More stellar offerings at this year’s
CEPA auction

By Elizabeth Licata

Spencer Tunick
Spencer Tunick, Buffalo 6 (Central Terminal,
Albright-Knox Art Gallery) 2004/2005
C-print mounted between plexi, 30 x 24 inches.
Courtesy of the artist and I-20 Gallery, New York.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Any Western New Yorker the least bit serious about collecting contemporary art has to consider attending the biannual CEPA auction. There is no other local art sale or benefit event that even begins to approach the quality of work here, and it is the one auction where you will see almost every heavy-hitter art buyer in town. (Thanks to our art collecting features last issue, you now know who many of them are.)

And here are the works the heavy-hitters will be vying for:

• It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that anything by Cindy Sherman will provoke a major bidding war. The internationally famous artist has crossed over from art fame to overall fame, as her recent appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone demonstrates, but she still remembers that CEPA gave her one of her first exhibitions, during her seventies-era school years in Buffalo. Sherman is donating a work to this year’s show, but at press time, we did not have a name or image. Don’t worry, though; if you don’t get the Sherman, there is plenty of star power to go around.
Joseph Picillo
Joseph Picillo, ER XII.
• For example, Joseph Picillo’s large (35” x 42”) giclée print would be a high-impact addition to any wall crying out for spectacular artwork. The digital reproduction technology used to make this print makes it possible for painters like Picillo to create archival-quality limited editions of their work.

• Anything by John Pfahl is well worth adding to the collection of serious art lover. This year, Pfahl has donated a work from his 1977 Altered Landscapes series, a fascinating group of photographs where the artist added small elements to various natural scenes, creating visual puns and conceptual intrigue.

• Other “name” artists on the list include Milton Rogovin, who is donating a lovely portrait of a mining family; Carolee Schneemann, who is giving a contemporary print of a 1963 photograph; Janaina Schape, who had a highly regarded show at UB last year; and Spencer Tunick. The Tunick photograph is bound to cause a stir: it is from the 2004 shoot at Central Terminal involving many naked Western New Yorkers. This is not, however, the print sent out to all the thousands of participants; it is a different, larger, limited-edition photograph.

Koya Abe
Koya Abe, After Napoleon in His Study.
If you get outbid on the Tunick or the Sherman, or can’t afford to compete in the four-figure arena, have no fear; the auction has plenty of options, many of them opening at modest levels of $200 or less. I was pleased to see some architectural images and local scenes from area photographers, including Ed Healy’s Colonial Circle, from his Buffalo by Night series; Mike Horowitz’s Richardson Towers; and George K. Arthur’s Kleinhans Music Hall.

There are also some works from artists who have never donated before, including Carl Chiranza, whose powerful abstract photographs are actually images of tiny collages. Artists who will be familiar to attendees of the auction include Marion Faller, Nancy J. Parisi, Ellen Carey, Michael Bosworth, Robert Hirsch, and Gerald Mead. All are donating serious and significant examples of their work.

The CEPA auction continues to maintain its excitement. It is unmissable for any serious art lover. Mark your calendars: works go on view starting April 5, with a 5:30-7 p.m. reception, and the auction takes place May 13, starting at 5:30.

Call 856-2717 or visit www.cepagallery.com.


Elizabeth Licata is editor of Buffalo Spree.


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