July News
Art Angels - Los Angeles
We have been patient to sign with a gallery in Los Angeles as my instinct was that a dedicated photographic gallery was perhaps not the best option in this most creative of places. There seems to be a level of promiscuity in collectors’ attention from one genre of art to another that is unmatched elsewhere and we could see material benefits in our work being alongside highly acclaimed contemporary artists that are not fellow photographers.
Our printer – Bowhaus – in Culver City has kept a watchful eye on the marketplace – as indeed have many good friends in the city. LA is almost a second home for DYP now given the level of production at Bowhaus and it seems the right time to put down a marker and build a presence.
I am delighted to have been approached by Art Angels – a respected contemporary art gallery in the heart of West Hollywood and, having met with the team, it looks a perfect fit. The joint owner of Art Angels – Jacquelin Napal-Comeau – has a passion and work ethic with which we identify and it is rather exciting to be in the same stable in LA as two legendary British photographers – Russell Young and Terry O’Neill.
LA rewards relevance and talent and also seeks immediacy in grati cation – but I find these demands energising. It is a tough city that has crushed many dreams, but why not put yourself into the mix, meet extraordinarily gifted people and perhaps take the occasional confidence knock along the way? No artist should stop learning or become complacent and LA keeps you very much on your toes.
Arthur Roger Gallery - New Orleans
Every great city has a past, but New Orleans is one of the most storied. Established by the French in 1716 – Nouvelle Orleans, it was ceded to the Spanish and then returned to Napoleon who sold it to the US (The Louisiana Purchase) in 1803. It went on to become the largest port in America and the most important city in the South. The cotton plantations brought with them great wealth and of course the emergence of slavery. Long after slavery was abolished the vibrant jazz and music scene hinted at the city’s ethical evolution.
More recently – of course – came the horrors of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – the greatest climatic devastation for a top tier American city since the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. It cost New Orleans $150 billion, but as with other cities in the US that have suffered tragedy on such scale (San Francisco 1906, New York 2001) New Orleans has recovered and the city has regained its tropical swagger. The French Quarter is energised and doing what it does best – art and music.
This makes it of great interest to us and we have been told by several respected sources that the most important art dealer in the American South lives in town – Arthur Roger. So I was excited to go and meet Arthur and see his magnificent eponymous gallery in July. Arthur has donated a considerable proportion of his estimable art collection to NOMA – the New Orleans Museum of Art. It is a pantheon of a building and a huge asset for the city. It was all rather surreal to be given a personal tour. Arthur has an extraordinary eye and an even more authoritative and reasoned voice. As with Holden Luntz in Palm Beach, his scholarly knowledge of art is only rivalled by his passion for art.
Our gallery footprint in America is nearly complete and I am delighted that the Arthur Roger Gallery will now represent us in the great state of Louisiana. There will be an opening show in January 2018 and anyone that enjoys bourbon, history and a bit of jazz should come over. We can all go on a “Django Unchained” road trip.
