[SOLO] exhibitors: take note! Artexpo New York 2010 Exhibitor Karen Kohtz is a seasoned exhibitor with excellent advice to share. This is her second guest blog for Artexpo. www.karenkohtz.com

Artist, 2010 exhibitor & guest blogger Karen Kohtz

For [SOLO] artists, getting ready for Artexpo is like being an athlete and getting ready for a marathon. Athletes work out a preparation schedule long before they run the race. Every day, they set goals to build strength, endurance and mental balance to be emotionally ready for the big day. Preparing for Artexpo is no different. Here are some helpful hints to ensure you cross the finish line victorious!

1. BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR OBJECTIVE
What is your motivation for exhibiting? Are you trying to attract new galleries for representation? Are you trying to introduce your art to a larger global audience? For me personally, one of my objectives was to attract the attention of designers working with large corporate spaces, lobbies, restaurants and hotels. If your hope is to sell enough art at Artexpo to pay for your booth and expenses, I would encourage you to set your goals higher and dream bigger. Being clear about what you want is the first step in achieving it.

2. PREPARING YOUR BOOTH
This part should be easy because you are creative. Lay out your art and how you plan to display it ahead of time. Bring your best original works. I suggest not only business cards, but also a 3×5 or 5×7 card with an example of your work, a picture of you and your contact information. Prospective clients will be seeing a lot of art over the weekend, so anything you can do to help them remember you is a plus.

3. GET TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS
Don’t go solo as a [SOLO] artist. The other artists around you will be a valuable resource and support over the course of the event. Get to know your comrades right away! In 2010, one row of artists coined a nickname for themselves: “Avenue 1400.” They bonded together as new friends and created an energy of excitement around their work.

4. BE PROACTIVE
Stand up; don’t sit passively in the corner of your booth. This will help you stay proactive and engaging with the opportunities before you. Remember, this is a marathon you are running. Think of the four days at Artexpo as the last four miles of your personal marathon. You never see a runner sitting down after they cross the 22-mile mark. They are looking only at the finish line.

5. BE MENTALLY PREPARED
After all your art is ready and you’re ready to bring your personal best to this exhibition, what’s next? Mental preparation! I believe it is your mental attitude that will determine your outcome. Be open, be flexible and, above all, be optimistic.

6. WHAT TO EXPECT
You have worked hard to get to Artexpo and your adrenaline will be running high with excitement and expectations from day one. Your fellow [SOLO] exhibitors are feeling the same thing, so you are not alone! As well as you should be prepared by now, no one can determine exactly how the event will unfold for each artist. Some of you will sell your work the first day. Others may consign work to new galleries with sales coming later on down the road. Be open to the unexpected.

7. MY EXPERIENCE
2010 was my first year as a [SOLO] exhibitor. A few days into the show, I had only sold two pieces. I must admit my confidence was compromised and I began to question if I had made the right decision in exhibiting at Artexpo. By the last day, things started to turn around. I connected with two new galleries—one in Boston, and one in Santa Fe. Being represented by a gallery in Santa Fe had always been a desire of mine, so this alone was a personal victory. By the end of the show, I had consigned the majority of my work to these new galleries.

8. AFTER THE SHOW
Several days after the show was over, I was contacted by an architectural firm in Manhattan looking to commission a piece of art for their lobby. They did not attend Artexpo, but rather found me through the Artexpo website (you get a lot of online exposure simply by having your name on ArtexpoNewYork.com’s Exhibitor List!). Over the last two years, this connection has brought me numerous clients long after the show was over. I have had the opportunity to work with art consultants and designers, and this was all made possible from exhibiting at Artexpo. In the end, it proved to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

So if you get off to a slow start as I did, don’t be discouraged. Every experience you have had in your life has brought you to this pinnacle point in your artistic career. It marks your effort, your hard work and above all your extraordinary talent.

I look forward to meeting you at this year’s show. Have a great exhibition!

—Karen Kohtz

More than a quarter of a century. That’s how long the world’s leading publisher of fine art, Deljou Art Group, has been exhibiting innovative artwork at Artexpo New York. And in 2012, we’re honored to have Deljou back again.

