DRIVING AFRICA

When I first decided to write this blog, I was going to title it Driving Ethiopia, however, after experiencing the exhilaration and thrills of driving in Angola I had to broaden my outlook. One must remember that years ago I lived and therefore drove ini Boston...this at a time when the police gave no moving violation tickets since they had to go to court on their day off and the drivers were aware of this. Boston had a well justified disdain for normal etiquette. I have driven with a U-Haul trailer through Manhattan during rush hour, driven on the Autobahn and Auto Strassa. All of these are tame by my recent experience in Ethiopia, though I was really riding and not driving. Realizing that most roads in Ethiopia do not have lane markers or stop signs/stoplights, etc. and when they do they act as suggestions only. Because of my size I sat in the front passenger seat, the "death seat", so aptly named, while my wife rode in the back seat and was partially protected from the front view sights. I felt as if I were in a Video Game, not playing one but actually in one, a la Tron. The game of course is one of those road races where as a player you must rce and navigate around pedestrians, cars, donkeys, carts, and all sorts of road blocks. (My grandson always laughs when I play with him because I am always crashing into something.) Well, here I'n not playing a video game since I have no control, I'm just along for the ride and thereby seem to be in the game. The game is to go as fast as possible trying to miss the hordes of people walking in the road (no sidewalks), the goats, sheep, pigs, donkey carts, bicycles, all trying to get from one place to another The object seems to be to see how close you can get to the obstacles without actually hitting them. Of course the pedestrians also play the game of refusing t get out of the way, especially the young males as it seems uncool to jump off the road and they try to look nonchalantly as they stroll over to the edge of the road while secretly being terrified of being hit. Two things struck me about this, 1. after a day of riding I was more exhausted then the driver and felt I missed much of the countryside because I was too involved in watching for the impending crash, and 2. Africa walks. Th lives of people walking, in both directions seem endless. Even when no where near a village, the roads are full of people walking in both directions. I keep thinking they need a clearing house, where instead of walking they could just exchange the jobs, tasks, motivations fro going to someplace with someone with the same rationale going the other way. What a massive savings of human energy this would be.

As to driving in Africa, I must confess my delight of driving or in reality again in riding in Angola. The same obstacles but our small group in Angola was facilitated by a motorcycle police escort. Our favorite motorcycle cop with sirens going and lights flashing fled ahead of us, stopped traffic irrespective of any traffic lights so we could speed on. He would ride ahead, pass cars and motion them off the road, stopped cross traffic, etc. Watching through the windshield also became a game. A game to see if he could untangle the next traffic jam with his adroit driving and directing so we could sail through , even if this meant we were often driving on the wrong side of the road, on the shoulder, sidewalk or whatever. It was a very successful game as we never stopped from point of origin to our destination! Exciting and it gave me a little taste of power. This is what it must be so addicting to politicians and how they become so obsessed with power! As we would say at our destination 'what a ride!

POST MODERN ART; WHAT IS IT?

For the last several years, before and after graduate school in art, I have been struggling with the concept of 'Post Modern Art'. What the hell is it? Aren't we modern now, so how can we b e post? Is there a difference between modern and contemporary? Why is that pile of bricks in the art museum art, and why on the street is a similar pile of bricks rubbish?

Well, maybe I'm beginning to get a little handle on it. Thanks to a lot of talking , reading, and especially trying to digest Harrison and Wood's "Art in Theory" (2007). Believe me, none of the ideas herein are original or unique to me, just a compilation of all of the above.

"Modern Art" defined as an evolving art from the mid 18th century to after the Second World War was a dramatic change from prior art of the Renaissance, the Neoclassic, and Romantic art that preceded it. It was a new paradigm. But in order to call something a new paradigm one must define, articulate and demonstrate the old. Similarly to talk about a new paradigm in art as 'Post Modern' one must first define, articulate and demonstrate the paradigm of 'Modern Art'.

The paradigm of modern Art consists of many concepts which evolved over time. But these primarily focused on the concept of spontaneity, expression, and most importantly on three premises. It privileged art as unique and original and the artist as an autonomous genius while differentiating fine art from craft or low art or as Greenberg would say between "Avant Garde and Kitsch" (1939). Further, that changes in art were progressive and had a continuity with that of the past or a so called 'historical narrative'. Proponents of Post Modern as a new paradigm break with these tenets, namely originality, differentiation, and historical narrative.

More recent critiques and theorists have begun to question the originality and uniqueness of art. They vociferously announce that all of the attributes and tendencies, including the philosophical, psychoanalytic and literary or semiologic ideas are converging onto a single point or concept. Thus they negate the idea of the original. So now we not only have 'death of the object' with emphasis on abstraction, nonfigurative and nonrepresentational art, we also have 'death of the author' in that there is no originality or creativity. This follows Baudrillard's concept of the 'hyper-real' as unoriginal with use of experience of signs and simulacra (1976). This probably began with Duchamp and his 'ready mades', which is why he is probably the most influential artist of the second half of the 20th century , while Picasso was of the first half, with his seemingly abstract but in reality representative or figurative art.

