The MOCA Fresh Auction is looking like a very cool event. I went to the preview – which is all this week at the Geffen Contemporary. A section of the museum is filled to the gills with art donated by artists and gallerists. The Saturday night auction will raise a bazillion dollars for the institution for sure. I have never attended this event before but my girlfriend’s gallery convinced her to donate a piece (which took some convincing as MOCA keeps 100% of the proceeds) and we are therefore getting comped, but I thought we oughtta go to the preview to see how things looked.
Her artwork looks great and the whole thing looks set to be a big-time art world bash. I saw a few collectors there, scoping things out, taking notes, walking so slowly they would stand in front of an artwork and talk about it and take copious notes. We breezed thru the thing in about forty minutes, a superficial look, but I got the feel for it and she got the satisfaction of knowing her work was on par or better, quality-wise, with the art on display.
We go out to Suehiro, have a nice lunch, and on the way back to the car I implore her to take another look. So this is closing in on a two hour window, now, and some of those collectors are STILL there, still taking note after note.
Like my father always said, don’t underestimate what some people will do to avoid paying retail.