Well I just scoped out the 2 Peter Lik galleries at Caesar's Palace and I have to admit that I actually liked a few of his newer, digital pieces which clearly beat the older, blocked-up looking 6x17 Velvia shots. And it appears that Peter is now an HDR Master! Like me.
Well, there are a few things like those "rays of light" in a forest scene that must have taken many gruelling expeditions all the way to Photoshopia and back to finally capture. But there were also some very nice looking pieces, if you don't care too much for subtlety. He even ripped me off for the rather elegant Central Park in Autumn shot that I have been intending to do for at least 20 years, the very nerve of him!
But seriously, I have such disdain for people who market so much better than me!
I'm going to write out 100 times... "Flamboyance Pays, Flamboyance Pays, Flamboyance Pays..." At least in Vegas.
Most of the pictures are still about 17 x 50 through maybe 24 x 72 in ultra heavy duty black mattes and Pirates-of-the-Caribbean wood veneer frames (Roma Tobaccino @ $20/foot). But there were also several bare, face-mounted pieces of plex+print only, up a lot from last year. Starting at $6000, with plenty of stuff in the very affordable $15,000 to $80,000 range.
Was interesting to hear how full-bodied the back-stories have become in the last year. Practice + boredom = hyperbole. Also I was very impressed to hear how many centuries those face mounted RC glossies were going to last. That's "centuries" with an "s."
And I got the infamous Thomas Kinkade "fade to black" demo right there in a Peter Lik gallery! Was ushered into a little, black-walled room occupied only by a print with about 6 dazzling spotlights on it. The door was closed and the lights were slowly dimmed. And behold! I could see the brightest parts of the print until there was almost no light! It seemed significant to the demonstrator, who clearly felt I should be impressed. I did my best to feign excitement. I think it has something to do with complaints about Lik pieces looking dark in people's houses, in the absence of halogen spotlights.
Feppe, you've got to have that experience! I think it's mandatory if you happen to mention the prints look "backlighted." For some reason.
Anyway, I had a good time! Thanks for being there, Peter.