Based in Atlanta, Deljou Art Group has established an impressive influence on contemporary American fine art through through impeccable taste, hard work and uncanny marketing savvy. Mehron Zadeh, Deljou Art Group’s General Manager, probably knows as much about the art industry as anyone in America. At his first Artexpo in the early 1980s, Mehron understood that Artexpo New York could be a cornerstone of the company’s success:

Mehron Zadeh, General Manager, Deljou Art Group

Networking was very important to us then and is now — Artexpo, to us, is yet another vehicle to communicate with clients, meet new industry professionals and showcase original works from our top artists. The show goes beyond the halls of Artexpo: their marketing on social networking as well as through the Artexpo site is an added benefit to the exposure Deljou Art Group receives. It always proves to be a successful venture for us.

Offering the finest original paintings, sculpture, photography and art prints on the market, Deljou’s core asset is their roster of more than 50 painters, photographers, and sculptors, enlisted from across the country and around the world. A rigorous recruiting process ensures work of high quality and often startling innovation — kept vital and relevant by the infusion of fresh talent into Deljou’s studios every year. You can learn more at deljouartgroup.com.

The brilliant artists Deljou are representing at Artexpo New York 2012 will do more than uphold the company’s enviable reputation — they’ll make the Deljou Art Group booth a magnet for collectors yet again. Here is a preview of three painters whose work Deljou will be displaying March 22-25:

Lun Tse

Born in Hong Kong, Lun’s name in English translates as “dragon” — the traditional Chinese symbol of power and elegance. It would turn out to be prophetic: now an internationally successful artist, Lun paints serenely beauty floral settings with powerful and vibrant color on a dramatic scale.

Flower Power by Lun Tse

Lun was only three years old when his family relocated to California. Later, Lun relocated to Tampa, Florida, where he began to mature as a painter, winning festival awards and showing his work at high-end Boca Raton galleries. Lun’s discovery of “sponge” painting proved to be the catalyst for his greatest creative and commercial success, taking him into realms of expression he could not reach with a traditional brush. He has since published several instructional books on the technique.

The vibrant intensity of Lun’s palette is perfectly diffused by the softness of his sponge and brushwork. The resulting canvases are dreamlike, each with a story that holds meaning for a painter who has bridged continents and cultures.

I find great satisfaction in creating artworks that are done well. To have them well-received by any audience brings a total sense of accomplishment. When a collector takes my artwork for their own to enrich their home — this gives me a sense of contribution.

Lun’s work can be found in collections around the world.  He currently lives with his family in Atlanta.

Vincent George

As a child, Vincent George used to render upstate New York’s leafy trees and rolling hills in charcoal on old, brown paper bags. The wrinkled paper and soft edges of the medium inform his quietly surreal style today.

Attending The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Vincent received a BFA and as much New York City hustle and bustle as he could handle. He then moved to Georgia. Returning to a more pastoral setting gave Vincent elements he needed to reconnect with his earliest inspiration, while his new girlfriend Michelle inspired him to become a full-time painter.

Vincent has become best known for timeless landscapes with almost abstractedly soft edges, yet his work encompasses the bright lights, paved surfaces and hurried activity of the big city, as well.

City Lights by Vincent George

Craig Alan

Craig Alan’s work runs the gamut from abstract expressionism to haunting, graphic realism, each series of paintings a reflection of its creator’s unique vision. His prolific career is a culmination of textbook artistic knowledge and keen aesthetic sense.

Though born in California, Craig’s artistic orientation did not get a chance to fully express itself until his family moved to New Orleans in his youth. It was the Crescent City, rich in its culture and outlets for creative expression, that let Craig’s capacity for detailed visual interpretation take root.

Populous 101 by Craig Alan

Craig’s early experimentation with street portraiture helped him develop the gestural, economic approach to the human figure that distinguishes his paintings today. It was not until his sophomore year at the University of Mobile, Alabama, however, that Craig began a serious, academic focus in art. Craig earned an area award for academic excellence, and the university’s most prestigious exhibition, “Art with a Southern Drawl,” featured 42 of Craig’s pieces. Techniques in makeup and set design, developed during a minor concentration in theater, went into the disparate influences and media that can be seen in Craig’s work — as well a keen awareness of the space his subjects occupy.

The ‘Populous’ series is about changing the perspective from which society view itself; from something ‘large’ to something ‘small’. Society views the human race with too much grandeur. In the grand scheme of things, we are just specs on a spec within a spec.

