Big Black Objects

Armory Show: Avery Preesman at Zeno Gallery, Antwerp. Ridder, Dood en Duviel, 2004-2005, triptych; oil, wax pigment, cement

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In fashion, two of anything is a coincidence; three is a trend. This axiom was on my mind as I began to see first two, then three, then more—many more—black objects at one fair after the other. Did anyone else notice this?

The objects themselves are varied, as you can see above and below. The cage-like object protruding from the wall at the Armory Show produced in me a primal frisson of fear, while the large cube at Pulse, which commanded the open space in the center of the venue, pushed the button on a mental soundtrack that began duuuuuh duuuuuh duuuuh DAA DAA.

The bituminous staircase at Scope was clever (though having seen the similarly constructed table and chair at Scope Miami, the surprise factor was missing here); the big fabric sphere, at the Armory Show, was oddly appealing; while the vaguely anthropomorphic sculptures made from polystyrene pellets and trashbags at Pulse evoked Rodin. There were even a few paintings that had sufficient objectness to be included here (one would be Chris Martin’s) or a shape that so reflected ones I was seeing in three dimensions that I included it.

Materials ranged from cloth to Mylar to packing peanuts and trashbags, charcoal to wax, coffee-cup lids to roofing sheets. As for the licorice pipe and shoes, the only recognizable objects in this lineup, they were just dementedly fabulous.

Cue the sound track of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and scroll down:

Closer view of Ridder, Dood en Duviel

Armory Show: Mindy Shapero at Breeder Gallery, Athens. No information given for the looping sculpture, foreground

Armory Show: Vincent Tavenne at Galerie Giti Nourbakshch, Berlin. No title given for the spherical sculpture, foreground, which is cloth over a modular wooden armature

Pulse: Nathaniel Rackowe at Bischoff/Weiss Gallery. Black Cube, 2007, corrugated bitumen roofing

Scope: Bahk Seon Ghi at Krampf Gallery, New York City. Charcoal installation, 2007, charcoal, nylon thread

Pulse: Johannes Girardoni at Lukas Feichtner Gallery, Vienna. Diptychon and Drip Box, both 2008, beeswax, pigments, wood

Bridge: Arthur Mednick at Ch'i Contemporary, Brooklyn. Three small metal sculptures, left, with a closeup of one below (the painting is by Norman Mooney):

Armory Show: Tara Donovan at Pace Wildenstein. This sculpture is actually silver Mylar, but the curving folds give it an inky blackness

Armory Show: Chris Martin at Mitchell-Innes and Nash, New York City. I don't have the title for this painting, which has funny little raised discs placed all over the surface. The composition is very sculptural, don't you think? The sculptures to the left are by Jessica Stockholder

Armory Show: Jacob Dahlgren at Andrehn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm. Sydney, 2006, coffee-cup lids and aluminum.

Detail below

Pulse: Seung Wook Sim at Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago

Armory Show: Padraig Timoney at Galleria Raucci/Santamaria, Napoli. Exhausted Quarry, 2008, pigment, rabbitskin glue, ink and wood on canvas; diptych

Pulse: Dan Steinhilber at G Fine Art, Washington, D.C. Untitled, 2008, polystyrene packing peanuts, polyurethane glue, polyethelyne hose, trashbags

Volta: Jesse Bercowetz at Galerie Michael Janssen, Cologne/Berlin

Pulse: Andy Yoder at Edward Winkleman Gallery, New York City. Above, Pipe; below, Licorice Shoes. The pipe is woven, like a basket. The shoes are 10 feet long.