Socialite collectors vs. speculative curators

High stakes at FotoFest Fine Print Auction

Vadim Gushchin, "Manuscripts #4," 2008, Silver Gelatin Print, Courtesy of AnyaTish Gallery
Blakely Bering, from left, Wendy Watriss, Tony Gareri and Austin James
Photo by Jenny Antill
Alfredo Jaar, "The Silence (For Seydou Keita)," Inkjet Mounted on Museum Board,2001
Eikoh Hosoe, "Man and Woman #33," 1960, silver gelatin print
Bai Yilou, "Summer No. 1" (detail), 2005, Digital Inkjet Print
Tatiana Massey
Photo by Jenny Antill
Jennifer Ward, FotoFest exhibitions coordinator, and Marta Sanchez Philippe
Photo by Jenny Antill
Susie Criner and Ford Hubbard
Photo by Jenny Antill

"I'm very excited and very nervous. The stakes are high tonight," whispers Wendy Watriss, artistic director and co-founder of Fotofest. She is peering into the ballroom as the guests of the Fine Print Auction are taking their seats, blowing air kisses and waving their paddles before the stage.

The auction that proceeded had the room on fire as aristocrat collectors and calculating curators waged war over 81 prize pieces. Once the ashes settled, almost $200,000 was tallied to fund FotoFest's artist-based programs and the classroom education program, Literacy Through Photography.

The bidders' agendas were as diverse as the represented artists. In the days preceding the auction, savvy collectors from Argentina, France and Iran poured into Houston to claim a seat. Auction chairs Blakely Bering and Austin James promoted the event as the premier venue to locate cutting-edge contemporary photographic art from around the world.

Dr. John Berry, whose work recently unveiled at ART BIKE, and wife Beverly were seeking to support former Glassel School Core Fellow, Charles Cohen. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston dispatched a contingency of bidders to secure new items for the permanent collection.

MFAH photography curatorial assistant Natalie Zelt explains, "Several works by artists featured in the museum's recent exhibition of contemporary Korean photography, Chaotic Harmony, are up for bid. Tonight gives the museum the opportunity to extend the glory of that temporary show."

Other art world notables included Sotheby's vice chairman Jamie Niven, as well as the auction house's legendary auctioneer Denise Bethel, who donated her sauve shot-calling to the event.

Thankfully, for some it was all about the aesthetics. Among art patron Slavka Glaser's purchased pieces was Moscow photographer Vadim Gushchin's Manuscripts #4 — a stark silver gelatin print of a white rolled paper against a black background. Gushed Glaser, "This is a classic abstract image from Russia's most important living photographer.Just the composition - it's so pristine! Gushchin is a modern-day Gerhard Richter."

Almost the entire show sold for more than the organizers' estimates. Alfredo Jaar's The Silence (For Seydou Keita) earned top place at $8,500. The artist proof, dedicated to the great Malian photographer, was taken in Zaire (now Congo) while Jaar was covering the Rwandan refugee experience. The title references the international community's unresponsiveness during that country's genocide.

Tied for second place were Japanese artist Eikoh Hosoe's Man and Woman #33 and South Korean Bae Bien-U's SNMIA-108h. The two pieces, whose monochromatic naturalism stood in sharp contrast to Jaar's vivid fuchsia and orange print, garnered $7,500 each.

The crowd's numbers (sale of tables were up 40 percent from the previous auction) thrilled Auction Chairs Bering and James. "There is so much excitement for photography right now," Bering says. "As we've watched the economy's downturn, we've witnessed photography doubling and quadrupling in price. Individuals and investors understand the medium's mounting value."

The FotoFest Fine Print Auction captured a critical moment in contemporary art in Houston and the world over.

Rather than cower before a crippling recession, collectors and curators have embraced a globally-consious realism — an aesthetic that is brash, honest and unwilling to make any compromises.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

movies film

Socialite collectors vs. speculative curators

High stakes at FotoFest Fine Print Auction

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.