In March, I was contacted by a woman called Pauline from a company called Ickenox, claiming to be an art event organiser. She charged me

I took part in the exhibition/sale run by Ickenox in September of last year at the Old brewery on Brick Lane during the Brick lane Festival weekend. It was extremely busy with literally thousands going through the display on the sunday. However not many sold on the day save for those, including the organisers - who sold Posters and items less than

...could you please forward on their contact details to me or perhaps make them aware of this post. Best wishes Tony Broadbent

Looking them up on the web in google they have a lot to say for them selves and there is a contact address see http://www.ickenoxartshop.co.uk/index.asp however I also checked out Ickenox Ltd at companies house and the company was disolved on the 17/07/07 the registerd address is ICKENOX LIMITED SIR ROBERT PEEL HOUSE 178 BISHOPSGATE LONDON EC2M 4NJ where you might find out more good hunting and please keep us informed John SAA Chairman

I also note in the companies house web site that if a company is trading and if you can prove that it is, it cannot be disolved. Quote from companies house "Can anyone object to dissolution? Any interested party may object. How and why can they object? Objections must be in writing and sent to the Registrar of Companies with any supporting evidence, such as copies of invoices that may prove the company is trading. " Have any other members got claims against this company?? if so please email me john@saa.co.uk john

Is there a list of past Exhibitors anywhere...this could count as a group action for a civil case against the Company, if 'she' has done the deed to loads of Artists or perhaps we could assist the Police assuming that they are investigating. Just a thought.

Thanks for posting this Tiffany. So, the exhibition DID open, albeit shoddily, in spite of Pauline phoning at the 11th hour to warn it was off. Isn't that interesting! My partner was one of the artists affected by this scam. His work is online on Ickenox's blog link. We are alarmed by how they butchered the accompanying text so it resembles the aftermath of a translating program. He is an artist known by his full name so it is puzzling that Ickenox only used his initial. Was this to stop people contacting him directly, I wonder? (more about this later) After months of not having ANY of his emails or phone messages answered, he received a frantic phone message from Pauline advising him that the exhibition had been cancelled. Pauline bizarrely gave the reason for cancellation as the tube strike of which he allegedly had been notified 1 and a half months previously!! So, Ickenox is psychic then! My partner had paid

(continued)The police advised that no crime had been committed yet as the money could still be returned. They have passed on the information to their intelligence department for investigation. We were given a crime reference number to notify them of further developments. You might like to contact the police yourselves and quote our reference number so they can link all the material together. CRIME REF NO: CAD 2561/0709 (we phoned 0207-515-1212 and spoke to Reis) I then phoned and warned Maureen of the "Artists' Newsletter" magazine which had carried Ickenox's advert. Many of you here will be subcribers to that magazine so I advise that you contact it with your experiences etc. They may investigate and run an article about it. And your art insurance companies will be VERY interested too, possibly enough to launch their own investigations. I am assuming that people do not get back their money and, in some cases, their artwork but this is an assumption only - unless someone knows better. Then the insurance companies end up paying out, of course. But how big is this problem and just how many people have been affected? Anthony's point about the past exhibitors is good. However, Ickenox has covered its tracks by deleting that information and obscuring people's names. My partner is in contact with a well-known artist of many years experience. He had a total-waste-of-time solo exhibition some years ago with Ickenox. Unfortunately his work was publicised online and li

(continued) Unfortunately his work was publicised online and linked with Ickenox who used his reputation to gain authenticity. The web pages have, of course, now disappeared! The Ickenox experience is unsettling as we cannot be sure whether it is a deliberate cynical attempt to deceive and defraud or whether it is simply gross incompetence. The more evidence which comes to light, the more it seems to be the former. Please pass this on and warn all your artist contacts. Tracey

A quick search has brought up these details for the exhibitions, Ickenox Fine Art Exhibitions Building 3 566 Chisiwck High Street Chiswick Park London W4 5YA United Kingdom Telephone 079-0384-1884 Email ickenatl@globalnet.co.uk http://www.freewebs.com/ickenoxexhibitions/contactus.htm