Petre Tej, Marek Blank and Jan Mourek to create this minimalist bridge across the River Vltava in Prague, which is intended to resemble marble.
Štvanice Footbridge in Prague designed as a “sculpture in the city”
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‘The hands belong to Moussa’s friends’: Quim Fàbregas’s best phone picture
The Senegalese village of Sare Soukande is home to fewer than 500 people. Ten-year-old Moussa, pictured here, is one of them. Attentive, passionate and a great football player, Moussa is one of the boys enrolled in an educational project Quim Fàbregas works on beside his professional photography. That day in the village, Moussa was the muse.
“Photography is one of the activities we teach – art is very important for children. In this case, we did a portrait exercise, then analysed the photos we took together,” says Fàbregas, who had been thinking about this shot for a long time. “The hands belong to Moussa’s friends. I wanted to send the message that human suffering is not only of one, but of those around us, too.”
He has no qualms about using an iPhone for work: “Phones are good for connecting with social media while travelling, while a camera is useful if I want to publish a book or hold an exhibition. But what I use doesn’t really matter. A photographer is known by his images, not by his camera.”
Kids Night Out (Registration Required)
Join expERIEence Children’s Museum for Kids’ Night Out at the expERIEnce Children’s Museum! On September 15, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM let your chi…
Friends, family, team gather under Friday night lights to honor Wichita photographer
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Friends, family and the Wichita Northwest Grizzles came together under Friday night lights to honor a beloved local photographer who died Friday at a Wichita hospital from injuries sustained Monday in a sideline collision.
Friday afternoon, Linda Gregory’s husband, Mel, announced his wife’s death at the hospital where she’d been on life support since suffering a traumatic brain injury early this week. The injury happened while she was shooting photos at a junior varsity football game for Wichita Northwest. Linda was a staple on the sidelines of Wichita Northwest games. Among the school and in her community, it’s an understatement to say Linda Gregory was well-known and loved. For years, Linda and Mel Gregory spent many hours shooting photos of Wichita Northwest High School athletes.
Friday night, the varsity football team honored Linda with “L-G” stickers on their helmets. The game at Wichita Heights also included a moment of silence for her before kickoff.
At Friday’s game, Northwest students remembered Linda as a talented photographer who always had a smile on her face.
A fellow photographer recalled meeting her at a game featuring Wichita Heights and Wichita Northwest. He said he asked her questions about how she was shooting the game and recalled how she graciously shared information.
“She was always a source of information for me,” he said.
Earlier this week, Joanna Chadwick, a longtime journalist and teacher who’s dedicated much of her career to covering high school sports and whose husband used to coach at Northwest, recalled how a follow on Twitter and a chance meeting at a store led to a cherished friendship with Linda and Mel Gregory.
“That spawned the friendship and suddenly they became part of the family,” she said.
It’s a bond that many share with the couple.
“You know, you think about how a friendship can happen like that and you think about, ‘Linda and Mel love me, they love my family,’” Chadwick said. “But it wasn’t just us.”
For those that don’t know Linda Gregory…
“I can’t even explain it enough to people that didn’t know here, how many people she touched,” Chadwick said.
Mel was among the crowd at Wichita Northwest’s game at Heights Friday night, there to honor his wife.
“She was a really good woman,” Mel said. “I was married to her for 23 years and (I) never had any hard times, never had any hard times with her. She and I were kind of like a team, always. And it’s tough to lose her.”
Copyright 2023 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
Utah State Fair: Butter airplane sculpture, arts, farm animals and ‘deep-fried anything’
The Utah State Fair is in full swing again, filled with the smell of fried foods and barnyard animals. The theme of the fair this year is
Artist Amy Webb sheds light on her creative experiences
After earning a Bachelor of Arts from Ole Miss last year, Amy Webb took root in Water Valley, Miss., to cultivate both creative works of her own and spaces for community artists to showcase interdisciplinary work.
In her work, the Meridian, Miss., native illuminates nocturnal landscapes, utilizing vivid colors contrasted with dull tones to invoke a sense of both eeriness and tranquility within viewers.
