Fraud Alert: Emails from Charles Phey: Your Art

adapted from an email i received from an art group:

Emails are being sent out to artists from a Charles Phey with the email academicss001@gmail.com . The subject line will most likely read the name of one of your works and the price. The email that is being sent out reads something like:

"Good day to you out there, My name is Charles Phey, I'm from South Well-fleet, MA. Need some artwork for an exhibition,We have being buying and collating different artwork samples from across the world. why surveying i came through your work, going through it, my eyes caught this particular work, i will like to have it this month.please let me know if the piece is available, if yes let me have the detailed price and more information about it. i will be waiting to read from you. Regards."

Upon following up with this character, they will request you send your work to them and then they will send you a money order. Or they will send you a fake money order for more than the amount and want you to send back the difference. THIS IS FAKE. This spammer has been taking advantage of artists all over the world. If you receive anything from Charles Phey at academicss001@gmail.com DO NOT OPEN IT - send directly to your trash/spam folder.

...

The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Pittsburgh Society of Artists “Urban Dreams” exhibit at Fein Art Gallery

Pittsburgh Society of Artists “Urban Dreams” exhibit at Fein Art Gallery

Fein Art Gallery
519 East Ohio St
Pittsburgh 15212
412 321-6816
Closed Sun-Wed
Hours are 9-5

Now through July 9, 2010

Artists
Cristina Saucedo, Carol Skinger, Eva Trout, Phiris Kathryn Sickels, Martha Ressler, Mary Mason, RuthAnne Bauerle, Betty Phillips, David Lackner, David Sparks, Doreen Grasso, Duane Cacali, Ellen Hanna, Ellen Leimkuehler, Gerry Florida, Gloria Goldsmith Hersch, Helen Naimark, Janet Woodcock, Jay Ressler, Jessica Kalmar, Judith Gentile, Kara Ruth Snyder, Kathleen Zimbicki, Kathy Gilbert, Lila Hirsch Brody, Mia Tarducci Henry, Nina Sowiski, Sue Schneider, Yelena Kukharenko.

Pittsburgh Society of Artists “Urban Dreams” exhibit at Fein Art Gallery
“Urban Dreams” Exhibit description: Increasing technologies, multicultural diversity and global exchange heighten our subconscious fears and euphoric hopes for the future. This exhibit challenges artists to abandon linear thinking and pursue interpretations of urban dreams. Using media of their choice, artists explore the hopes and/or fears of the global impact upon our urban environments. The show includes 38 Pieces by 31 artists selected by Juror Kathleeen Zimbicki.

Carol Skinger with her fake urban plan for East Liberty which received a Juror’s Award. In her artwork titled “urban renewal nightmare dream for East Liberty” Pittsburgh artist Carol Skinger poses as an urban planner with Robert Moses, R.K. Mellon and Mosites Co.’s names crossed out as players for the role. Skinger attempts to decisively associate East Liberty with the global green movement by imposing 80 green rooftops on the buildings, and in doing so, play catch up with Chicago, US leader in green roofs. Through the writing on the frame it is also a meditation on “green” recalling the green forest East Liberty once was, the green “liberty” it then became as in free cattle grazing area, the green, as in value and money that was made from it and contiguous lands- when it was developed and subdivided by Thomas Mellon. He gained a real-estate toe hold here, which became the basis for his future ventures, through his marriage to Sarah Jane Negley. Other artistic embellishments Skinger proposes: organic gardens, a lazy river moat ride around East Liberty Presbyterian Church, outdoor pools and a summer stage (orange) for a “Chris Ivey Film Festival” (who she assigns the role of Jane Jacobs) in the middle of it all. East Liberty becomes Liberty Green, a fantasy worth exploring.


...

The Pittsburgh Art Blog

pittsburgh galleries is reborn anew as The Pittsburgh Art Blog. the blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20, 2007.pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh art advocate rick byerly, www.RickByerly.com.