More information about Craig Alan, Lun Tse and Vincent George and the Deljou Art Group can be found at deljouartgroup.com. Be sure to visit Deljou Art Group at Artexpo New York 2012 at Pier 92, March 22-25.

]]> http://artexponewyork.com/2012/02/30-years-of-excellence-deljou-art-group-at-artexpo-new-york/feed/ 3 http://artexponewyork.com/2011/06/success-story-sylvain-goudreau/ http://artexponewyork.com/2011/06/success-story-sylvain-goudreau/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:19:53 +0000 Christine Schrum http://artexponewyork.com/?p=7191

Artexpo New York 2011 exhibitor Sylvain Goudreau in front of "Pastis Time"

We received this inspiring success story from Artexpo New York 2011 exhibitor Sylvain Goudreau last month, but things have been so busy I’m just getting around to posting it now! Lots to do these days, gearing up for Miami SOLO this Nov./Dec.

Congrats on your great success, Sylvain, and feel free to share any updates via comments below this post. We always love hearing about our artists’ exciting new endeavors!

For the rest of our readers, please enjoy Sylvain’s story:

“As a first time exhibitor at New York’s 2011 Artexpo, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had always dreamed of one day exhibiting in New York City, but making the necessary contacts from my Canadian hometown was rather impossible. Reading about the Solo exhibition on the Artexpo website really got me excited about the show. I registered and, right from the start, the Artexpo team was there to help make my experience a good one.

I learned a great deal from the show; the seminars were very interesting and targeted a lot of the questions I had. I also met great artists with whom I discussed and received feedback on my work and the art market. Concretely, I made professional ties with designers, some of whom bought two of my paintings. I also met a curator who invited me to exhibit in a well established New York City gallery. I had brought 11 paintings to the show and four of them remained in New York. Upon my return, I was contacted by a personal art consultant who now represents my work in the United States and abroad, and by two other galleries who are interested in my work. Closer to home, I have gained in recognition having full page newspaper articles written on my work, and my networking has blossomed exponentially.

Less than two months after Artexpo and I have never been so busy! I am looking forward to the coming year to see the outcome of this grand adventure.”
—Sylvain Goudreau

To see more of Sylvain’s paintings and learn about the artist, visit www.sylvaingoudreau.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/artbygoudreau

"Primary, Black and White" by Tim Roseborough, documentary website screenshot

Hooray, more fan mail from yet another satisfied Artexpo New York 2011 exhibitor: Tim Roseborough!  Here’s what Tim had to say about exhibiting at Artexpo this spring:

I’m writing to thank you and the organizers of Art Expo New York, this year. I received great opportunities from the show. As a result of being in Artexpo, I will have my first solo exhibition at the New Art Center in New York, May 1 – 19th, 2012.

In addition, I was invited by Art In America Magazine to create a spread that will be hitting newsstands in the June/July 2011 issue. Both of these opportunities came about from presenting my work at Artexpo New York. Thank you!

Please spread the word of this to your colleagues. If there is any way that I can serve as a “success” example, I am more than happy to do it! I am also looking forward to Miami SOLO, as well.

—Tim Roseborough
www.timroseborough.com

Wow, fantastic news all around. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for that Art in America spread, Tim, and mayhap you’ll send us invites to your spring show in NYC next year? Very exciting!

We’re looking forward to hosting Tim and a wide range of other talented artists and photographers at Miami SOLO in Florida from Nov. 30 – Dec. 4 this year. Join us as we launch our first Miami art fair during the wildly popular Art Week Miami, alongside the powerhouse shows of Art Miami / Scope / Art Asia and Red Dot! It’s going to be big…

We just love fan mail from satisfied exhibitors! We recently received this wonderful letter from Malteste Expressionist Photography, and I thought I’d share it with you.

I just want to take a minute to thank you and your team for everything that was done for our 2011 Artexpo New York. Dealing with your team was efficient, courteous, and above all easy. I would like to give a special thank to Sara Vesely. I must say that I really appreciated meeting you, and your great sense of humor was particularly appreciated.

