By: Ellen Cans
The long anticipated exhibit of Hunter Biden’s paintings in SoHo, yielded a meek number of visitors.
As reported by the NY Post, just a few big names graced the SoHo art Gallery hosting the President’s son’s paintings last week. Even of those who did stop by, fewer still identified themselves. One couple who confirmed they would not be attending was Joe and Jill Biden. “It’s unfortunate that a father or mother can’t see his work, but it’s the times we live in and it’ll become a distraction,” Georges Berges, the owner of the SoHo gallery, told Artnet News.
A handful of artists and industry professionals did show up at the Georges Berges Gallery for private viewings to see Hunter Biden’s controversial show, entitled “The Journey Home — A Hunter Biden Solo Exhibition.” A security guard stood outside the West Broadway venue, allowing entrance only for those with invitations.
On Wednesday, well known visitors included Gene Epstein, a former senior economist at the New York Stock Exchange, who now runs a monthly debate series called the SoHo Forum. He was accompanied by his wife Hisako Kobayashi, who herself is one of 19 artists represented by Berges, as per the gallery’s website. Another visitor was Bill Fine, president of Artnet, an online art resource and database. “The artworks pulsate with color, deep reds, ultramarine blues, and gold leaf,” wrote an article published in Artnet News on Friday. “Most seem allegorical, steeped in mythology, symbolism, and personal history. Snakes twirl their bodies around totems.”
The show, which features 25 works on metal, canvas and Japanese Yupo paper, will run until Nov. 15. It then will be moved to Berges’ other gallery in Berlin. Biden’s works range in price between $75,000 and $500,000. They have become the subject of heated debate, with good-government groups and Republican lawmakers contesting that buyers could purchase art as a means to garner favor with the Biden administration. As a way to reassure critics, the White house proposed that to prevent influence-peddling, Berges was to keep the identities of buyers a secret from the White House. Earlier this month, the Post reported that five of Biden’s paintings were already sold for $75,000 each, but the gallerist denied the story.
“One of the things that I never anticipated was the political irrationality that people can have,” Berges told Artnet News. “There are the blind, predetermined judgments, not just of Hunter, but of myself. If people objectively look at his work, it’s great work. And majority of people they come in and they’re like, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect this!’”
