Fair and Fair Alike: Miami 2009. Pulse

Fair and Fair Alike coverage so far:
. The Big One, Art Basel Miami Beach

. An Overview Before the Individual Fairs

. Art Bloggers @ Art Miami

. Are We Out of the Woods?

. A Little Gossip

. Art? Or Not Art?

. Nosing Around

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The day after I spent five hours at the big fair, I took the Pulse shuttle across the MacArthur Causeway to Wynwood in Midtown Miami to visit some of the smaller fairs: Pulse, Aqua and Scope. That’s the path these next few reports will take, too. I like the rhythm of breaking up the big with the small.

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Pulse took place this year at The Ice Palace, a huge location used for film and video production and fashion shoots. (The Miami season of Bravo’s Top Chef was produced here.) Pulse moved in after NADA moved over to the the Deauville Resort in Miami Beach. Scope then moved into the space vacated by Pulse. Are you following me?

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Above, the entrance

Below, hammocks outside a second building in the complex

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Pulse and Aqua, as well as NADA and Scope, are the anti ABMB—smaller, tighter, more down to earth. I like them for precisely those reasons, and because the work is consistently strong and interesting. While there are some emerging artists showing in emerging galleries, these fairs are not just about new and young. There are a number of well established midlevel galleries with great rosters who like the atmosphere and conviviality of these venues. (And, let’s be honest, they have a greater chance of getting in, and the entry fee is several limbs fewer than for the big fair.)

With about 100 galleries in modestly sized booths and a pretty straightforward layout, Pulse was a fair I could view in one go-around, stop for coffee, go around again and feel satisfied that I’d seen it all. Here I’ll show you something of the space—the aisles and a peek into various booths—in addition to the art. I’m planning subsequent thematic posts, so you’ll see more from Pulse.

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Will do. Mads Lynnerup; at Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin

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Two views of the fair, above and below: Scale is more modest and thus more manageable

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Above, view of Conner Contemporary, Washington, D.C., with a Leo Villareal light sculpture that cast an ever-changing warm-toned glow on a whole section of the venue

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Above, Henrique Oliveira painting at Baro Cruz, Sao Paolo
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Below, Portia Munson's fabulous trash turned treasure, overseen by her digital scans of flowers arranged in church-window-like compositions; at PPOW, New York


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Two views of Thatcher Projects' booth: Above, Omar Chacon painting, left, and Robert Sagerman painting, right
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Below, Venske and Spanle undulating marble columns and Bill Thompson pillowlike resin sculptures

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Patrick Wilson's reductive geometry at Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco
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Cordy Ryman at Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica
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Below, a closer view of his V9, a handyman special made with paint, staples and Velcro on wood
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A booth of work by Cody Hudson at Andrew Rafacz, Chicago

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Linda Besemer paintings at Galerie Jean-Luc & Takako Richard Gallery, Paris
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Below, a closer view of one of the paintings


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David Poppie starburst, Big Bang, constructed from colored pencils split lengthwise; at Pavel Zoubok, New York
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E Pluribus Unum: Mark Wagner's Liberty, collaged from elements cut from dollar bills; also at Zoubok
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Detail below:

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Paul Villinski's evocative installation, constructed largly from repurposed materials, at Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York
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Detail of Rory Donaldson plexi-mounted C-print; at Winkleman Gallery, New York
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Full view below
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Josephine Taylor mural-size drawings; at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco
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Shirley Kaneda paintings on canvas, left, and David Ryan painted contructions on MDF; at Galerie Jean-Luc & Takako Richard, Paris
(This was the first time I had seen this gallery, and I liked everything in the booth)
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More of the tree-and-branch theme that ran so strongly through the fairs:

Above, Carolyn Ottmers cast stainless steel plant forms. To get a sense of the scale, know that each of these sculptures was suspended from a rod at the top of the booth and hung down to a couple of feet above the floor; at Carrie Sechrist Gallery, Chicago
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Below, Sarah Anne Johnson, Poison Branch, cast bronze and twigs; at Julie Saul Gallery, New York
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Lots of activity in the Schroeder Romero booth
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Above and below, the handmade bodega from Arthouse, Austin, with handmade groceries and stuff to buy inside

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Wishful thinking? All about buy and sell at the Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles

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Next up: Aqua

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