Misstropolis

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tag Arts: Artists to Watch

by Robin Hauck

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I believe that everyone has their thing - their one day, their if only. Mine is collecting big, loud, provocative, subversive, mesmerizing, contemporary art. If only, if only. If only I was Marty Margulies or Eli Broad or better yet Emily and Teddy Greenspan.

Emily and Teddy Greenspan have been collecting art for about 16 years, since they were in the early 20s and savvy enough to know they each had a really good eye. (At around 21 Teddy scrounged up $2,000 in order to buy a Mary Heilmann painting now worth more than 20 times that amount, and Emily’s father owns a prestigious Manhattan antiques gallery that her grandfather had opened in 1939.)

Teddy has a job in the finance industry and Emily was an assistant editor at Elle Decor for four years after college, and spent about the same number of years working with her father in the gallery. But no matter what other things they had going on in their lives (they also have two children) they always were looking at and collecting art. Friends would come over and ask advice: did they like this artist or that one? Did they think that artist’s value would appreciate? Where should this piece go? And how does one go about becoming a “collector” in the first place?

Their experience, taste and long list of contacts in the art world made them authorities. They decided to formalize what they were doing anyway and start looking for art for other people. They now have a long list of clients for whom they act as consultant, advisor, curator or scout depending on the need. Their company, Tag Arts puts out weekly newsletters, which Emily and Teddy write together.

Emily was just in Miami for the Academy Awards of art fairs - Art Basel Miami Beach, the sister event of Switzerland’s Art Basel.

The fair is like Sundance but with sunshine and international flair. Parties, openings and galas draw a crowd no longer exclusive to serious buyers, but still a necessary trip for top collectors. Emily saw 20th and 21st century works by over 2,000 artists from more than 200 galleries from all over the world. Here are her favorites, her artists to watch.

Roy McMakin creates highly crafted furniture, interiors and architecture

Jacob Hashimoto uses rice paper, acrylic, nylon and wood to create mobile-like 3-dimensional wall hangings


Michael Gregory painter of landscapes that are a contemporary spin on an “Old Master/Hopper-esque” look

Aaron Parazette I wrote about him in the last Tag Arts profile. He is the surfer who manipulates surfer lingo with a computer to create vibrant word paintings

Irit Batsry Another photographer from Israel who just completed a series of photos taken from the reflection of a mirrored wall in Sao Paulo, Brasil

Andy Diaz Hope He takes photos as well but then stuffs them into pill capsules to create an effect achieved from a far


Chie Fueki: She also uses rice paper collaged on canvas with acrylic paint to create shapes with beautiful colors


John Tremblay: Uses metallic paint with bright colors to create abstract geometric shapes

To learn more, subscribe to the Tag-Arts newsletter. Make this year the year you bring art into your life!