Urban Art Association

so what if you think hes a good guy....................... the prices on this one stink! they (in the main) are not in line with the market values of these pieces at all.
"Make and offer"? perhaps they should have held an auction???
With regard to the buyers wanting the high prices... its the job of the vendor to put them right - i want high prices when im going through bonhams or christies etc but do they offer me high reserves? no they do not because that is not where the market is at right now!
ps im a big supporter of the small timer when i respect what they are doing and the way that they go about their business!

I think in some ways its a bit harsh to judge We are talking West Hollywood it aint no Shoreditch.

You also expect to pay more at any shop/gallery/showroom thats in a posh area its just the way it is. If you were planning on selling your prized piece of art at auction, you would take it to Sothebys to get the top price not to your local house clearance auction rooms.

This is a Quality Gallery in a Top area ;D

Fair enough.
Maybe I should've used used brackets when mentioning the car boot sale.

However I stand corrected that this is not aspiring or progressive show in any sense.
Probably it is just what it's called - Get Rich Quick.
And this is the whole problem IMO and that's what's killing the whole scene.
It says << a selection of collections from our collectors>>
I understand that as a gallery owner you want to keep your customers happy but FFS how can someone be called a collector when he is selling pieces which are something like a half a year old or were not meant to be sold for a few years!
In my eyes it's blatant flipping.
Or do you think it is a good thing?

And I will post this one again:
CGoCA has put some good shows together and I am sure it will continue to do so however I see this one as a flop. (in aspiring kind of way)

just for the record... to call this an exhibition is wrong... its a sale! there is a very distinct difference between a sale and an exhibition!
with that in mind though there are some great pieces in this "exhibition".

nice input johnstoops.
youre right about not being anywhere close to london at the moment ;-)
just for the record i understand that galleries have bills to pay... im a business person myself so 'i get it already'.
i still however stand by my point that the prices on this one stink to high heaven (in the main).
also the idea that this is an exhibition is just crass.. its not an exhibition, its a sale!!!
apart from that good luck to them... cause if they are selling through at those prices i may just have a number of pieces that they will be interested in for their next 'exhibition'

Those are not one and the same. The offset at carmichael is part of the signed/numbered run. The one from obey clothing is not signed or numbered.

True, but that still doesn't excuse the $700 price tage for the print. The Ebay average for the Carmichel Offset is $191.48. The Ebay average for the FREE (w/ clothing purchase) Offset is $110.83. I can understand $400 on the high end, but $700 is, again, just plain silly and almost a slap in the face to real collectors...

A couple of other things to keep in mind.
In the galleries defense once you take away 30% form those prices you are much closer to market value, as many of these are co-signs (notably co-signs from many board members from here and thegiant) I have a feeling the people who own the art were looking for a specific amount and the gallery obliged and added their commission on top of that. Also, I think if you see the prices coming from a galleries prospective,and not an eBay one, it makes it much more correct and understandable that its not coming from a wholesale market but a primary one. Also another thing to keep in mind about many of the pieces (most notably the Obey ones) they come framed which does add quite a bit to the cost of the piece if done correctly with an archival process.
From my prospective I feel a little let down by this show, even after understanding the prices, many of the works here have been available one this and other boards as well as eBay and as many have pointed out are not very old. Many of these pieces are (in my opinion and I am sure I will take criticism for saying this) sub-par pieces from the respective artist.
I think what the gallery is doing is a good idea in practice but I'm not sure if it's just this show or the idea in general but something just doesn't feel right or work correctly here.
Though for all of our sakes, not just us as collectors but also for the gallery and the current owners of the artwork, I hope this is a raging success as it will only benefit everyone (both involved and not involved).

some bullshit written on this thread.

