Parallel Lives comes to life in NY this June

  Parallel lives is a traveling exhibition series that swaps Artists work between two distinct cities to initiate conversation and context about Artist’s practices and their communities. This exhibit is created and curated by Luis Martin, Founder and Chief Curator of Parenthesis Art Space in NY. I had the honor to meet and get to know Luis during one of his Chicago visits.

This collaboration invites the audience of both cities to think about art and the Artists that made the work in terms of context and questions the influence of place and time. Furthermore, the PARALLEL LIVES series will create a platform to expand the Artist’s reach to forge a wider sense of community and visibility.

The first part of the show took place during the Zhou B Art center's third Fridays at Art NXT Level Projects / 33 Contemporary Gallery which exhibited works of selected artists by Luis Martin from NY. As part of the Traveling Series Parallel Lives, Artists from Chicago will be showing their work during Bushwick Open Studios (BOS). I'm honored to be featured in this amazing exhibit at Parenthesis Art Space in New York curated by Luis Martin and Chicago's very own Sergio Gomez. Being in NY is obviously always exciting and the fact that I will be there celebrating this amazing exhibit with such talented group of artists, is just phenomenal.

The exhibit is open to public on June 4-5th 2016 from 11 am to 6 pm located at 203 Harrison Place, Brooklyn, NY 11237. In addition, on Sunday, June 5th at 1 pm, there will be a special Artist talk called "Closing the Gap" by Artist and curator, Sergio Gomez. In this dynamic talk, Sergio will share advise on how to convert obstacles and fears into life-changing opportunities. Dr. Yanina Gomez will also share that one thing we all need to help us foster and maintain an optimistic mindset. Don't miss this event!

We can not wait to celebrate with you. Come join us and let's connect Chicago and NY Art scene more than ever before.

The Most Expensive Single Auction in History : Christie's $745 Million Contemporary Art Sale

  With 2014 behind us, it's time to look at some records made in the past year. 2014 was a year of records for many things; one of which was for items sold at auctions. Prices for artworks skyrocket into the millions. Here is an interesting read and details on some of the jaw dropping prices for the past year.

READ MORE HERE - ARTICLE FROM NY OBSERVER MAGAZINE

Art for the sake of "ART"?!!!

No matter where you travel, there is always some great art to see. So many talented artists are working with different media, different circumstances, different cultures... but is the modern world of art and it's art enthusiasts giving the emerging artists enough chance to show what they are capable of? or are we getting to the point where Art is losing its artistic value and just its good as long as its bringing in more cash... Banksy - who's a pseudonymous UK based graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter - makes a point in NY by setting up a stall of his own original signed art work, each for 60$. Now mind you, the stall included small and large canvases, including a version of "Love is in the air". A limited edition of that work sold for $249,000 at auction this past summer.

By the end of that day, only few artworks were sold, some pieces were even bargained for lower than $60. Banksy described his motivation later as below:" I know street art can feel increasingly like the marketing wing of an art career, so I wanted to make some art without the price tag attached. There's no gallery show or book or film. It's pointless. Which hopefully means something."

I can't help but wonder, are we losing our interest in art for the sake of art? are we looking at it only as a financial investment? Is Banksy right proving in below video that if an amazing piece by a great artist - known or unknown - is not shown to us in a high-end gallery and/or with proper marketing, or better said, through the necessary connections, we might not look at it the same way or not even like it for that matter?

Feel free to watch Banksy's video on this :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX54DIpacNE