Letters to the editor or anyone eles.

THIS ISSUE'S LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR

Thomas Garvey's ignorance crossed the line

into racism in his review of Tlingit artist Preston Singletary's artwork. In "Glass Acts" (artsMEDIA 9/5-10/15/2002), Garvey slaps Tlingit artists and Tlingit culture in the face with his offensive retread of the "vanishing 'indian'"canard.

Using words and phrases like “archivist,” “descended from,” “permanence” “that form’s very disappearance,” “artifacts,” “ghosts,” and “melancholic memories of a lost cultural - and natural - world,” Garvey presents Tlingits as a dying or dead people whose art, culture, and natural world is a desiccated husk of a barely remembered past.

I have news for you. Tlingits are alive and thriving in beautiful Southeast Alaska, and in many other places around the world.

Tlingit art is enjoying critical and economic acclaim in the United States and abroad and is, as always, a vibrant element of a vital people.

If you...had taken the time to consider or investigate, in the simplest manner possible, this supposed disappearance of a people and natural landscape, you would have readily come to the obvious conclusion that this unedited bit of stereotyping is not only completely untrue and deeply offensive, but serves to reinforce the ideological justification of the genocide of Native Americans. No, Native Americans are not gone, they have not been annihilated, and there is no excuse for declaring them disappeared.

Garvey also fails miserably in his discussion of Singletary's art. With all of the emphasis on stereotyping, Garvey stumbles past some very fine work. The obvious impression is that he seized on his angle and discarded his eye.

More information about Tlingit culture and artwork can be found at www.tlingit-haida.org.

Aaron Brakel

It was great to read Kathleen Bitetti’s column

on organizing an open studio just days before I held my own, for the second year in a row. It gave me an opportunity to check my preparations against her list of suggestions. (I’m doing pretty good!)

I agree with the good common sense of all her suggestions except one. I’m curious about tip #6 (pricing your artwork lower than a gallery would, because you’re not paying the 40-50% commission). Again, it’s great timing. I’ve just spoken with two different buyers recently who had seen my work at area galleries and wondered if they could get a better price by buying from me directly. (The answer was no.)

My take on this is it’s just not fair to the gallery. I’ve worked hard to build my wholesale and gallery connections and this mindset seems to be awfully short-sighted n the artist’s part. I’d guess most galleries wouldn’t think too highly of their artists offering work for sale at a substantially lower price than the galleries can. You might gain a nice sale here and there, but at the cost of a potentially long-term (and hopefully profitable relationship with said gallery.

I personally see the commission a gallery charges on my work as a win/win situation. I get a fair profit for my work and the gallery gets a fair profit for their work — attracting a much larger audience than I probably ever could by myself.

Do the galleries Ms. Bitetti deals with care if artists charge a lower price than the gallery for work bought directly from the artist? Is this common practice in Boston? I am out in
the boonies.

Again, an excellent article, and thank you for running it.

Luann Udell
Keene, New Hampshire

I was disappointed

that in his review of the Dmitri Cavender exhibit at MPG Shawn Hill made no mention of - or maybe he just failed to notice - the profound influence of the paintings of Fairfield Porter on Mr. Cavender's work. Porter's impact is evident in Cavender's painterly style, composition, and even in his subject matter; Cavender even pays homage to Porter by painting at Great Spruce Head Island in Maine where Porter often stayed and where he produced much of his later work.

Any work of art should ultimately stand on its own merits but the difference between art criticism and mere observation is in the assessment of an artist's work in the context of tradition and contemporary trends. The history of art is the history of influence and imitation. In his debt to Fairfield Porter, Cavender keeps distinguished company with artists like Alex Katz, Philip Pearlstein and more locally Neil Welliver. In recognizing the lineage of Cavender's recent exhibit, Mr. Hill could have given your readers far greater insight into the work and more of a reason to go and see it for themselves.

Alissa Dunn
Framingham