Art Collector Dealer Tony Greco, Gallery on Baum Pittsburgh

Art collection is vast, but is it the real deal?

From Peanuts to Picasso

Sunday, April 11, 2010

By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From the world of fine art and illustration, he also advertises pieces by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Frederic Remington, George Seurat, Jean Cocteau, Erte, Al Hirschfeld, John Lennon, Maurice Sendak and Keith Haring. Mr. Greco says he was friends with Mr. Haring in the mid-1970s, when the latter studied at the now-closed Ivy School of Art in Pittsburgh and Mr. Greco attended Pittsburgh Beauty Academy.

...

Then, in August, his wife of 20 years, Diane Flynn, opened The Gallery on Baum in a former car dealership to showcase and sell some of her husband's art collection.

...
Mrs. Schulz says the family and studio have come across purported Schulz pieces in well-known galleries that are "clearly not Sparky's work" -- "Sparky" was Mr. Schulz's nickname -- and asked that they be removed. In some cases, she says, "Tony Greco was mentioned as the source." She would not identify those gallery owners, saying they did not want to be drawn into a controversy.

...
Mr. Sokolowski, who has seen Mr. Greco's collection, says he doubts the purported Warhols he saw were genuine based on his familiarity with Mr. Warhol's work. He agrees that some authenticators may have ulterior motives but adds that it doesn't make sense to eschew all the experts.

...

Mr. Greco says his critics have an ax to grind.

"They don't want to believe someone like me could have all this great stuff," he says. "The art world is very cliquey, and I'm an outsider they can't control. They're scared of me because I have so much, they don't know where it ends. And you know what? It never ends. If I let it all out, it would depress the market overnight."

article link

follow up article here

...


The Pittsburgh Art Blog

pittsburgh galleries is reborn anew as The Pittsburgh Art Blog. the blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20, 2007.

pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh art advocate rick byerly, www.RickByerly.com.

Pittsburgh Visual Artists: Illustrators, Photographers, Digital Artists: A Warning Story about the book Colorful Illustrations 93°C

A story which just broke a few days ago online is one both visual artists and art patrons need to know about. A book named Colorful Illustrations 93°C is being sold with stolen images and interviews from 93 artists across the world. The images were downloaded from the Little Chimp Society , some even with watermarks and copyright notices and made in this book which is being sold. The full story is here and images of the fraudulent book here . These criminals even included a cd of all of the images as well. Please spread the word about this crime and keep in mind how your images are displayed online. I hop that pro bono copyright and trademark lawyers step forward to help out the artist involved as well as government entities.

The one thing I noticed about the watermarks and copyrights is that they were artistic enough that they blended in with the image so my advice is to to make it stand out and apart from the image and don't worry about the end result. Displaying images online is only to get exposure and sell whatever products you've spent a lot of time in creating so people shouldn't get the full experience online anyways! You can also show lower resolution images which can't end up being used for much of anything but there's a line there of what you were willing to look at yourself. So spread the word, I know a lot of artists online who don't even watermark and copyright their images.

Update: Unfortunately I found out that talented Pittsburgh artist Mike Egan had his images stolen and used in the book.

Rick Byerly



...

Like what's posted on this blog and the website http://www.pghgalleries.com/ ? This is a volunteer effort so donations of any size are welcome which can be made via paypal here . Also at that link anyone interested in purchasing banner space, which includes placement on this blog and websites, can sign up there. Banner design included. Thanks! Rick Byerly
...
Pittsburgh art events: http://www.pittsburghgalleries.blogspot.com/
Pittsburgh art gallery directory: http://www.pghgalleries.com/
Photography from rick byerly: http://www.uniquetake.com/ and http://www.rickbyerly.com/

check out
http://www.PghGalleries.com

sponsored by:

pittsburgh galleries is a project from
pittsburgh photographer rick byerly, http://www.uniquetake.com

1 2 3 4 5 6