With the comodification of art, combined with mass reproductions, mass media, and fusion of art and craft, we have bypassed or surpassed the difference between 'fine' art and craft/kitsch. From Warhol's "factory" of silk screenings, Koon's legions of engineers and craftsman constructing his designs, and kitsch like objects of Judd's industrially constructed boxes and Mirakami's almost mass produced doll like objects, we now have art in a more generic form and definition.

[Aside: Thanks to a dear friend Koji, ( I hope I am not misstating his thoughts) discussing Judd with me recently, I now have a greater understanding, though not necessarily a better personal appreciation, of his work. How Judd shifted the meaning of sculpture from an object with a a delimited mass with finite borders and reflecting light, created, with his stepped lucite boxes, the idea of a non-delimited form, an infinity. They could go on forever, or as Buzz Lightyear would say "to infinity and beyond". Further, Judd allowed light to not only be reflected and surround the sculpture, but through the sculpture, allowing light to penetrate it directly by constructing the boxes of lucite!]

And finally, the historical narrative of Modern Art as a continuity of painting and culture and moral values is negated by the new paradigm of Post Modern Art with its emphasis on discontinuity, disruption, and revolutionary (and sometimes revolting) aspects.

Thus the major articulations of Modern Art are negated and supplanted by those of Post Modern.

Well, I hope this helps explain my take on Post Modern Art, and hopefully it will stimulate your thinking and discussing it with me and others.

Please respond to this blog at deckerreport@gmail.com

EVOLUTION OF AB EX

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM: NOT DEAD, JUST EVOLVED

 

Abstract Expressionism was an  art movement on the trend line of Modern & Contemporary   Evolution. (Evolution is used here in a non-perjorative way, or to denigrate the past but to indicate a transition from one era to the next.)  Just as it was an outgrowth of an artistic trend, so it was a nidus for further movements.  This trend line began in the mid 18th Century with Manet and led to the Impressionist who desired to paint the view at a fleeting point in time, not with a homogeneous color palette, but the multihued and variegated color patterns altered by light and atmosphere.  The Fauves took this one step further and painted not what they saw but what they felt about what they saw.  Thus instead of realistic or local color they improvised with arbitrary color to expression these feelings or expressions, e.g. a blue face or a yellow sky, etc.  Kandinsky continued this concept and ultimately painted the first non-figurative painting of just colors to express his emotions.  Much later Mark Rothko began painting horizontal multilayered bands of color with great luminosity and depth and is considered the epitome of Abstract Expressionism.  Other Abstract Expressionists like Motherwell, Stil, Frankenthaler, took this 'color field' approach in different directions and utilized the emphasis of scale with epic proportions.  This period of the 1950's to 1960's was supplanted by the phase transitions of Rauschenberg and Johns with 'Combines' appropriated designs and led into the era of Op Art, Pop Art, and ultimately Installation Art.

 

The basic tenets and techniques of Abstract Expressionism did not die out or  fade away but metamorphed into a more contemporary fashion.  One example is artist Enrico Embroli of Albuquerque, NM.  One sees in his paintings the remnants of Rothko's horizontal multilayered color bands, yet evolved from just a linear horizontal view to  verticals and curvilinear forms.  At times he references the color patches of Cezanne and Gauguin.  Embroli not only scales these color swaths with added curvilinear forms he adds to them a heavy impasto with scrapings and trowel marks lending great depth to the paintings.  In this context of color field paintings he often adds a small patch of another color, sometimes complementary or rarely very disparate.  This shocks the eye, jolts the consciousness, and forces one to concentrate visual acuity onto a particular place in the painting.  All the while it almost physically coerces the viewer to pause and contemplate the painting longer and in a different and almost hypnotic way.  In some paintings there are almost pre-historic pictographs, occasionally resembling the glyph paintings of Bulgarian artists.  They add a visual interest but simultaneously interrupt the flow of emotional release generated by the powerful colors and composition, almost a respite from one's self analysis.

 

Embroli evolves his own painting.  He attaches constructed canvases together creating a diptych or triptych of sorts.  These attached panels are often of a single color with or without embellishments of texture, and often of a totally different material such as metal attached to canvas.  These multipaneled art constructions now bridge the gap between flat art and sculpture, not in a bas relief way but a dramatic scintillation as if the viewer's eye is oscillating between two and three dimensions.  It causes one to ponder the variation in art, to realize we interpret paintings in a three dimensional way though, for the most part, they are only two dimensional.  Thus the art argues for and simultaneously against the truth of our perceptions - not only of art, but our emotional and aesthetic response to it.  How to see it, how to understand it, how to appreciate it.  These duopolies of thought processes have plagued mankind for eons - mind/body, real/imagined, good/evil, art/non-art, etc.  His art is not just beauty, from composition and line, but an adventure in color and an adventure in self-analysis; a review and conscious re-evaluation of who, what, and where we are.  It is an  intellectual and emotional testimony to the power of art.

