Space 1026 Auctions Again

Everything must go at the 1026 crew’s annual auction.

By LD Beghtol
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Dec. 8, 2009

Blank account: In addition to this piece by Alex Da Corte, the artist offers a sketchbook, which he’ll fill with daily drawings.

Everybody knows charity auctions are usually stocked with hideous crap that, after the party is over, live in the winner’s car or junk drawer until getting passed along to an unsuspecting friend or relation. Or, perhaps, donated to yet another charity auction. Not so with the items at Space 1026’s Annual Art Auction: Lucky bidders might just take home a gem by America’s Next ArtStar. Or at least find something to cover that inexplicable hole in the bathroom wall.

Artist/illustrator Alex Lukas, who joined the Space 1026 collective two years ago after stints in Brooklyn and San Francisco, won’t name the exact figure brought in by last year’s auction for fear of a buzzkill visit from the taxman, but he admits the many thousands they make every year help keep Space 1026 “doing what we’re doing—which is sustaining an affordable art space in Center City.” Lukas says the auction funds the collective’s monthly exhibits—paying for postcards, for instance—and also helps with the everyday upkeep of the space itself, such as sorting out the plumbing and electrical woes that have recently plagued 1026.

Space 1026 Annual Art Auction 2009

Fri., Dec. 11, 6pm. Space 1026, 1026 Arch St. 215.574.7630. space1026.com/auction

But it’s not all cost accounting. Lukas sees the auction as a sort of open house for art-makers and art-lovers alike: “We’re really happy to have works by locals as well as people from all over the country. We have younger artists who’ve never shown before, and others who’ve exhibited internationally. It’s all very democratic,” Lukas says. “Everyone is involved.”

The starting bid for each work is a budget-friendly fiver, but holiday spirits (in whatever form) can drive prices up-up-up. “We usually have one or two pieces that break a thousand,” Lukas admits, “but it’s really everywhere in between, so there’s something for everybody.” There are works in most imaginable media by all 25 collective members; items of special interest include a blank sketchbook in which artist Alex Da Corte will do one drawing a day for the next year—and two paintings by Jim Houser.

Eager patrons may preview these and more than 90 other treasures at Space 1026’s online photostream (flickr.com/photos/space1026/) or by visiting the gallery this week. Admission to the auction is free, but get there early since this event has proved very popular with scensters and serious art collectors eager to cut loose and drop some green for a very worthy cause.

Ben Woodward (a founding member of Space 1026) will DJ, and though light refreshments of an unspecified nature will be available, discreet flasks are recommended. Unsubstantiated rumors allege that this year’s celebrity host/auctioneer Todd Kimmell—Philly’s self-proclaimed “perennial gentleman of the arts”—might be persuaded to sing. Dress is casual. Or maybe optional, since it will undoubtedly be stifling amongst all that youth and beauty. Sales are cash and carry. And, as Lukas reminds bargain hunters: “Everything must go!” So while Space 1026 isn’t a charity, any clever write-offs you work out with your accountant are strictly between you guys and Santa. ■

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