"Una rosa, no es solo una rosa"

El número de mujeres muertas a manos de sus parejas o ex-parejas continúa siendo tan asombrosamente alto que no puede dejar de sorprendernos. La cantidad de mujeres golpeadas, en inferioridad de condiciones laborales, maltratadas por sus familiares hombres, no termina nunca. 

No importa que en el mundo haya mujeres presidentes o empresarias reconocidas, a nivel del ser humano común, todavía la hembra de la especie está en desventaja y cuando de guerra se trata una de las formas mas usuales de demostrar poder sobre el enemigo, continúa siendo el sometimiento sexual de sus mujeres.

"A la mujer no se la toca ni con el pétalo de una rosa, las rosas son para ofrendarla", pero las rosas también tienen espinas y estas hieren y desgarran; contienen en si mismas una forma de violencia sutil...

“Una rosa, no es solo una rosa”; es una sugestiva visión sobre la violencia de género donde la “rosa” de pétalo suave y fragante, lleva implícita la “espina” que hiere. En su obra, la artista argentina Adriana Cora recurre a la fotografía como base que luego interviene con elementos diversos. Textos, otras imágenes superpuestas o acrílico texturizado, pueden ser usados para reinventar personajes y ambientes. El resultado final es lo mismo visualmente hermoso que etéreo e intrigante, despertando la curiosidad del  ojo espectador.

La muestra "Una rosa, no es solo una rosa" inaugura en Collage Gallery el día 6 de Octubre de 2011 a las 7 de la tarde y estará abierta para disfrute del público hasta el 3 de Octubre.

HOW TO PROFIT FROM INVESTING IN ART

Art lovers are often savvy investors, without even realizing
it.

As an asset class, art is a proven long-term store of wealth. With stock-market
volatility and sovereign-debt woes driving investors toward hard assets, art is an
increasingly popular way to add depth to a traditional investment portfolio.

Art offers low correlation to the price movements of other assets, and it’s
effective as a unique hedging strategy. Works of art can also attract an income
stream. Experts point to annual rates of return of between 8% and 20% for the
best-performing sectors.

Plus it looks nice on the wall.

But these so-called emotional assets, or “passion investments,” aren’t for everyone.
Here’s a basic rundown on what to look for — and what to avoid — for newly etched art
investors.

1. Getting started

Most first-time art investors start with between $2,000 to $10,000, said Qeturah
Rasyth, president of QMR Fine Art Consulting, a Pittsburgh firm that specializes in
19th-century American masters.

“When starting out, tailor it to your budget,” Rasyth said. “Get the best work of
art from the best artist, at that price.”

Emerging artists allow new investors to dip into the market but carry more risk.

“You can start applying some investment logic and investment rationale, in
investment-grade work, at around the 10,000 Australian dollar ($10,900) mark,” said
Alistair Bailey of Art Equity, an art investment and advisory firm based in Sydney.
“It becomes highly speculative below that, at sub-A$10,000.”

He added that one common mistake art investors make is to “chase a signature.”

Said Bailey: “Not all paintings by an artist are going to be good. The big thing for
investors to get their head around is that element of subjectivity and what makes
this a good painting versus that one.”

2. Be an educated buyer

Education is the best way to understand the subjective aspects of art investing. Get
a feel for the market and what appeals to you.

“It pays to spend time wandering the galleries. Work out your budget, then spend
time familiarizing yourself with what you like. Look to get the best possible work
you can by that artist, in that medium, for the money that you’re paying,” Bailey
said.

“With fine art, if you’re not passionate about it, it’s probably not worth doing. It
heightens your level of risk. You’re not necessarily taking on board as much as you
would otherwise,” he added.

Looking ahead, contemporary art is the sector that will drive returns, according to
Bailey, while China and India are increasingly attracting investors. Read more about
China’s art-market boom.

Bailey also named Danish artist Morten Lassen and Australia’s Ben Quilty and Jasper
Knight as ones to watch.

Art dealers and advisers are good places to seek help. Global auction houses
Christie’s and Sotheby’s offer courses in art education.

Savvy investors will then track trends across sectors, such as Old Masters or modern
contemporary.

“Just as within stocks you have industry sectors, so to through the art market you
have sectors, and each performs differently at different times,” said Randall
Willette, managing director of Fine Art Wealth Management, an art-investment
consultancy based in London.

“That’s where the correlation benefits [come in], how those sectors move
independently of each other move into play,” Willette noted. Watch: Asian art breaks
price records.

3. Expected returns 

Rates of return vary across sectors.

The Mei Moses All Art index is one benchmark that tracks the long-term performance
of fine art. The index achieved annual returns of 16.6% in 2010, while the Standard
& Poor’s 500 Total Return Index, which includes reinvested dividends, returned
15.1%.

QRM’s Rasyth said individuals should expect an initial capital gain of 25%. “With
investment art, you should always make money when you make the purchase,” Rasyth
said. “Otherwise it’s not a strong investment at the time.“

From there, works generally appreciate 10% to 20% a year, she said.

“That’s not true for emerging artwork, but for Hudson River [School] you can
definitely expect that,” Rasyth said.

A top Hudson River School work sells for an average of $400,000, according to
Rasyth. Look for works by Albert Bierstadt and Martin Johnson Heade. A midtier work
from this period will go for around $50,000, and artists with works at that level
include Thomas Doughty and William Casilear.