 

C. Lawrence Decker

Art Consultant

ART OF KEITH SCHALL: ENCAPSULATION OF MODERN ART

 

 

 

 

An Encapsulation of Modern Art

The Works of Keith Schall

 

A focus on the aesthetic Keith Schall's art is a sensual delight, however to miss the opportunity to view it as a survey of modern art history is to miss its depth, intensity and scope. After investing some time with any of his paintings and "Machiavelli's Princess" (2006) in particular, one comes to appreciate its complexities and references.  At first one garners the bright palette and unblended brush strokes of such masters of Impressionism as Monet and Renoir.  Yet one also notices the Post-Impressionists use of arbitrary versus local colors of the Fauves like Matisse and Derain.  Yet somehow his use of color is also reminiscent of the pure Expressionists coloration beginning with Kandinsky (the first painter to use pure color as expression without any figuration or representational references ).   He seems, at first, not to refer to the Dadaists as DuChamp or Picabia, nor to the Surrealists as Magritte and Ernst.  On deeper penetration he does so by his swirls, daubs, and most especially an almost 'stream of consciousness' in his painting technique.  This also denotes the views of the more recent Abstract Expressionists as Rothko and Pollack, not only in the freedom and coloration but also in their concepts of "action painting".  One can feel the energy and physical dexterity of whole body involvement with the brush strokes, the use of empty spaces, and the "overall" use of the canvas without limitations of foreground-middle ground -back ground (\which began with Manet and reached its zenith with the Cubists Picasso and Braque).  Schall's  historical journey seems to end at the Abstract Expressionists.  Yet, his constructed canvases can be interpreted as a reference to the more contemporary melding of sculpture and painting such as Rauschenberg and Johns as well as to recent contemporary installation art.  He even moves beyond the accepted frame of the picture, as a rectilinear or ovoid construct, and thereby relates to the more painterly Post-Modern artists.

 

On a more integrative approach to modern culture his art is a fusion of related artistic media.  Painters have for generations attempted to align and interpret their art with great poets, writers, and musicians of their time.  Many even wrote impassioned manifestos to detail their import and reflection on contemporary art and society.  Schall has more concisely aligned these artistic media -literature and art - in the apparently simplistic though actually involuted methodology of the nomenclature of his titles with all of their literary and musical allusions.  Further, the constructed canvases noted above, can be seen as homage to another artistic media, architecture.

 

 

 

This historical amalgamation of the arts deserves greater thought and discussion.  Thus Schall's art deserves, not just a passing glance, but a more determined and thorough introspective view.  His work can be seen in Sedona (Goldenstein Gallery), Scottsdale Galleries, and many private Southwest collections.

 

 

By C. Lawrence Decker

RESURGENCE OF BEAUTY: ART OF KATHLEEN KINKOPF

The Resurgence of Beauty: The Art of Kathleen Kinkopf

Art is most difficult to define but it has always evoked the ideal, the beautiful, the aesthetic. That is until the last century. Even though Courbet and Monet in the mid-eighteen hundreds painted real verses the unreal subjects, the paintings displayed the mundane as heroic and worthy of a Salon exhibition. Art diverged from these standards with the rise of modernity - rising middle classes, ease of transportation, and communication, photography, art galleries, and auction houses - of the late 19th Century. Art became an Impression, then an Expression, and ultimately pure color and led to Abstract Expressionism/Action Painting of Rothko, Pollock and their colleagues. Yet still it retained a sense of the aesthetic, if only in the arrangement of line, color, and composition. The art world shifted once again and diverged further from the beautiful with the Combines of Rauschenberg and the targets, flags, and numbers paintings of Johns. Art even lost the object itself with the Conceptual Art of Sol Lewitt and others where the concept, the written instructions and words, became the art. No longer was beauty or the ideal a prerequisite. This reached its zenith with Installation or Earth Works Art wherein a pile of bricks is considered art because of the story behind the pile, the concept (and because it is located in an Art Gallery or Art Museum). Art continued on this path with toy like, almost kitsch figures of Murakami or the embalmed sharks of Hirst or the plastic and Lucite boxes of Judd which became "high art".

The art market proceeded similarly along these lines with astronomical price tags on this art facilitated by the money available from the tech boom and the hedge fund managers of Wall Street. The financial crises of late have dramatically slowed this seemingly inexorable path. Granted, many of these works continue to reach ever greater prices. There, however, is an undercurrent evolving, a subtle reversion to beauty, the ethereal, the aesthetic, the ideal. There has always continued a submerged focus on beauty, but it is now coming to the forefront.

