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John Metcalfe’s “The Hunger Artists” (9/17) was one of the most readable and funny articles that I have read in ages. I had always heard that Alex Belinfante and Keren Coxe bought work, but in more than 100 shows between the two Fraser Galleries they’ve eaten a ton of food and never, ever even feigned interest in the artwork. Now I know why: We don’t show colorful abstraction.
Belinfante and Coxe know the city’s art scene (as long as there’s food) better than anyone else! And I don’t know how they do it, but they are also at every embassy, restaurant opening, and so forth. I’ve seen them as far south as Virginia Beach.
In Canal Square, we call them “the Grubs.” There are several others in the locust pack besides the ones mentioned in the piece. Worst story I heard about them: A now-defunct gallery in Leesburg allegedly actually had some of Coxe’s works in a group show. (She’s a stained-glass artist.) The whole gang was there, and apparently it was the daughter’s birthday.
To the gallery owner’s dismay, he discovered that once all the food and drinks had been devoured in the main gallery, and before he noticed, the Grubs all went to the back room and ate all the food that was stored inside the refrigerator, plus two cases of beer. When he took them to task for doing this, they responded that they were celebrating the daughter’s birthday!
Potomac, Md.