Shana Beth Mason Shana was raised in South Florida and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Her passion and curiosity for fine art began and grew with travels throughout the Middle East and Europe. She received her B.A. in English Literature from Florida State University. She was accepted to Christie’s Education London (University of Glasgow), with a focus on Modern & Contemporary Art, graduating with a Master of Arts (Merit) degree. Travelling to Australia, Austria, China, France, Great Britain, Greece, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Thailand has expanded her art historical, literary and cultural enrichment. Her practical experience in the fine art market and her rigorous academic training has yielded a prolific understanding of visual art and its vibrations throughout modern and contemporary culture.
  • The Copenhagen Interpretation In the vibrant, emergent neighborhood of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, some of the most exciting contemporary art is evolving and being seen.  It’s no surprise, then, that a new kind of gallery would spring up, playing to more alternative and intimate tastes than those of the “white cube” variety housed in Chelsea or the Upper […] No responses June 12, 2015
  • Any Pretense? Any Doubts? Any Other Fair? NADA I vaguely remember my first experience at NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance), sometime back in December 2009. “How snotty and hipster and repellent,” I thought to myself as not one person (neither gallerist nor fairgoer) at the fair seemed to be in touch with the world beyond the booth.  Staring blankly into laptops and patronizing […] No responses May 16, 2015
  • Reflections on the Armory The past few years have seen the influence and quality of The Armory Show experience a steady decline.  Whether the fair suffers from a confusing layout, or constantly seeing the same artist with the same works presented by different galleries (what I like to call the “broken record syndrome”), or a mad rush for the […] No responses March 23, 2015
  • A Declaration of Independent Art fairs are very sad affairs, as a whole. The reduction of an entire artist’s practice to a few square feet of temporary drywall, the three-second interactions between gallery and client that render works of art little more than mathematical utterances, the absolute lack of critical (not just negative) observation that is delivered after the […] No responses March 6, 2015
  • André “3000” Benjamin + SCAD at Art Basel Miami “Sophistafunk, aristocrats Distinguished stars, clean up your acts Pull up your pants, ladies and gents Please, act like you got some sense” -Outkast, Behold A Lady (2003)  Rare is the moment when a musician (specifically within the realms of Pop, Rap, R&B, and Rock) effectively crosses over into the wilds of Contemporary art without either […] No responses December 22, 2014
  • Tropical Madness   There’s a nagging feeling that Art Basel Miami (formerly called Art Basel Miami Beach) is a big commercial circus, where a slice of the world’s wealthiest collectors, curators, and financiers fly southward to partake in the largest art fair in the U.S., paired with the most outrageous parties the art world can dish out. […] No responses December 22, 2014