One artist exemplifying this is Kathleen Kinkopf of Albuquerque, NM. Her earlier works were imbed with mythological references, often rendered in an almost Italian Surrealist manner with an overtone of almost graphic artist clarity. Her artistic evolution is to one of pure painting of beauty while maintaining the mystical and ethereal. Her more recent figurative paintings of Asian appearing women with their formalistic costumes and incorporation of three-dimensional ornamentation are stunning. But even more amazing are her horse portraits displaying the beauty and mystic character of these majestic creatures. They are in a class of their own. One stares at these paintings mesmerized by their ethereal beauty. Though realistically portrayed the emotional responses they evoke go well beyond the actual presentation of the animals themselves. They engage one in the almost supernatural qualities of the depiction. They speak to one's soul, one's desire for the ultimate beauty, and the ideal. These portraits supercede one's concept of the real and become super-real. Not paintings to view in passing but those which demand a prolonged analysis, evincing the innermost contemplation, almost an exercise in self hypnosis.

These paintings can be seen in many Southwest private collections as well as the local Lanning Gallery .

C. Lawrence Decker

Art Consultant

APPROPRIATION ART

APPROPRIATION ART:

 Evolution of a trend and its legal, ethical, and moral implications.

 

 

Appropriation is the taking of a thing or concept for one's own use.  In art, appropriation consists of using another's objects, concepts, or images in the creation of a new work.  The current legalities of this depends on infringement, fair use, parody, and intellectual property rights.  To some extent all artists appropriate by using materials, concepts (e.g. vanishing point perspective) and more currently images.  The Cubists are often credited with the first use of appropriation by using newsprint, wall paper, etc. in their collages.  Duchamp enlarged on this by utilizing "ready-mades" as his "Fountain" which in fact was a urinal turned upside down and hung on a wall.  This was denigrated but not because of appropriation as the materials could be considered "fair use"  and parody.  But then Duchamp created "LOOQH" painting a copy of Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" but with a bigger smile and a mustache seen as a parody. Further, since it is universally easily identified with Da Vinci, no attribution is necessary.  Rauschenberg accelerated this with his found objects used in his "Combines", once again using found or ready-made objects, but taking them out of context of their primary use and incorporating them into art was considered a non-competitive use.  Similarly Johns appropriated preformed designs such as flags, targets, and numbers for his art.  Warhol was more direct when he copied flower photographs not his own, to create silk screens.  This led to threatened legal actions and thereby a monetary and presumed royalty settlement.  Lichtenstein used an enlarge pixellated comic book look without actually copying a particular image.  Sherman photographed herself in simulated movie stills, and sometimes directly appropriated by photographing actual photographs of Walker Evans. 

 

As the ease of copying others art via digital techniques and internet availability, issues of legality, morality, and ethics become more important and pervasive.  Legalities aside, the issue of intellectual property rights and the morality and ethics pose a broader range of issues.  Is it sufficient to provide attribution ?  Compensation? Permission? Remember Rauschenberg's "Erased DeKooning" is very legal, ethical and moral since the original DeKooning work was given to him for the purpose of 'erasing' and thereby contained attribution (by title), permission and compensation (a gift for that purpose). 

 

Many more recent artists are neither given attribution, receive permission, nor are compensated and thus the artwork crosses beyond the ethical and moral divide and becomes a legal issue.  The courts provide one solution, however, an expensive and time consuming process, especially for often non-wealthy artists, thus subverting property rights.  There almost needs to be a code of ethics for artists and for those who traverse this code a sort of banishment or at least a non-recognition of their 'art'.

 

C. Lawrence Decker

Art Consultant

VENETIAN ART GALLERIES

 

 

LISTING OF VENETIAN CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERIES

 

            Listed by sectors of Venice:

            Cannaregio, Guidecca, Dosoduro, San Marco, San Polo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compiled by C. Lawrence Decker

                        165 Shadow Rock Drive

                        Sedona, AZ 86336

                        928-204-2811

                        lawrenced@npgcable.com

 

 

CANNAREGIO

Name:                        The Studio in Venice

Address:                     1236 Ghetto Vecchio

Phone:                        041-520-8997

Web:                           thestudioinoldjaffa.com

Email:                        baker@netvision.net.it

Art:                            Mixed media, flat art, some small sculptures.  Emphasis                                                             on Judaic art with a contemporary vein.

Artists:                      Luca Zamprielo, David Longfils, Marco Fassi, etc.

Note:                         Gallery also located nearby at 1152 Compiello de le                                                                        Scuole, near the Campo in the Ghetto.

 

CANNAREGIO

Name:                        Francoise Calcagno Art Studio

Address:                    2918 Campo del Ghetto

Phone:                       339-113-4786

Web:                        calcagnoartstudio.com

Email:                      info@calcagnoartstudio.com

Art:                           Very interesting almost abstract expressionistic art with                                                            deep textures.  However, seems all from a single idea                                                                       translated into variable sizes and media.

Artist:                      Francoise Calcagno

Note:                        Artist owned gallery.  Staff speaks no English and very                                                                       unaware of prices which seem made up on the spot. 

 

GUIDECCA

Name:                     Guidecca 795

Address:                 795 Fondamenta San Eufemia

Phone:                    340-879-8327

Web:                        gjuidecca795.com

Email:                      guidecca795@gmail.com

Art:                         Modern and contemporary.  Focused on young local and                                                                      European artists, but has a stable of internationally                                                                     famous artists.

