The long lineage of powerful art dealers, begun by larger-than-life characters like Joseph Duveen and Leo Castelli, continues with today’s big players, like Jay Jopling of White Cube Gallery in London and Larry Gagosian (of pretty much everywhere else).  In the face of charges that the art market will finally outgrow an Old World way of doing things, today’s super-dealers have so far managed to maintain their stranglehold on the art market, and at least for the moment, continue to dictate how business is conducted. 

A student of Renaissance devotional painting and spirituality at large, Bill Viola produces video art grander in scope and freer in dynamism than most of his contemporaries. Though the medium has often drifted toward conceptual and methodic experimentation, video art has always had an expressive side that allows for a great deal of compositional freedom. Viola’s work has explored ancient forms of spirituality, such as Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism, and Sufism, as well as their intersection with geopolitics and technology. 

There are few artists who can lay claim to as recognizable a body of work as Andy Warhol.  Indeed, support for his legacy has emerged in all corners of the world making him an international superstar of the art world, rivaled perhaps only by Picasso.  As a new bevy of collectors enter into the Postwar and Contemporary Art market, from the newly emergent BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Warhols are finding their way into homes all over the world.  For many new art collectors looking to amass a respectable (and valuable) collection, Warhol has become a popular way to make a foray into the sometimes volatile world of art investment. 

Born and raised in New York City, artist Clarisse Perrette currently lives and works in Chicago. Her paintings have been featured at a number of galleries around the country, including s.e.e.d. Gallery (Brooklyn), Artist’s Museum (Washington D.C.), the Art Students League (New York City) and the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago.

As the de facto capital of the contemporary art world, it is perhaps no surprise that New York has become such a hotbed for high-quality public art.  From the increasingly cultural Governors Island to the newly expanded High Line, great art venues abound throughout the city. 

Street Portraits (2008-2011) by photographer and writer Christopher Moraff. 

“Night Visions: Photography After Dark” – on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through September 18 – offers an inspiring glimpse at the intrepid photographers who, for more than a century, have made the night home.