CRIME

The Art of the Deal

An artist's paintings are stolen and damaged at a New Year's party gone terribly wrong.

by Cassidy Hartmann

"You go into a place and you see something wrong. That's all you remember," laments artist Antonio Puri as he pads through the quiet rooms at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, pointing out the two blank spaces where his paintings once hung. "The focus is going to be on the empty wall."

The blank spaces are undersized compared to the massive compositions that surround them, but to Puri they represent a painful void. His artworks Mukti 5 and Mini Dharma 2 have been missing from the Art Alliance since late New Year's Eve, having been torn from the walls by an unknown guest at a party gone shamefully wrong. The works total $1,300 in value, but to the artist they're worth much more.

"What it's done is taken the integrity out of the show," says Puri. "The work was held together by pieces that went together. When you take two things out, it's like a car without wheels."

On this day the spacious rooms of the Alliance are sunny and serene, but on New Year's Eve-as reported in numerous accounts-they were bulging with partygoers who'd paid around $100 a person to ring in 2006 with friends at what was billed as a classy event that promised food, TVs and multiple open bars.

The party, organized by Renamity, the publicity firm fronted by Anthony DiMeo III, and hosted by the in-house restaurant Le Jardin, was booked for 325 guests from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to a contract presented by Le Jardin operator Athmane Kabir. What the more than 600 ticket holders found when the doors

Mini Dharma 2

opened at 9 was an unmitigated fiasco-ill-stocked and understaffed, replete with cowering event planners who'd clearly dropped the ball long before the 2006 ball dropped.

"The party was absolutely terrible," says Brian Bartley, 27, of Lansdale.

Bartley and 10 of his friends had rented vans and arrived at the party around 9 p.m. "Everything we'd read in the Renamity advertisement wasn't there-no TVs, no food. It said there would be 12 large rooms, each with an open bar. But there was just one bartender shoveling out drinks. Then, a little before 10, they said they were out of beer. That's when all hell started to break loose."

Police were called when guests began reaching over the bar, grabbing bottles in frustration. Bartley says a fight was reported, but the party was broken up relatively peacefully around 10:30 p.m.

Though violence may have been averted, patrons filed out brimming with anger. Someone snatched two of Puri's paintings as retaliatory souvenirs.

"I found out about the loss from the media," says Puri, who didn't even know about the party until he heard on the news that paintings had been stolen. "It didn't specify what works, so I left messages for everybody, and heard on Jan. 3 they were mine."

Puri says the Art Alliance has been extremely apologetic and respectful about the incident, and he doesn't blame them for the theft.

"I know it's not their fault. It's the people who rented the space who should've had some respect for the art. I'm disappointed in the promoter for not having enough security there."

Puri recently received a phone call of apology from DiMeo of Renamity, but explains that the damage has been done. It was recently discovered that a third painting worth $12,000 was cracked by what appeared to be a bottle thrown against the canvas. Renamity didn't respond to requests for comment.

"That's just bad character," Puri says of Renamity's lack of planning and responsibility. "It's bad karma."

Born in India and having spent his first 17 years gaining inspiration from life at the foot of the Himalayas, Puri spent the last year in New York. He says he was thrilled that his exhibition "Outside the Mandala" was making its debut in Philadelphia and that the initial response was encouraging.

 

Mukti 5

Now he hopes appreciation of his work won't vanish along with the works of art.

Puri has decided to replace the two paintings with others from his studio in order to "bring integrity back" to the show. Because the collection has been altered, the Art Alliance has agreed to host a closing reception to celebrate it on Jan. 27.

"I'm hoping the rest of the month can bring back some positivity," Puri says, standing in front of a wall-sized canvas from his show called Fractured Reflections. "I know it's a negative situation, but I don't want people to just remember the show for a bad thing. I want them to remember the paintings, not the fact that they're lost."

Anyone with information on the stolen artwork can contact Melissa Caldwell at the Art Alliance at mcaldwell@philartalliance.org or 215.545.4302

Cassidy Hartmann (chartmann@philadelphiaweekly.com) last wrote about a law that prevents the children of undocumented citizens from attending college in the U.S.

"Outside the Mandala"
Through Jan. 29. Closing reception: Fri., Jan. 27, 5:30-7:30pm. Free. Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. 215.545.4302. www.philartalliance.org