’ÄúThis is the real deal,’Äù Brose said. But instead of entering the grand lobby of Christie’Äôs in New York City, bidders will filter into the modest atrium of Main Street’Äôs Market Arcade Building to bid on some 81 photographs from a large cross-section of fine-art photography today. Brose said he hopes to break $100,000 with this auction, a gallery fundraiser used for exhibitions and its various youth education programs.

’ÄúThe auctioneer makes it worth the price of admission,’Äù Brose said. (And admission is steep, at $50 per person.) ’ÄúNot only is he a professional, but he just has the right edge to him, he’Äôs just snarky enough. It’Äôs just fun to watch him work the crowd.’Äù

But auctioneer star power isn’Äôt the only draw. This year, the auction features a number of rare, important (not to mention pricey) works, most prominent of which is a small male nude by Robert Mapplethorpe, the photographer famous for his black-and-white portraits of Patti Smith and Andy Warhol, and his controversial and sexually charged body of work.

’ÄúThis year, I’Äôm not sure what’Äôs going on, but we have landed some magnificent pieces,’Äù Brose said.

Many familiar artists from CEPA auctions past are back in their comfortable positions on the gallery walls this year. Milton Rogovin has supplied a stunning black-and-white photograph from his ’ÄúEarly Mexico Series,’Äù priced to move at $6,000 to $9,000. Cindy Sherman, whose rapid ascent in the art world started with a show at CEPA, donated a typically quirky 1987 self-portrait in which she appears outfitted in mud-spattered yellow overalls, gripping a snake. Brose himself

has put up a print from his film ’ÄúDe Profundis.’Äù

Three pieces from photographer Ken Heyman factor into the show, adding a bit of visual anthropology into the purely fine-arts mix. They emerged from the photographer’Äôs work with famed anthropologist Margaret Mead and donated to the show in the wake of Heyman’Äôs CEPA exhibition last summer. Along the lines of Heyman’Äôs social documentary work are two stark pieces in the auction from photographer Brendan Bannon’Äôs work in Kenya, each digital prints.

There’Äôs also a print of a work called ’ÄúAsk the Goddess’Äù from an edition of two by Carolee Schneemann, who had a major retrospective at the gallery last spring. The list goes on to include several local photographers and more than a few who’Äôve had shows at CEPA through the years. The quality of the works and the range of photographers represented, said Brose, highlights the strong relationships the gallery has been able to foster in diverse segments of the world’Äôs art and photography communities.

And unlike the auction rooms of New York City, London and Hong Kong, what sets CEPA’Äôs auction apart are that prices ’Äî surprisingly enough ’Äî can sometimes be affordable.

’ÄúThings don’Äôt go for millions of dollars here. A lot of times you can also get deals. It really depends on who’Äôs in the room,’Äù Brose said. ’ÄúBut if you come, you should come with the desire to bid. Even if you can’Äôt afford it, they make credit for reasons like that.’Äù

cdabkowski@buffnews.com