au currant

worried about the art market? me too.

Excerpt from Harold James' column on Daily Telegraph...

In the middle of September’s financial meltdown, a remarkable event occurred in London. While the City of London was shaken by the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the run on HBOS, Sotheby’s staged a record-breaking auction for the works of the artist Damien Hirst, which produced a gross take of around $200 million. Compared to the values that were being destroyed on Wall Street, this was small change; but it was a remarkable vote of confidence in the work of one artist.

Financial bubbles, like the one that has just definitively burst, are intimately related to the world of art. Renaissance Florence depended on the patronage of the Medici. Sixteenth-century Venice turned the wealth of the spice trade into the canvases of Titian and Tintoretto.

The world’s next great commercial centre was Amsterdam, where again the successful burghers pushed for a new style of art and produced the age of Rembrandt. The great nineteenth- and early twentieth-century financiers, men like JP Morgan, Henry Frick, and Andrew Mellon, spent a large part of their fortunes on art.

From their viewpoint, collecting art was not simply a matter of benevolence or public spiritedness. Nor was it simply a very expensive hobby. Their galleries showed in a visible and very public way the discernment and judgement that their financial business depended on.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C10%5C08%5Cstory_8-10-2008_pg3_4

Untitled

    

                                                    Untitled (2003)
                                                    Daniel Galas
                                    
I'm not trying to be lazy. It really is untitled. I just started working with a new artist, Daniel Galas. Because he is exchanging coasts (NYC --> SF) in the name of love, he wanted to part ways with some of his work. I was lucky enough to get my hands on this piece, which is yet untitled.

I'm still looking for a name. If you can think of one, please let me know.

Delinquent Sommelier

better late than never. one hopes.

It's week 7 of my sommelier certification course and unlike my earlier autumnal promise - I have been hoarding my knowledge for myself. But no longer! I'll attempt to truncate basic knowledge into an entry before I meanderlust into regions.

Wine appreciation can seem complex and pretentious. Too many things to remember. To simplify it, think about your senses. In wine, your senses of sight, smell, taste, touch are engaged (sorry - there are no aural wines. yet.) So consider them when you try to appreciate it. I like to taste a wine in this order:

sight:  what color is the wine when you tilt it slightly to your left against the light? Is it nearly clear, yellow, deep ruby, garnet, etc? remember that both red and white wines 'brown' as they age.

smell: swirl the glass on the table, with your fore and middle fingers steading the stem - rather than picking up the glass with your thumb and forefinger - you have more control this way. park your nose inside the wine glass and inhale deeply. what does the bouquet (scent) remind you of?

taste: sip a small amount into your mouth - and let it swirl all around your tongue, cheeks, roof of mouth. swallow and exhale through your nose (this is the secondary smell called seve). does the wine feel light or heavy? what flavors do you pick up? fruit, floral, vegetale, animal, roasted? (more on this later.)

touch: how does the wine make your mouth feel? does it dry your teeth, gums, mouth? or does it make your mouth salivate? does it coat your mouth? how long does the flavor last - and does it change at all?

It may seem like a lot to juggle at once, but it will come naturally, as long as you remember sight, smell, taste, touch. Or even better: point to your eye, nose, mouth, then look at your hand. and try to ignore the people looking at smart little you, a little funny.

A Contemporary Art Exhibit Opening in Old New York

Yours truly helped organize an exhibit at the National Arts Club. I am featuring works by two contemporary artists, Caroline Bergonzi and Scott Richards. I'd love it if you joined me this Tuesday, October 2nd at 6 - 8pm. Give my name at the door, come inside the historic Tilden Mansion, marvel at the La Farge glass ceiling. Knock back some wine, look beautiful, enjoy. And... buy, buy, buy!

        

                The President, The Board of Governors
                 & The National Arts Club Roundtable

                                   invite you to

                         THE SIXTEENTH

                               ANNUAL

                           ROUNDTABLE

                             EXHIBITION


                             OPENING RECEPTION:

                         Tuesday, October 2, 2007
                                       6 - 8pm

           The National Arts Club . 15 Gramercy Park South
              (212) 475-3424 . www.nationalartsclub.org

Sommelier in Training

               
                                sommelier society of america

The crispness of Autumn brings with it an oenophilic intrigue for yours truly... I am taking a course with The Sommelier Society of America. Founded in 1954, the SSA is the oldest organization in America, devoted to the education of wine. It  offers a five month long seminar topped off with an ultra hard exam, replete with multiple choice questions with multiple right answers (read: what flavors comprise this grape varietal? a) flint b) moss c) citrus d) socks ) and blind tasting. Passing the exam allows one to join the society and confers a laurel of snobnoxiousness. Power corrupts and all, but I think I'll refuse that temptation, especially since it won't befit the performing monkey I'll become during dinners with friends. I can already feel it happening. (No, you couldn't possibly have sancerre with coq au vin!)

All pretentiousness aside, I invite you to learn along with me this fall. Each week I'll write a little snippet with tippets. To kick off:

Wine is essentially fermented grape juice. Rather simply put, there are three types of wines. Red, white and rose.

