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QUISQUEYA HENRIQUEZ

wordsby nicholas brown imagescourtesy david castillo gallery

By the time this issue hits the rack, it will be the worst time in decades to be an art dealer. In the wake of the global financial crisis, there was an initial calm in the art world, as people began to speculate just how long it could remain unaffected by the events on Wall Street. But on December 3, 2008, when I entered the exhibition centre at Art Basel Miami – North America’s answer to Switzerland’s Art Basel, the largest and most prestigious international art fair – things were looking decidedly grim. Functioning as both a trade show and a site of quick commerce, where eager buyers line up to view booths manned by dealers looking to market and sell works by leading international artists, art fairs are costly to participate in but promise massive sales for savvy salespeople. This year rumours swirled: nothing was selling, it was a buyer’s market for those collectors that were still in the game (ie. no more hedge fund investors), and the massive cost of participating was bringing diminished returns. But outside of the convention centre, others were content with displaying their artists without much care for the short-game tactics of the main fair.

GEOFFREY FARMER

wordsby joni murphy

imagescourtesy of Musee d’art contemporaian de Montreal

The play of ghost and fake, low budget facades. The discussion of what’s really real and what’s really far-out are all things addressed in Vancouver-based artist Geoffery Farmer’s work. His recent show at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is reviewed by Joni Murphy aiming to expand your mind when you read and digest Farmer’s work…

GEOFFREY FARMER

wordsby joni murphy

imagescourtesy of Musee d’art contemporaian de Montreal

The play of ghost and fake, low budget facades. The discussion of what’s really real and what’s really far-out are all things addressed in Vancouver-based artist Geoffery Farmer’s work. His recent show at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is reviewed by Joni Murphy aiming to expand your mind when you read and digest Farmer’s work…

JAMEL SHABAZZ

wordsby leah turner photoscourtesy thrush holmes empire

Billed as a “mini-retrospective,” Seconds of My Life at TorontoÂ’s Thrush Holmes Empire presents a selection of work by Brooklyn-based photographer Jamel Shabazz. Representing a career that spans over thirty years, Seconds of My Life includes approximately two dozen photographs – indicative of ShabazzÂ’s long-time commitment to documenting urban life, hip hop and street culture in New York City. A twenty-year veteran of the New York City Department of Correction, as well as an activist, philanthropist and youth mentor, Shabazz has dedicated much of his life to working with inner city communities…

SAID AND DONE: ORGANIZING CHAOS

by dustin koop and john antoski interviewsby apefluff photoby graeme owsianski

The Said and Done project was created as a means of uniting artists from communities around the world. The project to date consists of 225 original serigraph prints (7×11”), produced in collaboration. These prints were distributed to select artists encouraging them to collaborate in any way that they choose, using whatever media and creative approach they find suitable.

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