Artists:                  Hyper-realism of Marie Teresa Barisi and husband                                                                               Marcell Morandi with his black and white plastic                                                                                   sculptures also shown at a special exhibit in the Museum                                                                     of Contemporary and Oriental Art, Ca’Pesaro.

 

GUIDECCA

Name:                Galleria Eufemia

Address:           597 Fondamenta San Eufemia

Phone:              041-296-0240

Web:                 eufemiagallery.com

Email:               mail@eufemiagallery.com

Art:                   Venetian artists with contemporary oils and watercolors.

Artists:            Laura Lo Verso, Paolo Smali, Luciano Zarotti, Marco                                                                            Zanusso, etc.

Note:               New.  Located across from the Planca Vaporetto stop.   

DOSODURO

Name:              Loris Marazzi

Address:           2803 Campo San Margherita

Phone:              041-71-0651

Web:                  lorizzi.com

Email:                losrismarazzi@yahoo.it

Art:                     Wood carvings in shape of utilitarian objects such as                                                                            shoes, clothes, glasses, books, etc. Well done but                                                                                    somewhat banal and interesting mainly in the skilful                                                                            woodworking techniques.  Interesting quote in the                                                                                window, “Here inside is your life, the one you only know,                                                                    your joys, your pains – the one only you can read”

Artist:               Artist owned gallery, only his work is displayed.

 

DOSODURO

Name;                BAC Art Studio/Gallery

Address:            862 Fosnar or 733 Fondamente Venier

Phone:                041-522-8171

Web:                   www. Bacart.com

Email:                 info@bacart.com

Art:                     Aquatints, lithographs, sculptures, oils, somewhat                                                                                  expensive.

Artist:                 David de la Vineta, Lalla Malvezzi, Gianno Sabbioni,                                                                             Anna Lin, etc.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                Totem-Il Canale

Address:            878/B  Accademia

Phone:               041-52-3641

Web:                   totemiolcanale.com

Email:                 totemilcanale@katamail.com

Art:                      Mainly African Tribal Art and would not ordinarily                                                                               incorporate this gallery in this list except there is some                                                                         contemporary oils and other flat art which demonstrates                                                                    how well the tribal art and contemporary art combine.

Artists:              Franz Beer, and others.

Note:                  On the canal, next to the Accademia.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                 Galleria Multigraphic, Edizioni d’Arte

Address:            728 de la Chiesa San Vio
Phone:               041-528-5159

Web:                  unknown

Email:                multigraphic@infinito.it

Art:                   Oils, acrylics, lithographs.  Colorfield, mixed media, with                                                                       some ceramics and textiles.

Artists:             Maltoni, Bianco, Mario Palli, Pope , Congdon, Cicogna.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                Feruzzi Art Gallery

Address:            523 Calle de le Mende

Phone:                34-795-61328

Web:                   robertoferuzzi.com

Email                  info@robertoferuzzi.com

Art:                     Seems to have a focus on watercolors.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                 Botegga d”Arte

Address:            720/B  Fondamente Venier dei Leoni

Phone:               041-528-7935

Web:                   totallyessential.com

Email:                 artevio@tin.it

Art:                      Contemporary prints of color swirls and distorted                                                                                 cityscapes, lacquers, lithographs, and posters.

Artists:              Giagen.

Note:                 Artist owned gallery.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                Bressanello Art Studio/Gallery
Address:            2751 Calle Lunga

Phone:                041-724-1080

Web:                   bressanelloartstudio.com

Email:                 info@bressanelloartstudio.com

Art:                      Photographs which are very dramatic and exquisite.

Artist:                  Bressanello.

Note:                    Photographer owned gallery.  Near Campo San Barnaba.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                Gualti

Address:            3111 Rio Tera Canal

Phone:               041-520-1731

Web:                   gualti.it

Email:                info@gualti.it

Art:                     ‘Wearable art’, most items called ‘wearable art’ art not                                                                        really art, however his creations are indeed art.  Unique                                                                        jewelry, scarves, jackets that would impress an empress.

Artist:               Gualti, the artist-creator of the items operates this tiny but                                                                 quite elegant gallery.

Note:                 Though not strictly an art gallery, it is contemporary and                                                                     worth a special visit.

 

 

 

 

DORSODURO

Name:                Galleria D’Arte L’Occhio

Address:            185 Calle del Bastion

Phone:               041-522-6550

Web:                  gallerialocchio.net

Email:                galleria.locchio@tin.it

Art:                     Contemporary flat art, primarily Italian and particularly                                                                 Venetian.  Abstract and figurative with some                                                                                            photorealists.

Artists:              David Dalla Venezia, Vicari, Aiolo, Botto, Constanti,                                                                             Eulise, Ludi, Romanin, etc.

Note:                  Located in the area between Peggy Guggenheim                                                                                      Museum and Salute.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                Galleria San Maurizio

Address:            195 Calle del Bastion

Phone:               041-521-2510

Web:                   galleriasanmaurizio.it

Email:                elisabetta.redolfi@libero.it

Art:                    Oils, acrylics, representative but contemporary, faded                                                                 looks and interesting perspectives.