Webb’s hallmark feature is her use of light, a common thread that she has woven throughout her latest works that focus on reflection within urban landscapes.
“My paintings of those scenes are kind of trying to invoke the spiritual nature of that time you get to be with yourself and your thoughts and maybe the anxiety or the gratitude you might feel at the end of a long day,” Webb said.
By taking part in UM Art’s “We’ve Always Been Here,” a show featuring the visual work of BFA alumni from the university who identify as queer, Webb aims to highlight the importance of LGBTQ+ perspectives.
“Queer people have always been here, whether they’re visible or not,” Webb said. “I think it’s just a reminder that I want students to feel safe on campus and people to be aware when they think, speak and act that queer people have always been here.”
Aside from painting in her studio, Webb can be found working at the End of All Music, Oxford’s independent record store, and immersed in the outdoors as a farmer at Yokna Bottoms Farm.
“It’s really important to me that I get that time outside and have a kind of physically active job. It helps me come to the studio feeling refreshed, and it does a great service to my mental health year-round,” Webb said. “So, I think that job kind of helps a lot in my artistic practice.”
Prior to attending Ole Miss, Webb spent time working at the Gumtree Museum of Art in Tupelo, Miss., and establishing her own identity as an artist by participating in the Secret Art Show. Within this collaborative community, the budding creative gained the confidence to pursue art professionally and inspire others to do the same.
“When I came to Oxford, there were times when I felt like art circles were a bit inaccessible to someone outside of academia,” Webb said. “Then, I met a small group of friends who were putting on these art shows that were similar to the Secret Art Shows I attended in Tupelo that included spoken word poetry, live music and artists.”
Soon after, the small artist collective bloomed into a widespread community called QUASAR. Now referred to as IRIS Arts Community, the Oxford-based nonprofit literature and arts community regularly hosts live music, art shows and poetry readings on the last Sunday of each month at Heartbreak Coffee.
“I want IRIS to be a platform for creative people to just share their work with friends and their community to build confidence and have a place to express all of that,” Webb said.
IRIS Arts Community will hold its next gathering from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at Heartbreak Coffee on the Square. More information about IRIS Arts Community and Amy Webb can be found on their Instagram profiles.
In a Jittery Market, a Glut of Art Fairs Is Again Putting Galleries Through the Wringer—With No End in Sight
The back-to-school festivities known as Armory Week pushed the new art season into high gear in New York this week amid jitters over the market correction and uncertainty about the impact of consolidation in the trade-show industry.
It’s telling that much of the chatter in the aisles at the behemoth Javits Center, where the Armory Show opened to VIPs on September 7th, was about a totally different event taking place on the other side of the world—namely, Frieze Seoul, which started just a day earlier in South Korea, drawing away several key international galleries and forcing several others to double-down by participating in both events. The overlap between the two fairs resulted in a congested calendar at the start of the high-stakes season, when some fear a market bloodbath this fall could herald the end of three years of boom.
“We are going nuts,” said Mary Sabbatino, partner of Galerie Lelong & Co., which is participating in the Armory Show and Frieze Seoul while also—deep breath—doing a solo presentation at the Independent 20th Century art fair and an exhibition at its Chelsea gallery. All of this is happening this week.
An installation by Barthélémy Toguo in the Platform section at the Armory Show. Photo: Vincent Tullo
Juggling time, money, and artworks for these competing events is not entirely unfamiliar terrain for the art world. We’ve been here before—and not that long ago. Art fairs became ubiquitous in the 2010s, with some galleries routinely doing more than a dozen a year and occasionally bemoaning the financial and personal strain they caused. Then, three years ago, COVID-19 abruptly shattered international travel and live events. Getting together for air kisses and art commerce suddenly felt life-threatening. As fairs went online, some people swore they would not go back to the way things were.
But… here we are again. The fairs have roared back, and with vengeance, just as the art world is expanding beyond its traditional hubs. Hong Kong, which used to be the center of the art trade in Asia, is facing pressure from Seoul, which races to transform itself into a major destination on the art circuit.
A very crowded VIP day of Frieze Seoul 2023. Photo: Vivienne Chow.
