Please help me save my life's work from my former gallery in New York!
My former gallery is refusing to safely return my artwork to me here in Germany, after they stopped representing me. It's almost all the artwork I have done through my entire life as an artist, 138 pieces of art that represent my artistic journey through the last 25 years. I have been desperately fighting to get my work back for over a year now.
The work that needs shipping includes several complete major projects:
- Ritual and Reality, which looks at the traumatic aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown;
- Severed Connections - Do What I Say Or They Will Kill You, which includes over 30 large format prints up to 3 meters in size;
- Several smallish sculptures varying in size as well as many other works.
In April, the gallery started the shipping process but they didn't give the shipping company any details, just the dimensions. When the shipping company realized that delicate artwork was involved, they contacted me to let me know they couldn't ship it by sea, but the gallery refused to take it back, I don't have the money to properly ship it, and the shipping company wants the space back.
If I were to pursue legal action against the gallery, that would require an initial minimum of $12,000 USD and trial, including discovery, would cost about $100,000 USD. I have put my name on a list for pro bono representation for artists but it's a very lengthy list with a long waiting period.
If I lose the artwork, I don't see how I can continue to work professionally as an artist. Having to start over at 53 with almost no artwork is more than I can do. In the pursuit of my work I have paid a high personal price. I have been shot at, held at gunpoint, exposed to radiation and had radiation poisoning, been kidnapped, injured my back from carrying large format gear. I have also experienced exclusion in the profession for being a woman, for being trans, for being Jewish.
I have no savings, all of my money goes back into my work. I have had an amazing art career, though it hasn’t been very good on the money side.
The gallery has offered sea shipping but no German company is willing to handle the import of delicate art shipped by sea, as it's highly likely to get damaged during transit.
The cost breakdown is:
€4,000 for air shipping
€2,000 for customs tax (+VAT)
€500 for getting the 1,300 kg of work from street level up to my apartment.
€200 for gofundme + stripe fees
https://www.berlinartlink.com/2020/08/31/intersectional-art-as-activism-an-interview-with-yishay-garbasz/
https://www.womanlymag.com/blog/2022/6/1/review-yishay-garbasz-womens-art-doesnt-end-at-the-outer-labia
This is why I urgently need your help. I have tried everything I could do, this is my last resort.
If the gallery pays for the complete shipping and import tax I would donate the amount raised to Queer BIPOC organisation in Berlin.
** If I rise more then the goal, the extra would be used to hire help to do condition check for the work and their safe storage. As there are many large works it takes more then one and some times more then three art handlers to do safely.
*** The amount needed for air shipping is in USD not EURO however with the conversion fee and the lower exchange rate it comes close to the same.
**** The customs tax+ VAT amount is approximate as its calculated from the value+shipping cost amount, this amounts to my best guess.
Organizer
yishay Garbasz
Organizer
Berlin, Berlin