A Post-Apocalyptic Meditation
It would be sooo easy to blame the economy for not writing but several of my blogs hit the trash faster than a 401K before they were even posted to this site. You could say well the shows were bad because of the economy and that is why they were nothing to write home about but most shows are planned several months in advance. Granted the big sucking sound from the financial system did begin this summer but all I know is that I would walk into a gallery and would just be bummed out by the lack of invention or creativity.
How can one write about nothing? Well there have been a couple things out there in San Francisco which I will get to but first the state of things: It's closing time!
The vanity galleries are of course the first to go (a small skater gallery on Geary in the Loin, Little Tree gallery in the Mission) and then the art center-curatory type party places have gone "online" (Queen's Nails) but Hackett-Freedman?!? Yeah well they're on there way out too as a bricks and mortars establishment. The cushy yet claustrophobic venue on Sutter Street will come up for rent in October but doors are closing sooner than that. This is a loss but like several others they may of course deal privately. A gallery space is moving away from big ticket showroom to a place of adventure, hopefully though one that is curated by someone with incite.
This of course was bound to happen and now that the art market is out of the stratosphere maybe artists can set down to getting real work done. And then collectors can also make interesting acquistions of new AND old work. For example a couple Bay Area folks struck by Cyclone Madoff are already selling off their holdings just to pay the mortgage - you'd be surprised what is up for consignment - find those details by visiting the galleries on your own - this advice will cost you. :)
There are some great buys out there for the financially disciplined. Artists who have been laboring in obscurity can begin to innovate and get a show as previous sellers in galleries yield less and less of a return from the usual suspect collectors. Artists who continue to work on their one hit wonders should be cautious about an emerging market that may find the prices and repetition prohibitive.
San Francisco real estate remains steady unless you want to buy on the edges but a large portion of commercial real estate remains vacant. Mission galleries have and may in larger numbers find some outstanding rental opportunities downtown. Who knows, who knows?
