Sunday, June 12, 2011

Getting to know the neighborhood

Soho Galleries






Walking down Calle 60 between 41 and 43 we spotted SoHo Galleries and stepped inside for a respite from the mid-day heat. I immediately recognized owner Adele Aguirre from a video I had seen featuring one of her exhibitions. She warmly greeted us and noticing our flushed faces, bumped the air conditioning down a notch. Much appreciated. The gallery was between shows with some of the pieces from the Erotica and Fantasy exhibition still hanging and a few from an upcoming show.  Santa Ana has emerged as an art destination with several expat galleries now in operation, but SoHo and Galería Tataya are two we have found open during our visits.
Had just finished at our visit
Poster from a 2010 show
Having been entrepreneurs in the antique  
business several years ago in addition to our professional careers, we understand the nature of those types of businesses. It is necessary to have some semblance of regular hours, but higher end art or antique dealers usually don't rely on vacationing tourists but rather on a following of local residents.

After almost five years of shop hours, shows, auctions and estate sales, we quit our break-even business. It takes hard work and talent to be successful in such endeavors, and nearly impossible if only part-time. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by these galleries. Much of the art is quite good and the prices are much more reasonable than similar work in the US. You can view works by Cuban and Mexican artists, and possibly an extranjero or two.


1 comment:

  1. I second that part about "much" of the art being quite good. It's also true that the prices are reasonable. We bought a nifty piece for about $25 at Cafe Chocolate. I don't know how hard it is to ship things back home, though, if you buy something you can't pack in your suitcase.

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