at the Orlando Museum of Art, FBI Art Crime Team member Chris McKeogh says that because of the ubiquity of scams and fakes, he doesn’t believe a work of art is real until he can prove it. With so much money flowing into the industry, and given the growing popularity of art, there are more scammers around. “Whenever there’s a fraud scheme or fakes-and-forgeries ring, if you become aware of two or three, multiply by 10, at least,” McKeogh said.
Gagosian has closed its doors there, Pace is due to shutter its Palo Alto gallery next month, and longtime local dealer Karen Jenkins-Johnson is moving her gallery to Los Angeles. Rising housing costs pushing out artists and a lack of visitors and potential buyers are all to blame for the challenges facing the scene, which has a legacy of artistic experimentation. “San Francisco has lost its glow in the arts world,” Jenkins-Johnson said. “It’s lost its place. And it’s sad.