Artists:               Josep Pla (Spanish), Fanti (Venetian) and Tuscan                                                                                  painters.

Note:                  Prices very moderate.  Located between Peggy                                                                                       Guggenheim Museum and Salute at the Fondamente                                                                             Saranoz della Forno.

 

DOSODURO

Name:                Galleria San Gregorio

Address:            165 Calle San Gregorio

Phone:                041-522-9296

Web:                   sangregorioartgallery.com

Email:                  mariagiovanna.daltin@tin.it

Art:                      Abstract and Figurative.  Some old masters such as                                                                               Santomasso and Vedova.

Artists:                Gaspari, Gasparini, Finzi, etc.

Note:                    Located between Peggy Guggenheim Museum and                                                                                  Salute.

 

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Gallery Holly Snapp

Address:            3133 Calle delle Botteghe

Phone:               041-296-0824

Web:                  galleryhollysnapp.com

Email:                snapp@unive.it

Art:                     Figurative and representative in a contemporary way.

Artist:                 Geoffrey Humphries.

Note:                   American owner Holly Snapp has lived in Venice over 30                                                                     years.  Now she only represents her English husband                                                                  (Humphries) who paints portraits and Venus as well as                                                                         other scenes..  Price range 1,300 to 8,000 Euros.                                                                                    Extremely knowledgeable and helpful staff.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Gianfranco Meggiato

Address:            2606 Campo San Maurizio

Phone:               041-241-3369

Web:                   gianfrancomeggiato.com

Email:                 alessia@gianfrancomeggiato.com

Art:                      Almost all art by Meggiato, including sculptures in highly                                                                     polished bronze which rotate, some flat art of mixed                                                                            media with a more three dimensional effect.

Artists:               Meggiato, Pier Toffoletti.

Note:                   Near Palazzo Grassi, in  Campo San Maurizio.                                                                                          Seemingly artist owned with additional galleries in Milan,                                                                   Positano, and London.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Luigi Benzoni Atelier

Address:            3339 San Samuele

Phone:               041-528-1660

Web:                  None.

Email:                benzoni-l@libero.it

Art:                     Flat art, small steel sculptures, and glass art.

Artist:                 Benzoni, artist owned gallery.  Studio at 3874 Castello                                                                           and 1270 Dosoduro. 

Note:                  Near Palazzo Grassi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Perl’A

Address:            3287 Calle de le Corozze

Phone:                33-919-31844

Web:                   None.

Email:                 perlagalleryvenice@libero.it

Art:                      Small sculptures in steel, stone, and ceramics.  Flat art of                                                                     various styles.  All Italian artists.

Artists:                Santorossi,. Batacchi (great contemporary nudes), Toni                                                                       Buso (almost Kandisky like colors and Miro figuration),                                                                       Celiberti, etc.

Note:                   Small, intimate gallery.  Extremely knowledgeable and                                                                         gracious staff.  Near Palazzo Grassi.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Arte Daniele Luchetta

Address:            2513/A  Campiello de la Feltrina

Phone:                041-528-5092

Web:                   arteluchetta.com

Email:                  info@arteluchetta.com

Art:                      Beautiful medium sized granite abstract sculptures                                                                               currently on display.

Artists:                Pedrosa, Malfatti, etc.

Note:                   Second location 869 Calle Nuova San Agnese, Dosoduro,                                                                     phone 041-52-35518.  They work with emerging artists,                                                                         price ranges from 5,000 Euros up.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Galleria D’Arte Arke

Address:            3211 San Samue3le Salizada

Phone:                041-522-4372

Web:                   None.        

Email:                 galleria-arke@libero.it

Art:                      Contemporary abstract.

Artists:                Daniele, Bianchi, etc.

Note:                   Near Palazzo Grassi.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                  Contini Galleria d’Arte

Address:             2765/2769 Calle del o Spezier

Phone:                 041-520-4942

Web:                    continiarte.com

Email:                 contini@continiarte.com

Art/Artists:        A variety of superb artists from lesser known                                                                                         Fabrizio Plessi (digital art of lava flows encased in lava                                                                         like rocks, monumental size), to internationally famous                                                                       artists as Botero, Lin Tian, Miro, Mitoraji, Warhol,                                                                               Chagall, Picasso, etc.

Note:                   International class art gallery with locations in Cortina                                                                  d’Ampezo, Mestre, Rome, and Corsica.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Tornabuoni Arte

Address:            2663 Calle Zaguri

Phone:               041-523-1201

Web:                  tornabuoniarte.it

Email:                 info@tornabuoniarte.it

Art:                     Great examples of fine contemporary and modern art.

Artists:               Fontana, Lam Gentilini, de Chirico.

Note:                   Located in Campo San Maurizo.  Also locations in                                                                                   Florence, Milan, Portofino, and Forte del Marmi.  Small                                                                       understated gallery with great art and knowledgeable                                                                  staff.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Opera Gallery

Address:            2288 XXII Marzo

Phone:               041-277-0504

Web:                  operagallery.com

Email:                Venice@operagallery.com

Art:                     Contemporary and Modern art on am international scale.