This was our very first show and it was quite a success for us. We gave out more than 2,000 business cards, and at one moment we could barely walk in the booth! We also participated in a video interview where my artistic vision is described in full length; it will soon be available over the Internet. Customers were pleased with our selection and could just not choose their favorite artwork during the show! We are currently completing orders from people we met at your show and we are now working on preparing a production of four large-format PLEXI-ARTS artwork for an upscale NY interior designer; an important NY corporate firm recently acquired these artworks.

On top of that, we are now quite busy answering many requests we had at the show from the media, interior designers, and art galleries from the US and oversea. It is now very clear that I will need to spend more time in the future in the US. New York will become for sure one of our most important market. The vibe I got in New York is hard to explain, this was my first visit in NY since 25 years and I fell in love with your city!

—Malteste Expressionist Photography

To learn more about Malteste Expressionist Photography, visit www.Malteste.com

" She Dances in Beauty 1," Anna Razumovskaya, ANNA ART Publishing

Artexpo New York 2011 exhibitor ANNA ART Publishing can’t say enough positive things about participating in Artexpo New York. According to Eugene Korchinski, Managing Director:

“We always have a great experience exhibiting with Artexpo! Since we started 7 years ago to make our way up from the SOLO section (at the very far corner) to the Main Floor, Artexpo proved itself to be our major marketing venue. It is working! You can actually see your business growing with the years.”

ANNA ART Publishing had a strong presence at this year’s spring show in NYC—one of our best shows to date! Show traffic was fantastic, with a 60% increase in attendees and many, many sales.

“This year our originals were sold out one day before the show started—galleries were placing orders when we were still setting up our booth. So all 3 days of the show we were selling giclées – lots of them! Artexpo always been very easy to work with and very helpful. The management team is clearly able to promote the show well and bring in the right clientele!”

We’re so pleased to hear Artexpo is doing great things for your business, Eugene and Anna! We look forward to hosting you again in the near future, whether at Miami SOLO, coming up this fall in Florida during Art Week Miami, or at Artexpo New York 2012.

This year, Smart Publishing—one of the leading art publishers in the industry—is celebrating 20 years of exhibiting at Artexpo New York. Congratulations to one of our most established exhibitors!

It was back in 1991 that Rami Rotkopf, owner and founder of Smart Publishing, first took two booths in Artexpo New York. At the time, Smart Publishing was exhibiting a then-unknown artist named David Schluss. Over the next 20 years, Smart Publishing went on to develop David Schluss and many other Israeli artists into some of the most recognized contemporary artists in the industry.

Artist David Schluss autographing at Artexpo New York

Today, Smart Publishing supplies art to hundreds of galleries in the USA, Europe and the Far East. Says owner Rami Rotkopf:

“Through the years we kept coming back to New York Artexpo because it was a major destination to grow our wholesale business and gain exposure. Each year we grew bigger, increasing our booth size and we found that our client base was increasing every year as well. The great thing about this show is that in 4 days it puts all the players from the art industry in one place. The galleries can meet with publishers and the artists can meet with clients, and everybody gets the buzz of what is new in the world of art.”

Isaac Maimon with buyers from Australia.

Rami feels that by showing his artists’ latest works each year at Artexpo, Smart Publishing gives clients the opportunity to see firsthand each artist’s progression and development. As for exhibiting in the current economy, Rami Rotkopf says:

“The last 2 years were very difficult for us but we hung on and in the last 6 months we are starting to see improvement. Galleries are starting to reorder and people are getting back to buying art again. It’s human nature to want to get back to living life again. That’s why we feel that the 2011 Artexpo will be a good one!”

Center Court at Artexpo New York.

At the March 2011 Artexpo, Smart Publishing will launch new lines from all of their artists, and David Schluss will make an appearance at the show. For this occasion, he will create a special triptych painting commemorating his 20 years at Artexpo.

Smart Publishing Booth at Artexpo.

Smart Publishing will be exhibiting in the center lounge area at Artexpo New York 2011 (March 25-27, Pier 94). Look for them at booths 513, 515, 519.

"Dreamer (John Lennon)," Robert Johns Iconic

At Artexpo, we love fan mail. Not just because we love praise (who doesn’t?), but because it lets us know we’re accomplishing our goals: helping artists and gallery owners gain exposure and grow their businesses.

We recently heard from Robert Johns Iconic, an Artexpo New York 2010 exhibitor who gained some solid contacts at our spring show. Here’s what John Atanasio had to say:

“Our 2010 NYC Art Expo was a great experience and it is where we launched our first editions. We have since been picked up by ArtBrokerage.com and were featured as “Artist of the Month” a few months ago.

