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October Issue
2010
M Gallery of
Fine Art in Charleston, SC, Opens
M Gallery of Fine Art SE, LLC, has opened for business at 11 Broad Street in downtown Charleston, SC.
Representational art
advocate Maggie Kruger has relocated nationally acclaimed M Gallery
to Charleston, SC, from Sarasota, FL. "We were feeling the
excruciating pain of the protracted collapse of the Florida housing
markets and the related economies. We did thorough research and
determined that Charleston was a strong market for the kind of
paintings we carry and provided a nurturing environment for museum
quality representational art," said Kruger.
According to Kruger, long known as an out spoken critic of abstract
and non-representational art, "We found it ironic, that after
years of drawing the parallels between over inflated financial
derivates and non representational art, we would find our selves
financially entangled in a collapsed balloon real-estate market.
We knew based on our adamant stance and experience in the art
world, carrying works of tangible value that escalate slowly but
steadily in value, that are competence and skilled based works
of art by living masters, that the consequences of this collapse
would be long lasting and we felt we needed to depart our beloved
Sarasota."
"Although I never imagined I would feel at home else where
the minute we settled in Charleston, it was as if we had always
been here. Everyone is so friendly, so warm. There is great appreciation
for the work we carry and we fit in to the existing art venues
comfortably. We feel a bit like refugees that have come into safe
harbor from a financial storm of unimaginable strength. What a
relief to be here," concludes Kruger.
"Hucksterism prevailed, for much of the last 200 years,"
Kruger explains: "In the last 2 centuries, since the development
of photography in 1829 the purpose of art and the commercial enterprise
of art has drastically changed. Historical rendering of events,
scenes and persons no longer was required by painters. Photography
could document history much more efficiently and cheaply. The
commercial proliferation of artists as documentarians of life
was no longer needed. Peggy Guggenheim, Sotheby's and the vast
gallery network in the urban centers of the world began to market
and promote art works which were no longer skill based (much cheaper
to make and required less training) as an alternative to the mass
production photographs offered. These schools of art: cubism,
expressionism, abstract expressionism, minimalism, etc. hijacked
the idea of art and turned it into a ponzi scheme of selling valueless
works which required no skill for great amounts of money."
"As a result the general public and the collecting public
became very confused. Academia and the museum establishments embraced
the absolute non-sense of what amounted to art derivatives and
invested heavily. Now consumers of art were befuddled and
began to say words like: I don't know much about art (meaning
what they were taught in school made no sense) but I know what
I like (meaning beauty and skill interest me but I am embarrassed
to counter such an overwhelming trend)."
"The emperor has no clothes" continues Kruger. "What
has emerged out of all this mess is finally a recognition that
the works presented by these schools of art are no more than hucksterism
and what is occurring as a result of this understanding is a great
resurgence in representational work: Skill based and aesthetically
beautiful. M Gallery's mission is to provide a commercial venue
for these works, reflecting one of the greatest art movements
of our time. Our painters and their peers are the vanguards of
an art movement which promises to change the direction of the
future, rewrite our understanding of art history and restore an
understanding of art for generations to come."
"We are tickled to be in Charleston's embrace," says
Kruger.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings,
call the gallery at 843/727-4500 or e-mail to (Maggie@athenet.net).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2010 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2010 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.