At the same time, there’s consolidation. Art Basel, the biggest global art-fair brand, has become even bigger and shinier after subsuming a rival French fair known as FIAC. The new Parisian event that has resulted is quickly becoming a must for collectors around the world, and especially the Americans.
All of this is exciting—and complicated. Leaving aside the environmental concerns, the basic question is: How is it possible to do it all as a gallery, a collector, an advisor? And how can the big brands like Art Basel and Frieze continue expanding without diluting and cannibalizing themselves? Many Americans, for example, skipped Art Basel’s flagship fair in June because they were oversaturated from all the events in May in New York and wanted to hold out until Paris + par Art Basel in October.
Galerie Lelong presented paintings by Mildred Thompson at the Independent 20th Century art fair. Courtesy: Galerie Lelong
Consider the simultaneous timing of the Armory Show and Frieze Seoul—a calendar conflict that is made even more bizarre by the fact that both events are now owned by the same company, Endeavor Group Holdings, the talent agency and operator of events in sports, fashion, and entertainment. Endeavor, which has owned Frieze since 2016, recently went on a shopping spree, adding two U.S. art fairs, Armory Show and EXPO Chicago, to its portfolio.
Endeavor acquired the Armory Show, a legacy brand dating back to 1913, from Vornado Realty Trust for $24.4 million in July. (That price wasn’t disclosed, but because both companies are publicly traded, the Art Detective unearthed it this week in Vornado’s regulatory filings.) In May, Endeavor also paid $16.5 million to buy the remaining 30 percent stake of Frieze, which now produces art fairs in London, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul, from its founders, the company’s filings show.
(These prices seem like a steal next to the $9.3 billion Endeavor paid in April to acquire WWE, the professional-wrestling company.)
“The overlap is not ideal,” said Paul de Froment, managing partner at Almine Rech gallery, which is participating in both fairs as well as in the Independent 20th Century. “I am assuming they are going to try to change the dates.”
Galerie Lelong’s booth at Frieze Seoul 2023. Courtesy: Galerie Lelong
This hope was expressed by multiple exhibitors, who remain in the dark about the plans.
“While it is not ideal that the two fairs overlap in dates, they cater to different audiences and, as such, the crossover between galleries and collectors is minimal,” Simon Fox, the CEO of Frieze, said in emailed responses to the Art Detective’s questions. “Of course, it would be operationally easier if the fairs didn’t take place at the same time, but that depends on date flexibility at our respective venues.”
No changes are going to be made next year, a person familiar with the company’s plans told me. Frieze New York, which moved from a tent in Randalls Island to the Shed in Hudson Yards two years ago, is going to stay in the Shed. And the two September fairs will also remain in their unfortunate slots—though, Fox said, somewhat mysteriously, “there may be more opportunities to collaborate from early next year.”
“The Shed is cute, but it’s not functional,” said Lisa Spellman, owner of 303 Gallery, standing in a large booth at the Armory Show. “It’s hard to make significant sales when your space is 80 percent smaller than a normal booth.”
As for the New York/Seoul pileup, she found it a “distraction.”
“I know six galleries who would be here but couldn’t,” she said. In fact, the Armory show is down 15 participants from last year, with a total of 225 exhibitors this year. Those who used to be in the fair but are now doing Frieze Seoul include the heavyweights David Zwirner, Massimo De Carlo, and Sadie Coles. As a result, the New York fair feels less blue-chip this year.
A sculpture by Agnes Denes in the Platform section of the Armory Show. Photo: Vincent Tullo
All dealers are thinking hard about how to allocate resources at an uncertain time for the market, according to Galerie Lelong’s Sabbatino. “Every colleague I’ve talked to has definitely noticed that it’s more challenging,” she said.
After committing to Frieze Seoul and the Independent, Sabbatino herself initially declined to do a booth at the Armory Show—but then, acclaimed curator Eva Respini approached her to participate in the Platform section of large-scale artworks. The work Respini had in mind was a multi-element installation by Cameroon-and-Paris-based Barthélémy Toguo that had appeared at the Venice Biennale in 2015.
