Canapo Gallery

(This part was written on the 26th of January) unfortunately I have to agree with those that said Carlos was not honest, as I gave him an excellent large Vladimir Cora piece that even Carlos said was his best, and wanted to buy it for himself if he could get the money. He sold it to a client and never paid me--for almost 2 years (I still have copies of his emails and phone promises) Finally I went in to his shop as I was tired of all his excuses to see what was going on and if he would honor the debt he had to me. He told me another big story and I felt sorry for him (what a fool!) \r I ended up with 3 pieces from another artist that I didn't even want as 'collateral' --Carlos promising to pay me soon to get his 'collateral back' plus 20% interest. He never did. \r In total Carlos paid me $2,500 during the first year but nothing since of the original $10,000. agreement in which he had talked me down to $8,000. that I had foolishly agreed to when I thought he was paying me in a lump sum--which he did not. \r Jan 27th Carlos returned my call saying he is going to pay me. He told me to bring the pieces back to him and he would give me the money he owed me. I sent him a paypal request for only a part of the money to ensure he was telling the truth this time--he refused to pay. I have heard his stories for over 2 years--I hope he can honor his debt to me. I will let you know if so.\r \r I still have the 3 pieces I don't want and cannot sell-- and now I believe he never had any intention of paying me. I will be posting the photo of the Vladimir Cora piece on the internet. I am also now going to take other measures as I can see from some of his clients posts that he has been taking money in and not paying those he owes.\r \r March 8, 2013 Carlo is threatening to post negative things on my web site (which I do not care as my friends and clients know I am giving, trustworthy and honest) if I don't pull this down, and the following is from his email this morning to me, ""...you are trying to blackmail me charging me 20% interest, that is ""shark"" interest rates and I will put that in your web site, so people can\r see what can of person you are. If you do not deleted your review within the\r next 48 hours., I am going to put my side of the history in your web site.-Carlos""\r Interesting, since my credit card company was charging me 19.9% on my card that I thought I could pay off by selling my art piece to Carlo, instead I could not. more

You are put at ease instantly when greeted by Carlos Porras at his beautiful gallery on Dolores Street. He is very professional, respectful, and full of good humor. As you look around, there is an eclectic mix of artwork by very talented emerging and well-known artists from all over the world. I have had multiple professional dealings with Carlos and I have found him honest, straightforward, patient and a true lover of art and artists. The best compliment I can give is that I continue to business with him without hesitation and look forward to it every time I visit Carmel. more

We discovered Canapo Art Gallery by chance on trip to Carmel in about 2005 and purchased two paintings by an artist from Guanajuato, Mexico. Upon arriving back home we decided that there was one other painting that we just had to have. I called Carlos Porras, the owner, we agreed on a price, and he delivered it to my more

I have been doing business with Carlos Porras, the owner of Canapo Art Gallery for over 15 years. I have seen him grow his business and clientele to become one of the best galleries in the competitive Carmel area. This is not possible if what the people with negative reviews below was true. Costumer satisfaction is number one at Canapo Art Gallery, always has been and always will. Look no further for truly stunning art that will fill the whole on both your wall, and your heart. more

C S, I used two words to describe the name of the company allowing this review. If you try to add a review using the Company?s name, they block you and do not allow the comment to be displayed. My name is Carlos Porras and I have been the owner of Canapo Art Gallery for 18 years. I have been under attack by four unethical and unprofessional artists because I did not agree to meet their demands. I currently represent more than 35 artists and have been working with some of them for several years without any problems. more

As a collector of fine art, I have never met a more congenial nor trustworthy person to do business with than the owner of Canapo Galleries, Carlos Porras. When I came into his gallery, I was in awe of the magnificence of the many, varied paintings his gallery displays. He took the time to show me every artist, gave me the background information about them and gave me an offer I could not refuse. He actually said he would ship a painting to me without purchasing it first to make sure I would like it in my home. He also gave me a very fair price for this particular artist's work. I cannot say enough about his gallery and his business ethics. I feel it is the most beautiful gallery in Carmel - very professional, well-known artists who use vibrant colors and very interesting subjects. more

I have known Carlos Porras for more than 10 years. I first met him when he was running his first gallery in Carmel. Since then I have been conducting business with him and he has always been a real professional. He does a real good job at making sure that the customers are satisfied with their purchases to the point where he will let them take the artwork home so that they can live with it before making a decision (to buy or not). I have also found that he really cares for the artists he represents, I have met a couple of them. I think him and his gallery are a real asset to the Carmel art scene. I highly recommend him as a very fair art dealer, and I will continue doing business with him. Pros: Great Art more

