Night of 1,000 Drawings
Annual Benefit featuring Marya Kazoun, Juan Doe, Soyeon Cho, Arshak Martirosyan, and many more
Run dates: One Night Only
Opening Reception: November 6th 6-10pm
Location: Artist Space
Directions: 38 Greene St. New York, NY 10013
For additional information, a price list, hi-rez images, and/or an artist press kit, please contact us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What a fine fall evening… Warm enough not to have to bundle up, and cool enough not to swelter among the hundreds of people that turned out for the Soho gallery Artist Spaces’ annual fundraising extravaganza, entitled Night of 1,000 Drawings. If you didn't make it to this truly affordable art buying marathon than you absolutely missed out! I arrived late in the evening, but according to Igore DaCosta, one of the gallery members, the day was filled with "waves of people". The event kicked off at three in the afternoon and continued on till eight that evening. Open bar, music, and throngs of well dressed people grabbing at original art works right from the very wall. According to Alison Wilbur, one of the gallery’s interns, it took over eight hours to hang the works included in this show. But for everyone who viewed this exhibit, it was well worth it, and I for one, was extremely impressed.
Congruent with the gallery’s mission statement, Artist Space was one of the first alternative spaces in New York, Founded in 1972 to support contemporary artists working in the visual arts. The mission of Artist Space is to encourage experimentation, diversity and dialogue in contemporary arts practice, to provide an exhibition space for new art and artists, and to foster an appreciation for the vital role that artists play in our community. I had the opportunity to speak with the gallery's director, Barbara Hunt and she thinks that this fundraiser ”…has gone fantastically well. This year we broke all previous records." (Very easy to believe with the most popular overheard remark being "Ooh... I like this one too"). Ms. Hunt continued with a very gracious smile to tell me that earlier in the day, one women actually came in and bought over seven hundred dollars worth of work- so much that she had to have an intern help her to the car.
Sinced the art had been donated I found myself curious as to why an artist woud donate their work to a gallery they did not have any relationship with. One artist, a female named Jingyung Kim, said, “ It’s one hundred percent rejection free. It’s flattering to have people look at your work in this way.” Another participating artist- Marya Kazoun- well known for her glass and installation work (which is usually exhibited throughout Europe) said, “ It was an opportunity to show work to a new audience, it was not juried so really anything goes.” As I spoke to more and more people I began understand that this show was viewed as a mutual opportunity. Artist Space depends on this fundraiser to raise a bulk of their yearly operation budget and the artist anonymously gets to view first hand the reactions of a huge audience to their work and maybe gain a collector or two from the process.
Creative Thriftshop had donated six pieces of work by three artists. All but two were gone by the time I had a look around. One very happy buyer, John Pavlou and artist himself, said he donated work a few years ago- “It’s for a good cause, you get great art and than you get to come to the party”… and it is a really good party.
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What a fine fall evening… Warm enough not to have to bundle up, and cool enough not to swelter among the hundreds of people that turned out for the Soho gallery Artist Spaces’ annual fundraising extravaganza, entitled Night of 1,000 Drawings. If you didn't make it to this truly affordable art buying marathon than you absolutely missed out! I arrived late in the evening, but according to Igore DaCosta, one of the gallery members, the day was filled with "waves of people". The event kicked off at three in the afternoon and continued on till eight that evening. Open bar, music, and throngs of well dressed people grabbing at original art works right from the very wall. According to Alison Wilbur, one of the gallery’s interns, it took over eight hours to hang the works included in this show. But for everyone who viewed this exhibit, it was well worth it, and I for one, was extremely impressed.
Congruent with the gallery’s mission statement, Artist Space was one of the first alternative spaces in New York, Founded in 1972 to support contemporary artists working in the visual arts. The mission of Artist Space is to encourage experimentation, diversity and dialogue in contemporary arts practice, to provide an exhibition space for new art and artists, and to foster an appreciation for the vital role that artists play in our community. I had the opportunity to speak with the gallery's director, Barbara Hunt and she thinks that this fundraiser ”…has gone fantastically well. This year we broke all previous records." (Very easy to believe with the most popular overheard remark being "Ooh... I like this one too"). Ms. Hunt continued with a very gracious smile to tell me that earlier in the day, one women actually came in and bought over seven hundred dollars worth of work- so much that she had to have an intern help her to the car.
Sinced the art had been donated I found myself curious as to why an artist woud donate their work to a gallery they did not have any relationship with. One artist, a female named Jingyung Kim, said, “ It’s one hundred percent rejection free. It’s flattering to have people look at your work in this way.” Another participating artist- Marya Kazoun- well known for her glass and installation work (which is usually exhibited throughout Europe) said, “ It was an opportunity to show work to a new audience, it was not juried so really anything goes.” As I spoke to more and more people I began understand that this show was viewed as a mutual opportunity. Artist Space depends on this fundraiser to raise a bulk of their yearly operation budget and the artist anonymously gets to view first hand the reactions of a huge audience to their work and maybe gain a collector or two from the process.
Creative Thriftshop had donated six pieces of work by three artists. All but two were gone by the time I had a look around. One very happy buyer, John Pavlou and artist himself, said he donated work a few years ago- “It’s for a good cause, you get great art and than you get to come to the party”… and it is a really good party.
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Installation View: Artist Space, New York, NY. 2004
Image courtesy of {CTS} creative thriftshop, New York