Artists:              Chagall, K. Haring, among others.

Note:                  Other locations in Paris, London, New York, Miami, Hong                                                                    Kong, Singapore, and Seoul.  Elegantly displayed and                                                                            interesting art.  Well lit.  Charming and helpful staff.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Livio de Marchi

Address:            3157/A  San Samuele

Phone:               041-528-5694

Web:                   liviodemarchi.com

Email:                 gallery@liviodemarchi.com

Art:                      Wood sculptures in the form of utilitarian objects of daily                                                                   life such as books, dishes, cooking utensils, etc.

Artist:                 Artist owned gallery.

Note:                   Same style and technique as Marazzi, see caption under                                                                       his gallery.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Venice Design Art Gallery

Address:            1310 Calle Vallaresso

Phone:                041-52-39082

Web:                   venicedesignartgallery.com

Email:                 venicedesignartgallery2@tin.it

Art:                     Contemporary flat art, also jewelry.

Artists:               Farouk Hosny, Franco Fontana, Annaluds, etc.  Also                                                                              Paladino jewelry.

Note:                   Near San Marco Square.  Another location at 3146 San                                                                         Samuele Salizado in Dosoduro near the Traghetto stop,                                                                       phone 041-520-5276.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:               Galleria Luigi Proietti (also called Galleria Artitalia Museo                                                                 Norberto)
Address:           3626 Campo San Angelo

Phone:               333-859-7060

Web:                  museoroberto.com

Email:                venezia@museonoroberto.com
Art:                    Modern and contemporary, variety of international styles.

Artists:              Burri, Castelli, Chagall, De Chirico, Fontana, Gentilini,                                                                         Modigiliani, Morandi, etc.

Note:                 Other locations in Spello, Rome, Cortina D’Ampezzo,                                                                           and Milan.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Galleria D’Arte III Millennio

Address:            1047 Rio Tera de le Colonne

Phone:                041-24-3561

Web:                   galleriaterzomillennio.itEmail:                                                           

Email:                 info@galleriaterzomillennio.it

Art:                      Primary artist is Mario Eremita (curator’s father).  Flat art                                                                 reminiscent of Bacon and L. Freud, some jewelry and                                                                  small sculptures.

Artists:               Mario Eremita           

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Renato Lure Art

Address:            1922/A  Campiello Marinonio de la Fenice

Phone:                041-522-2949

Web:                   gallerialure.com

Email:                 info@gallerialure.com

Art:                     Flat contemporary abstract art.

Artists:               Palasgo, Ritratti, Colanzi, Cesetti, Vassareley, Pizzinato,                                                                      Guidi,  Soetti,  Carena, Gambino, Santomasso.

Note:                   Next to the Fenice Theater.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Bugno

Address:            1996/D  Campiello Fantin

Phone:               041-523-1305

Web:                  bugnoartgallery.it

Email:                 info@bugnoartgallery.it

Art:                     Modern and contemporary art.  Also photography by                                                                            Galimberti using multiple contiguous Polaroid photos,                                                                 older Italian works.

Artist:                Many of the “Dal Fronte Nuovo Delle Art” (New Front of                                                                      Art) including Guidi, Pizzanato, Salvo.  Also Chia,                                                                                  Jahnichen, and others.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Galleria d’Arte di Matteo Lo Greco

Address:             1998 Calle del Cafatier

Phone:                041-521-2582

Web:                    logreco.com

Email:                  matlogreco@tin.it

Art:                      Fabulous oversized bronzes of hefty women, some flying                                                                     and dancing.  Rough textured patina.

Artist:                 Artist owned gallery who was born in Sicily but has been                                                                      in Venice for 30 years.

Note:                   Near the Fenice Theater.  Worth a detour to visit.  Prices                                                                     range about 5,000 Euros for 12 inch sculpture and 45,000                                                                   for the over life sized ones.  Knowledgeable and helpful                                                                        staff. 

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Jarach Gallery

Address:            1997 Campo San Fantin

Phone:                041-522-1935

Web:                   jarachgallery.com

Email:                 info@jarachgallery.com

Art:                     The only identified sole photographic gallery in Venice.

Artist:                Deluigi, Basilico,. Della Valle, etc.

Note:                  Across from the Fenice Theater.  Helpful pleasant staff.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Michele Novella Gallery

Address:            2016/A  Calle Verte

Phone:               041-528-5599

Web:                  None

Email:                novellogallery@alice.it

Art:                    Contemporary and modern abstract.

Artists:              Boetti, Burri, de Chirico

Note:                   Limited quantity exhibited and small gallery but very good                                                                 art and knowledgeable staff.

SAN MARCO

Name:                Galleria San Marco

Address:            101 Campo San Marco

Phone:                041-520-1279

Web:                  sanmarco101.it

Email:                sanmarco101@tin.it

Art:                     High quality lithographs, some unique originals.