We have been Carlos' customer for the past 10 years and have purchased various paintings from him over the years. We are very happy, as Carlos has always been very professional and has gone out of his way to accommodate us. Pros: Fantastic and Reliable more

I do not know how not ashamed to say it's an honest person, ?CARE! Carlos Porras of Canapo Gallery not what is, is a swindler! is a persons of very low moral values, is an unscrupulous con artist. Takes advantage of the goodwill of artists wishing to exhibit their works, taking advantage of living outside of USA. Years ago I sent him a collection of 30 works, with a total cost of almost $ 10,000 usd, all my paintings was sold inmediately in its gallery, 8 years have passed since the date and has not paid me anything. more

My name is Carlos E. Porras, I opened Canapo Art gallery in Carmel, CA in 1994. Canapo Art Gallery?s main commitment is to ensure 100 % customer satisfaction. Carmel California is one of the main Art Centers in the USA. My business could not have lasted 15 years if the allegations made against me on this web site are true. I do believe in the freedom of speech, however, using this forum to make false allegation with the intention to damage a business is not correct. As any human being, I have made mistakes in my business and some of them have been to do business with the wrong people. However, I have several artists with whom I have been working with for several years in a professional manner. I have been working with Ruben Resendiz who has become one of the best selling artists in Carmel in the past eleven years. I do not believe that it is necessary to answer the false allegations made against me on this web site. I just want to offer those who do not know me and need any reference of the hundreds of satisfied customers throughout these 15 years in business, to request so in a proper way. I will keep my commitment to fully satisfy my customers and bring professional artists and excellent art to my gallery. Pros: Fine Latin Art more

I left my work on consignment in the Canapo Gallery with Carlos E Porras and a few months later I received a warning from the owner of a restaurant in Salinas where Carlos was exhibiting some of my work, to be careful with Porras because he did not pay. He never sold any of my work up to that point but when I went to pick it up he told me he had sold one of my largest oil paintings and that he will send me a check within a month. The check for $$1,800 dollars never arrived so I called him and told him to at least give me monthly payments but they never arrived. A year later took him to court but unfortunately on the court day the judge was changed so they postponed the case for another day when Carlos asked for it since he knew it would be hard for me to travel all the way to Carmel because for me getting there was not easy living far away. I still have not receive anything. While all this has been happening, I have received insults from Carlos, the first one was after the hearing in court was cancelled, he told me that the only way I would receive my painting would be in little pieces. Later he has told me my work is of bad quality because it cracks. I do not understand why he has the nerve to say this when he never had my work long enough to be able to see if this happens and when I left my work I told him it was guaranteed that if anything went wrong I would replace it or fix it. Up to now I have not had any complains from anyone who has bought my work. Pros: NOT Trustworthy . Cons: He does not pay artists after he sells their Artwork more

My experience with Canapo Art Gallery and its owner, Carlos Porras, has been very positive. The art, which has a ""latin american"" influence is very different from the run of the mill stuff that you see at most of the other galleries in town. The owner offered me good terms and a good price. As English is not his first language, occasionally there was some miscommunication, but this was easily resolved. Overall, I was very happy with the experience and I would recommend that anyone interested in some fine art with a latin feel should check it out. more

Due to my experience at Canapo art gallery, I must say Mr. Carlos Porras has been the most understanding and fair pay employer (over the average) .He always payed on the correct time and amount; thing is that he does expect to receive what he is paying for: quality, performance and service. more

This man is a very bad businessman!!! DO NOT TRUST THE OWNER Carlos Eduardo Porras! more

Please take extreme caution in any transaction with this gallery....I have yet to recover $450 for a custom ceramic figure that was to be custom made by a brother of the owner Carlos Eduardo Porras. The figure was to mimmich a very sentimental....no longer available, limited edition Sergio Bustemante figure called ""Nino Alas Sentado"" that I tried to find an original through Canapo after a 1996 vacation in Cozumel. The ""custom"" figure that he had made arrived in shattered pieces and was nothing like the original edition.. Tthe owner had issued a check to refund...however the check bounced and we live in Texas. Ultimately, we exhausted all avenues to recover funds from this owner after many phone calls and attempt to redeposit.. Regrettably I lost my faith in what appeared to be something different and likely the owner doubled his earnings from an additional claim against the insured UPS package. I am still trying to find my figure...... more