Postcards from the Edge benefit raises money for Visual AIDS by selling artworks for only $85
Sikkema Jenkins
530 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
January 25 preview party: $85 (includes two raffle tickets), 5:00 – 8:00
January 26-27, suggested admission $5
www.visualaids.or
One of the most exciting art fundraisers of the year is also among the most affordable. The fifteenth annual Visual AIDS Postcards from the Edge benefit sale takes place January 26-27 at Sikkema Jenkins in Chelsea, where more than 1,300 postcard-size works of art will be available for a mere $85 each. They are by emerging and established artists, including some of the most famous in the world, but the works are displayed anonymously; you find out who made a specific piece only after you pay for it. So you have two main choices: Select the work you like best, or join in the guessing game and try to grab one that you think might be by a major artist and be worth far more than you paid for it. The sale begins Friday night with a preview party, with the $85 admission fee getting you an exclusive advance look at the entire exhibition (so you know just where to go the next day), along with a silent auction and two raffle tickets. (The grand prize is first pick of the postcards Saturday morning.) In order to get in, you might have to step over people who are camping out overnight for Saturday’s sale, where admission is a suggested donation of five bucks and you get a free fifth postcard when you buy four. There should still be some left over for Sunday as well, when the purchase of two earns you a complimentary third. The impressive list of participating artists includes Ed Ruscha, Kara Walker, John Baldessari, Ann Hamilton, Bill Viola, Marilyn Minter, Arturo Herrera, Catherine Opie, Lawrence Weiner, Kiki Smith, Christian Marclay, Moyra Davey, Donald Baechler, John Waters, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Julie Mehrehtu, Joel Shapiro, Patty Chang, Ross Bleckner, Nancy Burson, William Pope.L, Kim Beck, Jack Pierson, Vito Acconci, William Wegman, Fred Wilson, and Will Barnet. All proceeds go to Visual AIDS, whose mission for twenty-five years has been to “utilize art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over.”