Pre-recession art fairs were imbued with a circus-y vibe that kept you walking down the long aisles looking for the next bright shiny new (or outrageous) thing. But the halcyon days of big budgets and splashy installations at the fairs are over and that irrational exuberance may never be back.
This year we went to Volta and the Armory (contemporary pier) and while the art mostly was nice enough we missed the hunt for nuggets of gold. And at the Armory, on a Saturday afternoon, with a big crowd around us, it felt a little like prime time at the shopping mall: families with young kids in double-wide strollers; hipsters sitting on the floor in the public common areas; a food court in the rear without enough seating; and low-risk commercial enterprise everywhere.
One refreshing exception was the Nordic Countries’ section of the Armory, which felt like an encampment of youth and anarchy in the midst of the capitalist slickness. It reminded us a little of ICA’s Locally Localized Gravity — posters and other things in endless stacks as giveaways; and an ad hoc feeling that was charming.
There’s another round of art fairs in New York this May when Frieze (the London fair) comes to New York for the first time. We’ll be there to check it out in hopes the galleries have been waiting to expose their wildest and bravest then. We embrace Emerson here, A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…
Trend spotting: Ivan Navarro’s neon infinity chambers; peepholes and lenses; linoleum floor tiles (and prints made from the tiles); earnestness without Post-Modern snark.
Familiar faces: Zoe Strauss at Silverstein, dominating the crowd; Barkley Hendricks and Odili Donald Odita at Jack Shainman; Mark Khaisman at Pentimenti; Stephan Balkenhol; Luis Gispert at Rhona Hoffman; Charlie Roberts; Julian Opie (the video above)
New work we’re happy we found: Julie Roberts paintings about refugee children; peepholes into romantic landscapes undercut by notes of contemporary cynicism from Patrick Jacobs at both fairs;
This wasn’t the only traditional work with a new wrinkle that caught our eye. Here are a couple more:
We were happy to stumble on Christine Pfister at Pentimenti selling a Mark Khaisman:
The biggest surprise entry was at Volta–traditional portrait painting from the Cook Islands of Captain Cook, himself. But underneath that traditional exterior, a political concept of the captain going native, a reimagining of who won the culture wars. In Michael Tuffery’s work, which also included a display of elaborate laser-cut hair combs and a video, Polynesian culture rules. Take that Britannia!!!
