Relfections on an Art Auction
Shattering a sculpture, technical difficulties, and yet, everything was cinematic—art was sold.
(This essay was originally published on Substack.)
Bid the Work at ArtShoppingNetwork.com.
When they asked why I was doing this again, I should have said because it’s trademarked: Art Shopping Network®.
Do not let up; they say momentum is hard to regain.
After a five-year hiatus, Art Shopping Network relaunched with the premiere of Acquired Taste, an in-gallery and virtual art auction benefit and TV pilot episode.
Still shot from the Day One Acquired Taste broadcast on YouTube Live and SmartTV via the BoxCast application. Watch the replays here.
This journey re-stARTed in January, booking space. Space is the place, and HOMME’s been part of Washington, D.C.’s do-it-yourself ecosystem since 2014, hosting artists Estéban Whiteside, Dieglo, Qedar, and many others who participate in our selling exhibitions. Amir Browder, the Curatorial & Venue Partner. Thank you for opening the door to the worlds of Xenia Gray, Heather Jones, the Stoney Cooks estate, Bennie Herron, Guarina Paloma Lopez, Kobi Mowatt, and Dina AZ. Salem.
Back-on-road to New York City in back-to-back weekends, picking up drawings from the draughtswoman Sydney Vernon and a Chuck Close print, cherished and stewarded by his former personal chef, Kristopher Edelen–not for sale. Back-and-forth from Pittsburgh and the District for production, planning, and promotion with printmaker Quaishawn Whitlock. A pit stop in Philadelphia by my dad for thug #2, meeting Sherman Fleming, as well as in Arlington and Baltimore, retrieving MásPaz pictures and Dany Green’s primordial mosaics. We arrived for install on May 28, six years to the day of how this all began.
MacArthur Fellow Mel Chin meets us on the streets of Foggy Bottom to deliver Lot 42, Combo Club, a 1993 embossing following the police beating of Rodney King.
The first-ever Instagram Live art auction lives.
Fifty-five artworks were acquired across Part One and Part Two of Bid to Fight COVID, and over $20,000 was raised during a moment of global disruption in the name of artists and non-profit organizations. The basement of The Washington Informer and the studios of Artists Image Resources in Pittsburgh debuted your new favorite auctioneer, Maps Glover. Those initial sales realized the agency of art.
Art as a means to an end. A matter of preference and sensibility, an acquired taste.
Fifty-five plus 14 more sold artworks from last weekend’s inaugural Acquired Taste auction equals 69 collected and counting. One of those pieces to find new homes was and was not Alexis Gomez’. Simulated Spaces, painted by the Fairfax, VA artist, sold with a hammer price of $250, while Being, an acrylic sculpture valued at $1,300, came crashing to the gallery floor. My fault entirely. A Holly Bass was to hang high, and I did not think to make room for the undertaking. Alexis Gomez is a consummate artist and professional; he brought his own display shelf for exhibiting, and I toppled it. Maps and Amir heard the dismemberment, and their boggling eyes said it all: Oh, shit!
I called Alexis immediately. ‘This is why we have insurance.’
Alexis Gomez is a consummate artist, professional, and human being, who not only assured me these kinds of things happen, but also had another edition of his sculpture handy and was already en route to the show.
Breathe.
Hanging and framing a lot of art in 24 hours: 53 auctioned works, eight prints for direct purchase, and Self-Portrait (Yellow Raincoat). I learned about d-rings and where to hammer the hook and nail, based on measuring the distance of the wire’s tension to the top of the piece. We exhibited salon style. Gallerists noticed a difference between what hung on the wall on day one compared to day two. Re-positioning works for Clarence James’ ode to Harriet Tubman. Collectors anticipating Lots 28 & 53. Steven M. Cummings’ archival photographs sold for $200 & $375, respectively.
It was messy, and we were rusty, coming out of art retirement. Online bidding was our bread and butter, and our capabilities malfunctioned. The first-ever Instagram Live art auction lives, but you need 1,000 or more followers to broadcast live on Instagram in 2026, and we have 478. Help us grow; like, follow, and subscribe.
I don’t know how Maps does it, but he is a performance artist, selling artwork for 10 hours.
Dieglo was in-studio on Saturday, airbrushing custom t-shirts. I bought one and so did this fly-flygirl named Amaya, who showed up Friday wearing a polo shirt, jorts, and Timberland-type boots with a high heel, carrying a painted briefcase with the words “The World is Yours.” She pre-ordered her tee and watched it being made in real-time. Mental; it’s the concept.
Live, in-studio airbrushing with Dieglo from Day Two of Acquired Taste.
Dieglo later said to me, “I didn’t know Maps was like that.”
He said he re-posted one of our reels of Maps, and his followers all had the same response:
Maps. Maps. Maps.
Maps got motion like that. His energy translates from screen to stage. He interviewed Rain Spann, who drove his artwork from Virginia Beach after work, right on time for the opening. Holly Bass stood beneath Holly Bass, her narrative work NWBA (Spin) hanging overhead. Joe Goldberg shared a thought on discipline. And we were joined on camera by Jess Randolph, Creative Director of Anacostia Arts Center, Powered by WACIF, one of our non-profit beneficiaries.
Television.
If I could have bought every piece in the show, I would have outbid everyone. This is how I want to feel every auction; that every lot is exceptional. Although the premiere of Acquired Taste was far from perfect, art and artifacts were greeted by new collectors. Artists received validation through market movement. Patrons of the arts decided they wanted to live with new pieces. And money circulated toward practicing artists and mission-driven institutions. The proof of concept is in the work. Our art and our communities have the economic agency to change the world.
Bennie Herron’s Cover Your Head fetched a hammer price of $1,200.
Your support is deeply meaningful. Proceeds from every sale benefit Anacostia Arts Center, Powered by WACIF, Martha’s Table, Montgomery County Immigrant Rights Collective, and WHUT-TV, helping strengthen the community institutions that make the Mid-Atlantic region vibrant.
The Acquired Taste Post-Auction Sale is now open until July 4. Select works remain available at their opening bid or reserve price. Purchase today. No bidding required. Prints and publications are also for sale, commemorating the art and artists from our premiere program.
We will see you again later this year. Thank you for bidding the work.