Artists:               Picasso, Chagall, Dali, and similar.

Note:                   Right on San Marco Square in the arcades.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Galleria Ravagnan

Address:            50/A  Campo San Marco

Phone:               041-520-3021

Web:                  ravagangallery.com

Email:                info@ravagnangallery.com

Art:                    Fabulous contemporary representative, some almost                                                                           Surrealist.

Artists:             Michaela Ioana Atomei (woman artist from Bucharest),                                                                        Andrea Vizzini ( almost surrealist), Principe De Luigi                                                                            (incorporates other styles in his work).

Note:                Owner has had galleries in the USA and brother still has a                                                                    gallery in New York).  On San Marco Square, in the                                                                                arcades.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Old China

Address:            1894 Campo San Fantin

Phone:               041-520-8956

Web:                  oldchinavenice.com

Email:               claude.menasche@tin.it

Art:                    Deinitely not Modern or Contemporary.  Ancient Chinese                                                                   ceramics, sculptures, etc.  Great collection.

Artist:               Unknown.

Note:                 Included here because of the great and unique well                                                                                 preserved  interior.  An old 17-18^th Century Pharmacy                                                                with a wooden carved interior, niches, pedestals with                                                                           original Italian ceramics, etc., and a great collection.

                           On the side of the Fenice Theater.  Worth a special visit.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Galleria Michela Rizzo

Address:            2597 Fondamente della Malvasia Vecchia

Phone:               041-241-3006

Web:                  galleriamichelarizzo.net

Email:                ingo@galleriamichelarizzo.net

Art:                     Typically one artist shows, currently Leoni Feire of                                                                                Argentina (she won a Gold Lion at the 2007n Biennale).

                             Video art, sculptures, and photographs.

Artists:               Though one artist shows, also exhibits other works such                                                                       as Giovanni Rizzoli (Venetian), Cecilia Paredus (Peru),                                                                         and Barry Ball’s video art (USA), Lawrence Carroll's installation art                                                  (Australia).

Note:                   On a side alley at 4254 Calle Albanesi for entry, facing                                                                           the front of the Fenice, turn left over the bridge.  You must                                                                 ring the bell for entry and gallery is on the second floor.                                                                       Definitely worth a visit as more contemporary than most.                                                                   A second location is at 4524 Calle degli Albanesi near                                                                            San Marco Square.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                  La Galleria-Venezia

Address::            2566 Ramo dei Calegheri

Phone:                 041-520-7415

Web:                    None. (Germany: galerie.vanderkoelen.de)

Email:                  None. (Germany:            galerie@vanderkoelen.de)

Art:                      Sculptures, mixed media.  Very cutting edge.  Plastic and                                                                     free form hangings and wall sculptures.

Artists:                Fabrizio Plessi (Venetian), Angela Glajcar (German),

                             Martin Willing.

Note:                   Near the Fenice Theater and Ponte Storto.  Ring the bell                                                                       for entry.  Owner Dorothea Van Der Koelen has a sister                                                                       gallery in Mainz, Germany.  Definitely worth a look.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Galleria A + A

Address:            3071 Calle Malipiero

Phone:               04-277-0966

Web:                  aplusa.it

Email:                 info@aplusa.it

Art:                      Variable exhibitions. 

Artists:               Different artists, and also the Slovenia exhibition space for                                                                   the Biennale.

Note:                  Not a selling gallery but more of a Kuntshalle and                                                                                  exhibition space.  Also called the Centropublico per l’arte                                                                    contemporanea.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                Galleria Il Capricorno

Address:            1994 San Marco (exact street name unknown)

Phone:               041-520-6920

Web:                  None.

Email:                 galleriailcapricorno@libero.it

Art:                    Modern and contemporary flat art.

Artists:             Generally a focus on one artist at a time but changes                                                                            often.  Currently exhibiting Elliott Hundley.

Note:                 Near the Fenice Theater.

 

SAN MARCO

Name:                 Galleria Bordas

Address:            1994/B  Calle Drio La Chiesa

Phone:               041-522-4812

Web:                   galeriebordas.com

Email:                galeriebordas@yahoo.it

Art:                     Lithographs of internationally known artists.

Artists:              Chagall, Miro, Dubuffet, Fautier, Music, Paladino, Tanguy,                                                                   Vedova, Braque, etc.

Note:                 Near the Fenice Theater.

 

SAN POLO

Name:                Melori & Rosemnberg

Address:            2815 Campiello San Toma

Phone:                041-275-0039

Web:                   melori-rosenberg.com

Email:                 info@melori-rosenberg.com

Art:                      Contemporary oils, realism and hyper-realism, some                                                                   abstract almost Klimnt like.

Artists:                Luigi Rocca (hyper-realism), Veronica Green (New                                                                               Zealand), Daniel Bianchi, Lucia Sarto, Antonio Vigno,                                                                            Fernando Zucchi, etc.

Note:                   Well informed, good English, very hospitable.  Another                                                                         Gallery in the Ghetto area of Carnereggio sector.