“Making our art accessible is somewhat of a throwback to one of our neighborhood inspirations… Keith Haring. Quite frankly, we are just happy that some people like it as much as we enjoy creating. “

To those who are exhibiting or considering exhibiting at an upcoming Artexpo, here’s what John has to say:

“Good luck to those exhibiting! After our exhibit at Art Expo NYC 2010, Robert Johns’ career was launched. You just never know.”

Robert Johns Iconic embraces an in-your-face, provocative and rebellious pop style which continues where Andy Warhol left off. The artist says his inspiration is “often plucked from the saturated mass media that influences every one of us including the Internet, television, movies, advertising, graffiti and photojournalism.”

Thanks for your email, John! Hope to see you at an upcoming Artexpo.

"This Endless Source" by Kate McCavitt

Today’s Artwork of the Day is “This Endless Source” (mixed media, 60″ x 48″) by Artexpo New York 2011 exhibitor Kate McCavitt. Trained as a Sumi-e (Asian brush) artist and self-taught in other genres, Kate McCavitt lavishes all of her colorful, textured abstract paintings with the subtleties of the Asian art tradition.

Colors, ratios, philosophies, polarities and sequences all dance together within Kate’s unique abstract style. She says her inspiration comes from nature, from “the fact of mystery in the Universe” and in “trusting the random as a synchronicity.” Kate employs rich layers of fluid acrylics, gloss mediums and metallic gesso, paired with both the random events of experimental techniques and ancient icons like Zen circles and circling human yin/yang figures.

Here’s what Kate has to say about her work in general and “This Endless Source” in particular:

“I return regularly to my love of Asian-influenced painting. The Zen Circle,or Enso, represents so much, including life from beginning to end, continuity and movement and change. A good Enso is painted when the heart and mind have become one.”

A native of New York, Kate McCavitt lives in her home-studio next to a wildlife conservation corridor in Oceanside, California with the love of her life, eight grandchildren nearby, a resident hummingbird family and bunnies, egrets, coyotes, bats, crows and hawks.

Kate has self published a series of Limited Editions of her finest works and chooses Artexpo as her main venue for exposure. She is currently represented by galleries in Coronado, Ca., Solana Beach, Ca., Culver City, CA., Waikoloa, HI., Frenchtown, NJ., Greeneville, SC., West Palm Beach, Florida, and Spring Lake, MI. In 2008, she moved to the international art world and is one of the few independent artists being represented in the GCC region (the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Quatar) by a Dubai gallery established in 1996 and which has just opened a new retail gallery in the Dubai Mall (the largest high-end shopping experience in the world).

We’re thrilled to have Kate returning to exhibit at Artexpo New York 2011 next March. You can see more of her work at www.bodyofwork.us.

Artexpo 2010 exhibitor John Woolley is now a featured artist on Art.com

Many artists ask me what kind of exposure and networking opportunities Artexpo New York can offer. Simply put, a single show can have an extraordinary impact upon your career. Take 11-year-old artist John Woolley, for instance.

At the show, John sold 35 pieces of art (actor Jane Seymour and Peter Rosenthal of NYC’s First Creative Capital were among the buyers). John was also interviewed for Art Business News Magazine, Urban Sketchers, Moonlight Chronicles and The Press-Enterprise, and was featured in the Artexpo New York 2010 Show Guide. He forged connections with many different industry professionals and recently landed a contract with Art.com. Congrats to John Woolley, a young man with considerable talent!

John was 9 years old when he first started drawing and painting on a regular basis. Inspired by everyday scenes from his neighborhood, he began his “Backyard Journals” series, which included imaginative drawings and musings.

Rob Carey, of Urban Sketchers, has this to say about John’s work:

“A quick perusal of John’s sketches reveals his pure love of drawing…. After showing some of my students samples of John’s sketches, they were amazed a boy their own age had such talent. His sense of proportion and perspective, and his use of cross-hatching and composition are exceptional.”

Congrats again to John Woolley—I’m thrilled to hear about this latest success. Hope we see you again at Artexpo New York 2011! For more info on John, you can visit his website: www.backyardjournals.com Also, here’s his product page on art.com