[MSN] Cops draw blank on art theft at bar

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Cops draw blank on art theft at bar
17 pieces stolen from Broadway nightspot; burglars remain at large
 
By ANNE MILLER, Staff writer
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First published: Sunday, October 29, 2006

ALBANY -- The case of an art theft from a Broadway bar has unfolded somewhat like a cheap Hollywood whodunit -- one that has remained unsolved for months.

When employees of the Red Square bar and live music venue opened the doors one night this summer, they found a chandelier above the bar slightly askew, a stool toppled to the floor, a footprint on a couch cushion and a ladder from the storeroom against a wall of exposed brick.

Gone were 17 pieces of art and two lamp shades. The thief didn't touch the liquor or the state-of-the-art sound system.

Bar employees are convinced the theft must have been an inside job. The artist, Joseph Ulrich, just wants his art back -- 14 of the missing works are his.

"My friends, they said, 'This is great, Joe, somebody must have liked your stuff.' But I feel cheated," Ulrich said. "I would rather have had the sale. I would have liked to have talked to the buyer, what they liked about it."

Whoever stole the artwork could face felony charges. And the work, all original, is irreplaceable.

"There were no signs of forced entry, and no significant forensic evidence was recovered," said Albany public safety spokesman James Miller. "At this point, even though they have a footprint on the couch, (the detectives) don't believe they can utilize (it)."

Red Square occupies a corner of Broadway at Hudson Avenue. The block has a smattering of new businesses among other buildings with vacancies. Red Square has a front bar with exposed brick, red velvet drapes, booths that resemble couches and a turntable setup. Live music takes over the back room, with a stage and a wooden dance floor painted with cartoonish characters in bold colors. Art lines the walls.

"I still can't figure out why they did it," said Eric Imbrosciano, a manager. "It had to be someone with a car. There's no way it could have been someone off the street."

Since the theft, the bar's ownership has changed, but Imbrosciano and the other employees still speculate about what happened. Maybe someone sneaked in through a hatch left open in the basement beer cooler, Imbrosciano said, but they would have to know the bar well to take that route.

"It's the artists that are hurt the most," Imbrosciano said. "That's the other thing that bugs me. I don't know what (they) could have done to anybody that someone would want to break into a bar and steal their art."

Ulrich, 29, works for a surveyor in Clifton Park, lives off Delaware Avenue in Albany and is the proud father of a baby not yet a year old. His art begins as pen and ink, which he scans into a computer, and then he adds color and prints out the work. He often tweaks the images between hard copies.

"You could call them political," he said of his art. "I like to call them socially conscious."

Among the stolen art are two nature pieces, one of trees, the other of mountains, almost Asian in their use of simple lines to project layers and detail. Others depicted the monotony of workers' plights by repeating rows of human figures like paper cutouts.

"I like to think my pieces just draw attention, not draw lines," he said.

His work went up at Red Square in June and was scheduled to remain for up to six months. The theft halted other planned showings this summer and fall, he said.

He created a missing poster of the lost art, which hung in the windows of local galleries this summer and fall.

Ulrich didn't hear from the police until late last month. The insurance company has agreed to pay about $2,200, but Ulrich hasn't seen a check yet. He would rather have the art, but he doesn't expect to see the pieces again.

At Red Square, they've changed the locks. Anne Miller can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at amiller at timesunion.com.

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