Not to mention everyone here who has one they want to sell should be happy as it does show a nice price increase, its funny how many people talk about how great it is when a piece goes for a higher then expected value at auction but are upset at it going higher then expected at a gallery. :/

For someone with so many posts under their belt that's a pretty ignorant thing to say. Living over in the UK i've not been to the Carmichael gallery but i tend to check out every show online as soon as it's available.

They've put on some amazing shows and i've been lucky enough to purchase some great pieces, at reasonable prices (due to a mixture of generally good pricing and, at the time, the strong pund) that i would not have otherwise been able to get. These include Herakut, Will Barras, Know Hope and Flip - only one of these is in this show highlighting how wide a selection of artists Carmichael exhibit.

I think this show's name is a poking fun at itself, highlighting the the quick turn around by some collectors on some pieces. I also believe that this show has a place, enabling people in LA to see work that they wouldn't normally see (as has been highlighted here, us forum members are a dedicated bunch - the person on the street doesn't check ebay and doesn't know how much they could get it for if they shopped around - it's much like the comments everytime a "morons" sells at auction along the lines of "anyone want to buy mine for that much") and pick up the art without wasting time on checking if they're paying the current market value.

Laz are selling banksy prints for a hefty chunk over market price at their shop, art republic make a career out of it and andipa have done a banksy show on a massive scale on the principle. People just need to get perspective and realise that this is just one show in an otherwise great line up of shows at carmichael (well, except hush...).

Show should be called get rich slow. You'd really have to be stupid to pay those prices. It reeks of a leftover sale. A lot of the same pieces we've seen forum members trying to unload here and on ebay at inflated prices for a very long time. Hopefully 'Seth' can get them rich quick.

I guess not all shows can be winners, but I'm almost never impressed by their shows so...

apt title, majority of the stuff there is less than 2 years old which always sucks to see

>>>> My advice would be that if you think something is too expensive either don't buy it, or make an offer.<<<<

I agree to a point. Regardless, a discussion board is going to generate buzz when prices like that are advertised. If you want to avoid this stuff, it's simple, don't advertise your prices like most galleries and simply have a price sheet on hand or distributed to those that specifically request one.

>>>Second, both the gallery and I are in the U.S. And unfortunately our scene is (in my opinion) way less developed than yours in England/Europe. I happen to be in Chicago where 99% of people have never heard of Banksy or street art of any kind.<<<<

LA has had 2 Banksy shows and the featured piece in this sale looks like it was from the Existencilism show.

>>>I'm sure a gallery like Carmichael wouldn't pitch its prices ridiculously high unless they knew people would buy it<<<<

I'll respectfully disagree on this point. Imho, a lot of galleries are taking the approach of listing works at 2X or more what they would be willing to sell said piece for in this climate so there should be significant negotiation room. I would not be satisfied with the old 20% discount on a lot of the prices I see today- more like a 50% discount and on some of the pieces in this sale even more.

As to that Happy Tank done over a Barcode Leopard, it's a very interesting piece that imho is priced moronically. I usually don't comment on prices other than to repeat facts or price history at auction but when a gallery is openly displaying the prices on a website, they are from my vantage point inviting comment both good and bad. What I find interesting about the works from the Existencilism show is that it appears that many of them were painted over again with a layer of white paint in between. A lot of those canvases that I've seen from '02 have a textured look from the haphazard way the white paint layer was done with the stencil on top. It's raw and I like it very much.

The price on the other hand, is a complete turn off and one that imho distances any serious collector from doing business. You have to have some sense of reality especially if you are going to openly advertise your prices unless you want to appear like you are are just trying to bait the greater fool. 3 of the canvases from the Existencilism show (a flower thrower, laugh now, and bomb hugger) were sold last year at auction in July for $240k total including premium (there were all 17 inches square whereas this happy tank is 24 inches square) and times were significantly better from a sellers point of view back then. Again, I don't know the gallery but as a buyer I can speak my mind and I would either mark that piece not for sale or list it at something within the realm of reality or you are simply inviting backlash from the more educated buyers in the marketplace.