Dana Melamed, Urban Mchanism, 2009, transparency film, printing waste, acrylic paint, ink and canvas on aluminum composite mash, 37 x 42.5 inches
SEM Art has sued the Chelsea gallery Priska C. Juschka Fine Art (PJFA), along with owners Priska C. Juschka and Arnold Katzen, for more than $62,850 dollars in purchased art work that was never delivered. Filed August 25th by SEM Art, the suit claims they bought Dana Melamed’s mixed media pieces ‘Temporary cities, No. 1-9’, ‘Urban Mechanism’, ‘Driven’, and ‘Post-Human’ works from PJFA but only received Temporary Cities 1-9. The invoice, totaling $143,650, was paid June 30th, 2009, according the suit.
Meanwhile, this blog reported that artist Dana Melamed launched her own suit against the gallery on March 31st, 2011, claiming that the gallery told her the twelve works sold for only $98,000 and paid her only in $20,000 installments. UPDATE: The artist informs me that her statements, originally appearing on Court House News, were incorrectly reported. PJFA paid her only $10,000, claiming she was not entitled to anything because they had received nothing from SEM Art. Should SEM provide bank statements showing the total exchange of funds (which seems entirely likely given that it’s part of their summons), PJFA will have difficulty providing a counter-argument.
According to the court summons, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art was dissolved as of April 27th, 2011, though New York State records indicate that Juschka Fine Art INC is still active. Their current show is Paweł Wojtasik's Nine Gates. The suit has also been lodged against owners Priska C. Juschka and Arnold Katzen individually. Melamed has sued for $68,825 and $1 million in punitive damages.
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Priska Juschka posted an announcement on their website in December that they have closed and plan to reopen in a new location. But don’t hold your breath.
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