Red wine is made by juicing with the grape skin intact.
White wine is made by either juicing after red grape skin is removed, or by using only white grapes.
Rose is a curious beast - a proper rose is made by removing the skin shortly into the fermenting process (perhaps a few hours until desired color is reached), but plenty of wineries will mix white wine with a dash of red afterwards and call it rose.

1. You can make white wine out of red grapes (called blanc de noir) but you can't make red wine out of white grapes. 
2. Don't smell the cork. It smells like cork. Not the wine. And it's a telltale sign of someone who doesn't know anything about wine.
3. Match weight for weight. A light meal goes with light wine. Seafood with white, red for boar or heavy tomoto sauce pasta.
4. "If it grows together, it goes together" (Edna Lewis). If you're eating Italian, go for Italian wine. South American food with South American - or as close as you can get it.

and - I can't resist slipping in a little thing about the bubbly:

The proper way to open a bottle of champagne is to remove the bale (the wire cage surrounding the cork), hold the bottle at a 45 degree angle (to keep air bubbles level), then hold the cork and turn the bottle. The bottle should open smoothly, without NASCARish celebrations.

Next week is about the components of wine and the technical aspects of tasting. I'll try to master the swirl and spit and will give a full report.

Art Parties

                        

                            
                                                 click for more photos

Poprally, an art party at MOMA created by and for the young crowd, is a lot of fun.  It's to encourage/lure the youthful with very affordable admissions prices + drinks included. The scene was very LES and very Marc Jacobs, sort of stringy straight hair, some people still wearing skinny jeans with flats, definitely some Brooklyn Industries and American Apparel ensembles. I felt a bit overdressed in my long blue silk hippiebougie dress with a plunging neckline.

The featured musical & visual artists were Paper Rad and Cory Archangel - a sort of mismash of 80's pop iconography and a comment on the media frenzy of the 2000's. It started off with a severely pixellated, visual distortion remix of 'Umbrella' and Bjork and gave way to mosh pits with crowd surfing by the dj and random girls. What a strange scene, with a bronze Balzac presiding. But a lovely one, to see the museum lit up and pounding with punk rock. Sorta bar meets museum. Is this the future of museums?

The next night, I was at the Gugg, at another art party - this time a members only cocktail hour, to peruse. The crowd was certainly different - an older mindset perhaps? But definitely more St. John, tasteful couture, prada, with lots of little silk dresses, with business casual mingled in. I was in a 50's getup, a white and red dress with tulip cap sleeves, red heels and a clutch purse.

Silly this, but I wonder if I shouldn't have swapped outfits for the two parties.

If you want to join in the poprally fun, go here or send an email.

Eric Gets Hitched

                     
                                   click for more wedding pictures

Eric Lai just got married on Saturday.

It's sort of the end of an era. And the beginning of one. Funny how SISers* can get nostalgic about these things... but whenever one of us goes through a life transition, it's a time for us to all get together and self-reflect by the bar. Most of us have known each other for lifetimes - Jeff Yu and I've known each other since we were 6 and Eric since 11. When Perry got married a few years back, it was like - dude, that's really early (23!), but when Eric got married, we were like - wow - is it time for me to start thinking about it? Is it too late already?

It's funny to see your childhood friend with whom you've run around Seoul with, to Lotte World, to middle school dances, etc... all grown up. Become a man and be completely in love with another person, and want to make the promise to be true forever; to be constant, in this unconstant world. It makes you proud, to be his friend.

Congratulations, Eric and Jen - you look beautiful and happy together. We're truly happy for you.

_____________________________________________________________________________

SIS*  Seoul International School (K-12), located in Seoul, Korea, where a bunch of us neurotic, intelligent, belligerent, loyal, confused, sweet kids went and stayed friends since.

Review of Grammar Lessons by Michele Morano

                                    

My review of Grammar Lessons by Michele Morano is alive and well on KGB Lit. Please go and view it!

Alternate ending to "Warcrack: The Second Coming"

                     

Here are the two cut paragraphs from my Pop Matters column "Warcrack: The Second Coming." My editor thought the published version has a stronger more warcraft focused ending. For me, this ending circles back a bit more to my addiction and accurately depicts my current attitude towards the crack. Please cast your two cents.

Cheerios,

E

....

For me, there will always be keeping up with the elves, humans, dwarves, which I no longer have the energy for. There will always be more dungeons I don't have time to explore, epic gear I can't have because I no longer play Warcraft incessantly. I've discovered that just because you've invested madly thus far doesn't mean you can't tiptoe back to balance. There's some moderation that can be injected into my sometimes black and white world.

'Once an addict, Always an addict' is only somewhat true. I'm an addict with perspective. While Warcraft will always be special to me, there's no longer that narcotic urgency to get a hit. I have far too much going on in my life – my career, my friends who've forgiven my fibs and flakiness, volunteering, taking in all the arts and culture available in New York City – to be able to be enthralled in the embrace of Warcraft. But I know I have to be careful. While I won't take Odysseus' approach, it's so easy to slip back, especially in these cold winter days – when she lures like a siren.

And now you're smart.

                        

Rene Magritte
(1898 - 1967)

The Son of Man (Le fils de l'homme)
(1928-1929)

You know this guy. You've seen him in The Thomas Crown Affair. Now you know Mr. Magritte painted him. And now you can show off how smart you are.