquire..

OH.. and, just one warning.. Don't ever let this "boy" anywhere near your garden!

To All MAO Quizlings..

FYI... Tomorrow is already August First.. which means, the summer is half over, and it's time for the next big MAO Art Quiz!

And WARNING..this time.. The Quiz is going to separate the men from the sheep be a difficult one!!

The Dog Days Of Summer - Life in the Baked Apple

OK..Back in the office today.. and  It's 104 freaking degrees outside as I'm looking at the digital thermometer on the New York Magazine building clock tower! Ouch!

It's too hot to post anything... and we should all be at the beach.. and not reading art blogs.. so..turn the computer off.. and go out and play!

Art and Blogger things I learned on my Holiday at the Beach

As a fertile ground for Art & Blog gossip info, I learned a few things on my first summer weekend vacation!!

1. 1. During the winter months "many people" had too much lots of disposable income to spend on Over priced Beach Real Estate, Landscaping, Expensive Contemporary Art, and Bad Cosmetic Surgery
2. 2. One bitchy NYC art dealer suggested the Loretta Lux show may not be as "Sold Out" as previously reported
3. 3. The new Heinekin Light Beer can't be made cold enough to taste good
4. 4. The last third of Art Incorporates, The Story of Contemporary Art by Julian Stallabrass was just as bad dull as the first two thirds
5. 5. Never let This Fun Sheepy blogger kneed dough or make meatballs after "carrying-on" at High-Tea
6. 6. The June'06 Art News was possibly the fluffiest reporting I've seen in years, oh, and the NADA dealers of west 27th street are all very pretty with really great smiles
7. Before cash funding and the start of their art investing, many of the senior executives of Fernwood Art Investments, LLC "parted ways" with the company founder, and went gone-zo out of business
8. Two rich smart beach friends from the NYC financial community are also crazed Vik Muniz enthusiast and collectors
9. My cute,sexy,slutty close friend C-Squared needs to either learn to Lock or put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door when he's "Utilizing" his housemates bedroom
10. Mixing almost anything with Absolut Vanilla still tastes Absolutely Terrible!

Don't Forget.. Tomorrow is June First... So stay tuned for the Next MAO Art Quiz!!

Top 10 Ennui

OK.. It's not even the end of the year.. And I'm already totally sick bored fed-up with 2005 Top 10 Art Lists!!!   I've seen my fill already, Artforum had about at least 11 Top ten lists, NYT - Mike Kimmelman, Galley Hopper, Conscientious, View From The Edge of the Universe, and even TimeOut NY this week probably had another 30+ top lists!  I'm sure there will be alot more.. some may even be a bit thoughful.  But, Can this listing thing get any more tired??  Maybe we should make a top list of top 10 lists....??? I think I just did.   Isn't there anything real to write about?  Like after the Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and The Gates Disasters.. what's left to list ?

OK... I'm a bit cranky this morning, sorry, got kicked out of my favorite NYC dive bar, "The Regal Beagle" last night at Midnight for being too pretty wearing sneakers!!  Geeeze, even in a subculture of clones outcasts there's pressure to conform!!  Lighten up girls guys!! Grrrrr...

Oh, before I forget, Stay tuned!! Tuesday, Jan 3rd Morning... We kick off the First BIG MAO Monthly Art Quiz... with a huge expensive Cool Prize to the Winner!

I Probably DON'T Hate You!

First Off.. I Just want to wish everyone a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Secondly, to all those many confused and angry people who emailed me today asking "How Can I Possibly be Friends with that %&!#[email protected]*! Mr. I Probably Hate You - ROCCO!" or What type of misguided deviant I must be for Rocco to refer to me as "one of his favorite people in the world." I just want to say.. Life in NYC is a strange thing sometimes.. and we can't always choose our friends.. but I like to think everything in life happens for a reason.  I try to see the good in everyone (so maybe with ROCCO you've got to look very a bit harder!). But, yes.. Rocco and I have become good friends over the last few months. I try to keep him out of prison, from killing someone, hurting himself, from Pissing off his drug dealer, out of trouble! So it's kind of my own version of a public service!

So please don't hate me, and most importantly don't believe anything She Says!!

My plan for this blog is mostly to keep a candid record of my journey in the NYC modern art world, and share my thoughts & experiences as a poor,inexperienced,novice young private collector. So the focus will be on many of the nice gallery/auction/museum people (Clamp, Cooney, Flowers, ICP, Jenkins, Kamm, Kopeikin, Milo, Phillips, Swann, ..etc) I meet, as well as vent a bit about the many bad, elitist, rude, stupid, inconsiderate, nasty, downright evil, not so nice ones (Grrrr.... Rosen, Gagosian, Christies, Sothebys, Crime & Read, Regen, Cowles, etc..) and experiences...

Plus I hope to have a discussion about artists who's work I love and think maybe undervalued or under appreciated (Goldin, Mapplethorpe, Pierson, Tress, Siskind, ..too many to list), as well as those who's work I either don't understand or who've been inflated and/or over-hyped (hmmm...Hirst, Prince, Koons, Penn, Struth, Schnabel, Ruff, Disfarmer, Lux,..etc).  Anyway that should be enough to piss everyone off give you a flavor for what's to come... all Ideas or suggestions always welcome.. 

My First Post

Ok.. Well.. I knew this had to start someday! I've been reading friends Art Blogs the last few years, and I figure it was about time to try one myself. There's some really great blogs out there on the world wide web.. some ok ones... and some really lame crap just full of self promotion... Well..I'm sure this one will be somewhere in that spectrum.. depending on your point of view!

So I sincerely apologize in advance to anyone whom I may offend, misspell, anger, miss quote, pick  on, annoy, expose, ignore, make fun of, in general rant about, displease, violate or report in error! It was all good intentioned!!