Where? 2324 Montana Chicago, IL GARAGE

Why? WTF is a Kunz, Vis, González exhibition series introducing the viewer to contemporary ideas on the cult of  ’new and youth. One of the curators of the event, Anna Kunz was artandseek co-founder Sinan Bastas’ art professor in college and had a big influence on him in terms of paiting. She has been a member of artandseek since 2008. WTF uses humor and the absurd in visual art to delight the viewer and create a reflexive lens in which to view radical shifts in cultural perspectives.

The exhibition features painting, soft sculpture, and video performance works on emerging narratives and new perspectives inspired from contemporary culture in the age of fiber optics. The works oscillate from the ‘self’ to the ‘other’ and to the ‘public’ and ‘private.’  Sparking inquiry  into the creation of social space through installation and video performance art.  The works on view tap into the pulses of light and images of contemporary network culture.

WTF 1.0 features the works of Art Johnson, Sunita Prasad, Jon Read, Alee Peoples, María de la Concha, Tayef Ben Messalem, and María del Carmen Montoya.

The video work of Art Johnson (Michigan) taps into the humor of digital aesthetic and inverted archetypes.  The ‘queer’ pink video peep show of Sunita Prasad (New York) will be open for business.  Jon Read’s (Texas) landscape paintings emit a radioactive palette over futuristic and fantastic scenes of the collapse of the American Midwest.  Alee Peoples’ (Chicago) 8mm micro-cinema remixes early 90s music with contemporary American youth and pageantry culture.  The viral video performance of Maria de la Concha and Tayef Ben Massalan (Mexico/US/Syria) introduces the viewer to a space where the corn industry, genetics, and consumption intersect.  The performance work with finely powered glass and red hot neon light work in María del Carmen Montoya’s (Mexico/Texas) video performance provokes gestures suggesting a darker side of subjectivity and the ‘philosophical traditions’ of glass and light as a figures for knowledge.

For more information please visit www.kunzvisgonzalez.com

Where? Lincoln Center Damrosch Park, 62nd Street and Amsterdam (10th Avenue), NYC

How? FirstView (March 3rd only) for VIP cardholders and others willing to pay a USD 100 donation. All other days: USD 20 for general admission, USD 10 for students.

Why? SCOPE is an art fair dedicated to emerging contemporary art. It was founded to present galleries, artists and curators to its art community through series of solo and thematic group shows presented alongside museum-quality exhibitions, collector tours, screenings, and special events.

Building on Miami’s overwhelming success, SCOPE launches its 2010 season with its flagship fair, SCOPE New York Art Show…returns to Manhattan’s most famous cultural icon, Lincoln Center, with a glass facade pavilion situated in Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park, at the corner of 62nd Street and 10th Avenue…

Last year’s fair featured galleries from four continents and 20 countries, including China, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Spain, and Canada…The fair opens to Press, SCOPE and Armory VIPs on Wednesday, March 3, 3-9pm with the FirstView benefit, a USD 100 charitable donation for all non-VIP cardholders.

Introducing artists, curators, and cutting-edge galleries to new audiences internationally has made SCOPE the most comprehensive destination for the emerging art world available anywhere. With art fairs in Miami, Basel, New York, London, and the Hamptons, SCOPE is proud to be an influential presence in the expanding global art market.

When? 3-7 March 2010 (from 12 to 8pm (6pm Sundays))

Where? Park Avenue Armory at 67th & Park Ave. NYC

How? USD 20 for admission

Why? www.artdealers.org

During the first week of March 2010, the international art world will converge in New York City during the 22nd annual Art Show, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) to benefit Henry Street Settlement. The 2010 edition of The Art Show continues ADAA’s tradition of bringing the highest quality artworks to one monumental art exhibition space at the Park Avenue Armory. The 70 selected exhibitions, presented by the nation’s leading art galleries, will feature museum-quality works ranging from 19th and 20th century Old Master works to recently completed contemporary painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and multi-media. The Art Show and its Gala Preview, on March 2, 2010, will benefit Henry Street Settlement and continue an art world institution.

When? Wednesday, 17 February 2010 from 7pm to 10pm.

Where? Session 73 at 1359 1st Ave (on the Corner of 73rd street and First), New York, NY

How? Free admission with USD 3-5 per drinks and an option to buy art.

Why? ArtBattles (www.artbattles.com) is promoting this event to help raise money for a truly unique artist. For people who haven’t heard of the group before, its mission is to produce live art events and competitions that expose emerging artists to the masses.

Seyone is a veteran graf artist and tattoo artist that lives in PA. Not only is he amazing at both crafts but has learned to master them from a wheel chair. Recently he was diagnosed with a bad infection that spread and is currently undergoing operations every 2 or 3 days to try and remove it . The money raised from this fundraiser will help with his enormous medical expenses and keeping his tattoo shop open while he is hospitalized.

My friend Ugo can be considered 50% an inspired artist, 50% a playboy and 50% purely insane (yes, that adds up to more than 100%).

He likes to make art in public, his performances being engaging and powerful. Have a look and enjoy (you can skip to minute 2 in the first video).

Where? DFN Gallery at 74 E. 79th St., New York, NY (Tel: 212 334 3400), www.dfngallery.com

How? Free with RSVP

Why? Looks Good on Paper will bring together numerous artists and mediums. Be ready to walk through a compilation of Gothic and somewhat disturbing pieces (such as “Show Don’t Tell” by Annie Wildey). A lof of figurative and scenic works will be on display and sale, including this “Reclining Nude” piece by Jordan Wolfsan (ink & acrylic on paper), one of our favorites. Visit http://www.dfngallery.com/exhibitions/looks_good_on_paper_thumb.htm to view the entire exhibition.

When? 1 February 2010, Monday, 7-9pm.

Where? Haunch of Venison at 1230 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor, New York, NY

How? Get tickets (start at USD 75) at http://hiartkids.com/auction2010/index.html or call 917.318.9499

Why? Because we all want kids to grow up with art and expand on the abilities of their creative minds. Hi Art! (http://www.hiartkids.com) has been doing just that since 1997. Under the leadership of its founder, Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène, it has been welcoming children to art out of its studio located inside the huge Starret Lehigh Building in Manhattan. With the help Time In, a young outreach program, Hi Art! is trying to lend its expertise in art education to underprivileged children. Changing the World through Art benefit hopes to raise money to strengthen this vision.

Help the kids. See some art (including one by Marina Abramovic). Meet the artists. Enjoy nice cocktails with a sophisticated crowd. Who can resist that? artandseek can’t for sure.

All copyrights of their espective proprietors.

Where are you originally from? Istanbul, Turkey

Where do you live now? Manhattan

Where can we find you? www.artandseek.com!

How and when did you get involved in art? I have been taking photographs of my friends since I was about 9. I then took classes in middle school. My photography really started to develop when I did black and white photography in high school.

Your art is? Explores connections between desires and consciousness. Since the photographs I take are staged and not of “the moment”, they are meant to be a dismemberment of the real.

Your tools are? Kodak six-20, Canon 400d, Diana+, disposable cameras, Photoshop.

Your inspiration is? Lately I have been inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Also, www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Your favorite artist? Edward Gorey. Oh and Storm Thorgerson.

Your favorite piece by someone else? Bronzino’s Allegory with Venus and Cupid.

Your first important sale? My first sale on www.artandseek.com

Your other hobbies? Biking, dancing, hopping, pinching!