“It seemed like a great opportunity to show a significant work in good company and with an esteemed curator,” said Sabbatino. It was also a chance to promote the artist in the U.S., where he’s still not widely known.
There was another practical reason to seize the opportunity: The work, which consists of eight ladders and more than 100 large carved pieces of wood shaped as stamps, happened to be stored in New York. “If I had to ship it from Paris, I wouldn’t have said yes,” Sabbatino said.
A sculpture by Woody De Othello in the Platform section of the Armory Show. Photo: Katya Kazakina
Ben Brown, whose London gallery has branches in Palm Beach, Florida, and Hong Kong, believes that an ability to juggle overlapping fairs may come down to staff and geography. It’s cheaper to ship works from Hong Kong to Seoul than from London, for example—and he had staff to go to both fairs.
Even so, “we are overstretched,” he said. “There’s no salesperson at our London gallery at the moment.”
Another drawback: he would have liked to be in Seoul for the gallery’s debut at Frieze Seoul. But he had additional business commitments in the U.S.
“You have to choose,” he said. “I can’t be in two places at the same time.”
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Partygoer Willing to Sell Sneaker Collection to Pay Fees For Damaging Ancient Chinese Sculpture
“This has been a huge wake-up call for me.”
World-renowned photography exhibit opens at Creighton’s Lied Art Gallery
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The internationally recognized photography exhibit “Positive Exposure” is on display at Creighton University’s Lied Art Gallery.
The exhibit is by Rick Guidotti, a photographer who started out in high-end fashion in New York City, Milan, and Paris until his passion shifted. Guidotti said, “As an artist, I refused to see beauty only on covers of magazines.”
Over time, Guidotti developed an interest in people with medical conditions and began looking at medical textbooks.
“When I went to those medical textbooks, I found terrifying images,” Guidotti said. “I found images of kids in doctor’s offices usually naked or in their underwear with those black bars across their eyes, and that’s how I committed initially to ‘We’re going to change that.”
Eventually, Guidotti founded Positive Exposure, a non-profit that promotes inclusivity through photography, film, and education.
“What we’re doing is we’re creating opportunities to work with communities and individuals at risk of stigma and exclusion to celebrate the beauty and richness of human diversity,” said Guidotti.
Guidotti travels from city to city around the world, presenting exhibits that focus on people with different diseases and genetic disorders.
Hayden Sommer of Omaha is one of 17 Nebraskans featured in the exhibit at the Lied Art Gallery. Sommer has Phelan McDermid Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes medical, intellectual, and behavioral challenges.
His mother, Heidi Sommer says though the disability is trying, her son is a blessing.
“I feel like he has taught us more about life than anything ever could,” Sommer said.
Her philosophy is similar to Guidotti’s: change how you see; see how you change.
“We all have the exact same needs: a need to be seen, a need to be heard, a need to be loved, a need to belong,” Guidotti said. “Simple.”
The Positive Exposure exhibit will be on display at the Lied Art Gallery through October 6th, 2023.
Copyright 2023 WOWT. All rights reserved.
Bird Photographer of the Year winners revealed
The winners of the Bird Photographer of the Year award have been announced, with photos by two Australians among the top shots.
The international competition is billed as a “celebration of avian beauty and diversity”, inviting photographers of all ages from novice hobbyists to pros to submit their most stunning bird photos in several categories.
Jason Moore won gold in the black and white category for a close up of two ducks in Perth.
Cheng Kang picked up a bronze award for a snap of an Australasian darter on a foggy winter morning in Victoria.
The winners were announced on the Bird Photographer of the Year website earlier this week.
The competition first began in 2016 and attracts entries from around the world.
About 250 of the best images are selected and printed in a coffee table book, which is now in its eighth edition.
The competition is taking entries for the 2024 contest, which closes on December 10.
Here are the winners of the other categories, noting we left out the winner of the Conservation category, which featured an image of a dead turtle dove.
Bird behaviour — and overall winner:
Birds in the environment:
Comedy bird photo:
Urban birds:
Birds in flight:
Best portrait:
Ages 15 to 17:
Aged 12 to 14:
Aged 11 and under:
