Fotosphere, a Chelsea casualty

I recently received an email from the good people at Fotosphere Gallery:

For the past seven years, FOTOSPHERE has been serving as a gallery space and photo workshop.
Unfortunately, due to the change in building ownership,FOTOSPHERE will no longer be able to continue the business here.
We are very saddened by this and will be closing the gallery in mid August 2008.

I have been an admirer of this gallery for some years. Koichiro Kurita and his wife have been showing platinum-palladium and collodion work of many fine artists in addition to the beautiful work of Mr. Kurita. I find that the work has a lyrical quality that is quite seductive combined with a rigorous and luminous printing philosophy. The prints of Mr. Kurita need to be seen to appreciate the fineness of the image combined with his use of handmade Japanese paper and exquisite platinum-palladium technique.

An excerpt from his CV:
Koichiro Kurita's works are exhibited internationally and collected by major museums including Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Princeton Art Museum, The Fogg Museum Havard University, George Eastman House, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Minneapolis Institue of Arts, Maison de Europeanne de la Photographie, The Biblioteque Nationale de Paris, Fuji Art Museum and among others. He lives and works in New York City and gives workshops in his studio.

Please check out this gallery before it leaves they close their doors. It will be worth your while.
http://www.fotosphere-ny.com/website.html

P.S. one can't help but wonder if this is a harbinger for many more gallery closings in the coming months. The art press may herald that there is no slowdown in the market. But my own eyes tell me a different story. Rents are rising in the now-hot 11th Ave corridor with many new high profile buildings in the works. If rents go up and sales slow, can 300+ galleries stay in west Chelsea and make money? We'll see.