Every year we run into Philly friends at the New York art fairs. Here’s some of who we ran yesterday when we visited the Armory Show and Pulse. More on the art in the fairs in another post.
It was a Philly-fest on Pier 92 at the Armory yesterday when we all arrived at about the same time that FLUXspace crew members Joe DiGiuseppe, Nike Desis and Dustin Metz arrived. We all hung out with team Fleisher-Ollman for awhile. The booths look good. Earlier we had stopped by Locks Gallery‘s booth where Sueyen Locks, Doug Schaller and their staffers had set up a large display with a big Elizabeth Murray painting and a wall of Jennifer Bartlett tiles.
As with the Locks Gallery, this is Fleisher-Ollman’s first time in the Armory. They both were interested they said in this year’s new category of “Modern.” We don’t quite get it but hey, we were happy to see them both in the big fair.
We don’t have a picture of him, but wouldn’t you know it? We ran into William Pym in the Armory too. The former F-O Gallery director had his notebook out and was taking copious notes which we know will turn into some lovely snarkiness on Artforum some day soon.
Sometimes people watching is better than art watching. This woman’s white hat and orange outfit was the best costume we saw yesterday.
The person with the biggest presence at the fairs seemed to be Bernard Madoff. We found him hanging out on one of the walls. Unlike at recent fairs, wild art has taken a back seat to things you can live with. We immediately assumed this was due to the economic situation (not a polite subject in a venue trying to sell lots of art, so we did not go up to any gallery owners and whine, Hey, why is everything in your booth so conservative?) The good news–we saw lots of people walking out with little art parcels under their arms.
After the Armory, we headed to Pulse. It was late in the day, so we headed straight for the Collector’s Lounge to rehydrate. It was Miss Havisham meets the Space Ship Enterprise!
The view of the river was overwhelmed by the glare of the late-day sun, alas. We kvetched and we suffered, but still we sat for a while drinking coffee and water. While we were sitting there, Virgil De Voldere walked in for a break, and broke for a minute or two with us. Then, we walked out and heard Rachel Perry Welty calling our names.
Her work was selling and dealer Yancey Richardson needed more supplies. Welty’s work is often about selling, so this was perfect! She showed us a teeny Tiffany’s shopping bag she had made–the reinforcements to restock the shelves.
In a bit we happened on Philly’s own Knapp Gallery, looking pretty good in the New York setting. They seemed happy to see us, too!
Final treat after schmoozing here and there was bumping into Martin Bromirski, who right now has a show up at UArts in the 817 Gallery. By time we got finished talking , we didn’t see a whole lot of art. We had to head out to BlogPix for the opening–and more schmoozing of course! We promise we’ll return with more about the art, but first we’re off the First Friday and back to the fairs tomorrow. Hang on!!!