And keep an eye on Andy Warhol.

“The traditional barometer of market confidence has been Warhol. When Warhol is
traveling well, the market confidence is generally up,” Art Equity’s Bailey said.

In May, Christie’s sold Andy Warhol’s “Self-Portrait” for $38.4 million, beating
estimates of between $20 million and $30 million for the work.

Broadly speaking, clients can expect returns of between 8% and 10% over a seven- to
10-year period, said Bailey. But an illiquid market can trip up investors, he said.
“Those that come into it simply with the view of making money are the ones that tend
to get burnt, because they try and trade it too quickly,” Bailey said.

4. Consider an art fund

Playing the art market doesn’t always require shopping for works. Investors can gain
exposure to art through the equity market via shares of the auction house Sotheby’s .
Then there are art funds, which offer a kind of middle ground between art ownership
and stock-market dabbling.

Typically, art-fund managers purchase works and dispose of them five to 10 years
later. Investors may borrow the works for personal use.

Yet the success of these funds so far has been patchy at best.

“To date, they haven’t worked well,” Bailey said, “It’s something that has potential
and merit. They haven’t had enough time to go through a natural maturation phase.”

The Fine Art Fund Group is the most prominent. The base investment for its $100
million fund is $250,000, and it boasts an average annualized return on assets sold
of more than 25%.

Fine Art Wealth Management reported on more than 40 of these investment vehicles
across 13 countries to provide a snapshot of the industry. It found the key challenge
for art funds is raising capital, but the pipeline of new offerings is growing.

Willette, the firm’s managing director, said one advantage of art funds is their
ability to follow market trends in particular sectors.

There’s “real momentum building around these investments, not just in the U.S. and
Europe, but all over the world,” he said.

“We have also seen [emotional asset] investors wanting to go it alone will simply
pool their financial resources with friends and family, to create the equivalent of
an investment club,” Willette said.

The Art Fund Association (www.artfundassociation.com) is a fairly new trade group
set up in the U.S. to serve the art-fund industry. It’s a good jumping-off point for
investors seeking to find out more about these specialized emotional asset funds.

5. Art for income’s sake 

Art buyers may want to put their investment to work. Art Equity has been an
architect of corporate art rental in Australia, for example. The firm rents artworks
owned by its clients to corporations, creating an income stream for the owner.

“They generally go out on fixed-term contracts and generate incomes of 5% to 7% net
per annum,” Art Equity’s Bailey said.

Rental fees depend on the work and price point, but the potential alone can
strengthen the asset’s investment appeal.

Yet for art consultant Rasyth, leasing out an investment is more trouble than it’s
worth. “I would never advise someone to rent an artwork out,” she said. “You stand
the risk of damage and other things.”

Bailey said renting art to generate income is a perk of ownership — “an extra string
to the bow” in the hunt for long-term capital appreciation. He added: “Those who are
attracted to the income are better off looking at something else [more liquid].”

"Bendita" y Pat Morales

Pat Morales

Nacida en Caracas Venezuela en 1967.

En plenitud artística Pat Morales enriquece la paleta de colores para lograr una pintura innovadora y fresca produciendo un impacto a los sentidos y al sentimiento, al revelarnos su fuerza interior.

Su arte trasciende las barreras de lo figurativo construyendo una dualidad entre éste y la abstraccion de las formas. Sus imágenes son más sugestivas que descritas, predominando la figura femenina, siempre de frente al espectador y con una boca rojísima, grande, sensual y femenina, siempre dispuesta al diálogo.

Pat Morales es una artista que se destaca por resaltar en su pintura la defensa de los derechos humanos y la importancia de la libertad de expresión, el respeto por otras culturas y al mismo tiempo del hombre de hoy, recreando al espectador con sus formas e impactantes colores.

Desestima el deseo de la complacencia inmediata del mundo pragmático y materialista actual, para sumirse en el mundo de lo emocional, de lo espiritual, de lo auténtico.

Su obra esta cargada de un mensaje positivo que difunde a través de un arte balanceado de pureza y serenidad, una pintura que invita hacer un paro en el camino para dejar la fatiga de los días que nos ha tocado vivir.

Su obra ha sido exhibida con gran éxito en museos,  ferias de arte internacionales, galerías de Sur América y Estados Unidos, además de representar con su obra diferentes fundaciones infantiles,  haciendo así de su trabajo una obra que nos representa la vida, nos recrea los sentidos y el espíritu. 

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Para esta nueva exhibición de Pat -a realizarse en Collage Gallery el 8 de Septiembre de 2011-, la artista nos regala con un homenaje a la Virgen del Valle, patrona del oriente venezolano; así como a la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, patrona de Cuba; ya que ese día, precisamente, se celebra entre sus pueblos devotos el aniversario de ambas Vírgenes. 

En los países donde se originan estas advocaciones, el 8 de Septiembre es una fecha de gran celebración pero además este año, coincidencialmente, es el Centenario de la Virgen del Valle y el Papa Benedicto XVI ha decidido condecorarla con el Rosario de Oro, una distinción que ha establecido para todas las advocaciones marianas que reciben especial fe de sus adeptos.

Siendo ambas Vírgenes patronas del mar y protectoras de la paz de sus pueblos, encontraremos mucho de estos elementos en el resto de las obras que conformarán "Bendita" de Pat Morales en Collage Gallery