[S.sup.2] opens retail galleries in Chicago, Las Vegas - gallery News - Brief Article

Art Business News, July, 2002

LAS VEGAS -- [S.sup.2] Art Group Ltd. of Las Vegas, New York and Chicago has opened a retail gallery in Chicago and two new retailing venues on the Las Vegas strip: Fashion Show, a shopping center currently undergoing major expansion, and Desert Passage in the Aladdin Resort & Casino.

In Chicago, the [S.sup.2] Art Gallery is located in the heart of the River North Gallery district. The gallery will feature AFI's 100 Years ... 100 American Movie Poster Classics Collection, other vintage posters and work by artists Al Hirschfeld, Rafal Olbinski, Tom Everhart and Matt Rinard.

The galleries in Vegas are the first locations representing the new Galleries America concept being launched by [S.sup.2], which also owns Entertainment Galleries in the Grand Canal Shoppes of the Venetian Hotel and Resort and Jack Gallery in Mandalay Bay Casino. The company also owned and operated Re Galleries/Atelier in the Paris Las Vegas Casino Resort, which was forced to close in April due to remodeling at the casino.

"The test of good management is to turn what could be a disaster into an opportunity," said [S.sup.2] C.E.O. Jack Solomon of the dislocation of the multi-million-dollar Paris gallery/atelier operation. "The Paris gave us the option to move to a lesser location in the property. But we looked around, and there were a lot of other, better locations that wanted us. So we let the Paris buy out our lease and instead took the opportunity to roll out the Galleries America concept."

Noting that the [S.sup.2] Art collections are rich in images of American icons, Solomon said the company is the perfect organization to launch a concept like Galleries America. Galleries America will feature Everhart's PEANUTS[TM] paintings and lithographs, Hirschfeld's celebrity portraits, photography by entertainer Kenny Rogers, a movie poster collection and crafts by American artisans. The company plans to roll out the Galleries America concept over the next five years in select U.S. and international cities.

The new locations are found at the following addresses:

* Galleries America, Desert Passage Shopping Center, Aladdin Hotel, Las Vegas

* Galleries America, Fashion Show, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas

* [S.sup.2] Art Gallery, 300 W. Superior, Suite 203, Chicago

For information, visit www.s2art.com.