Monkdogz Artblog

We’ve been wandering around New York for the last couple of months talking to a lot of art dealers in both Chelsea and the Lower East Side.  Many galleries have shown a very positive face telling us that “everything is fine” but occasionally we’ve heard an honest response of “it’s really quiet, we haven’t sold anything since…..”  

Dorothy Spears in the New York Times today has ripped open the wound of the New York art market and exposed it for what it really is in an excellent article “This Summer, Some Galleries are Sweating”.

It’s not a pretty sight.  Respected and long standing galleries are closing, art fairs are being crossed off their lists, some are asking their artists to contribute to costs, exhibitions are being extended and prices are being re-evaluated.  Large galleries are selling work for under $20,000. 

Bob was saying 8 months ago, that businesses would be down 60-80% in the coming months and sadly he’s been proved right.  Small and medium sized galleries which are closing are not being quickly replaced as urban legend would have you believe.  I like Lisa Spellman of 303 Gallery’s quote “I don’t believe that recessions are Darwinian systems”.  These galleries that close will leave a huge hole in the art world and are not likely to be plugged easily or quickly.  It makes me realize how fortunate we were at Monkdogz that we decided to take a hiatus and look for a new location when our rent was raised at the end of our lease.  

The worrying comment though is that the wealthiest collectors are favoring the bigger galleries and taking fewer risks.  It was a comment that was repeated in the larger galleries in the Lower East Side.  Collectors are equating big with better…..it’s a sad statement of their reality.  

What will be the next step for the smaller galleries?  How do we convince buyers to buy good art because it’s good art, not because someone else has bought one like it before?  How do we find intrepid collectors who with us will go where “no one has gone before”? I’m on the quest.  Who’ll join me?

In our hunt for a new home for Monkdogz Urban Art, we went looking in New York’s Lower East Side today, now know as LES.  It’s an area roughly bounded by the Bowery to the West, Houston Street to the North, Pitt St to the East and Canal St to the South.  

It is an area rich in its 200 year history.  It was a neighborhood home for many new immigrants and birthed many entrepreneurs and small business owners.  Orchard Street with its street vendors and store fronts was one point one of the busiest commercial districts in the world.

In recent years, an influx of chic and trendy restaurants, clubs, apparel stores and creative businesses and services as well as artists’ studios and contemporary art galleries have started to take the neighborhood up market.  Young professionals have started to move into the area and there are signs of new and refurbished condominiums and apartments on many blocks.

There are currently between 50 and 60 contemporary art galleries in the area, spread throughout the neighborhood.  It makes for an interesting tour, with plenty of places to shop and eat as well.  Although there are many galleries which are smaller satellites of established Chelsea galleries, there are also some very cutting edge individual galleries, including the long established Fusion Arts Museum.  There is also the New Museum of Contemporary Art which opened in 2007 to great fanfare.  

There is no question that Monkdogz Urban Art would fit in very nicely into this environment.  However the question that does remain is whether the neighborhood will continue its revitalization and growth within this current economic climate, whether it will become a significant contemporary art destination and a wise move for Monkdogz..  

Any opinions?

(Images from top right clock-wise, Rivington Street, Delancy Street, Chrystie Street and Freeman Alley)