Fair and Fair Alike: Miami 2009. Are We Out of the Woods?

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Fair and Fair Alike coverage so far:

A Little Gossip

Art? Or Not Art?

Nosing Around

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ABMB: Pierre Malphettes, Un Arbre Blanc, 2009, wood and neon; at Kamel Mannour, Paris

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Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll post reports from the various fairs, but for this post I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the most recurring image and object in evidence throughout all the fairs was . . . trees!

As I walked through Art Basel Miami Beach, the big fair at the Convention Center, on Wednesday when I arrived, I saw trunks, branches, twigs and roots—a theme that would be repeated over and over at the various other venues. (And a theme that I covered recently here, here and here.)

Trees are a big part of landscape painting, of course, but landscape painting is not typically a big part of the visual agenda at the fairs. So what’s in the zeitgeist that accounts for such a strong arboreal presence? (The eight-pound catalog only hinted at the bosky abundance the fair had in store.) Since most exhibited work is new—made in the past year—I assume it’s a reaction, conscious or not, to an economy that was violently uprooted. Trees can reach up only because they have a root system as expansive as their branches. A metaphor for stability, perhaps?

ABMB: Roxy Paine, Containment 1, 2009, stainless steel; at James Cohan Gallery, New York

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Are we out of the woods? It’s significant that the trees are, for the most part, isolated, not part of a grove or forest. Or is it that we can’t see the forest for the trees? I’m looking to metaphor and free association because I think these object and images spring creatively from that need-to-make place, rather than as a result of offering formal issues to explore. Then again, maybe artists are just thinking green.

In terms of symbols, the roots go deeper. The Tree of Life, common in all cultures from earliest times, unites heaven and earth—wholeness—and its fruits sustain life. Kabbalah is depicted as a tree. Wood is the primary material of the universe in Vedic philosophy. And, thanks to the Druids, this time of year Christians and commercialized enterprises throught the Western world are decorating a you-know-what.

Above, ABMB: Ernesto Caivano, Untitled, 2009, oil on linen; at Mary Boone Gallery, New York

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Below, Pulse: A peek at the booth of Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, where all the work had a sylvan theme

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The director of a blue-chip New York gallery showing at ABMB raised his eyebrows when I mentioned the trend and noted that his gallery was showing two such works. “We didn’t plan to show trees,” he said, “but that’s what our artists gave us.” At Pulse, on the other hand, San Francisco’s Rena Bransten Gallery created an entire booth around the theme.

Thinking about the tenuousness of the economy: A tree is that thing money doesn't grow on. But while no one was plucking bills from any branches, there were plenty of deals being made.

Here, take a look. A lot of images follow. What do you make of this trend?

The use of humble materials, often repurposed, was another recurring element in all the fairs

Above, ABMB: A lovely recycling of furniture back into a tree by Gelitin, a Viennese collaborative; at Greene Naftali Gallery, New York

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Below: Whitney Lynn, Untitled, 2009, wood, wire and army blankets; at Patricia Sweetow, San Francisco

Above, ABMB: Giuseppe Pennone, Foglie de Zucche, 1982, bronze, with detail right; at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York

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Below, ABMB: The trunk that occupies the whole booth; at Galerie Enrique Guerrero, Mexico

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ABMB: Ai Wei Wei, Map of China, with detail below; at Mary Boon Gallery, New York

ABMB: The seating arrangement at Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris

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ABMB: Lawrence Weiner; at Marian Goodman, New York
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Below, ABMB: Installation at Leslie Tonkonow Artworks and Projects, New York; with Kunie Sugiura, Winter Branches, right

ABMB: Jorge Mayet; at Galerie Horrach Moya, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Aqua: Steve Tobin, Bronze Root; at Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia

ABMB: Yayoi Kusama, Prisoner's Door, 1994, mixed media; at Victoria Miro Gallery, London

Pulse: Evelyn Hellenschmidt, Leben im Baum, 2009, bronze and brass; right, Xavi Munoz, 21 Drawings; at Galeria Raquel Ponce, Madrid

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Hellenschmidt detail below:

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Pulse: Igor Eskinja, Albero, C-print on plexi; at Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco

Scope: Park Ji-Hyun, Winter, 2008, mixed media; at Gana Art, New York

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Art Miami: Doug and Mike Starn, Structure of Thought #10, inkjet print on mulbery paper with wax, encaustic and varnish; at Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm

Art Miami: Daisy Craddock; at David Lusk Gallery, Memphis

Aqua: Jake Longstreth; at Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco

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Pulse: David Huffman, Tree Huggers; at Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco

Red Dot: Lana Shuttleworth, Cone Grove 1, for Klimt, 2008, safety cones, shoe polish, wax, nails; at George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles

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Detail below

ABMB: Sean Landers, Plank Boy Hurt, 2009, oil on linen; at Capitan Petzel, Cologne

Pulse: Marci Washington, Escape Into the Woods, 2009, watercolor and gouache; at Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco

Pulse: Gabrielle Basch, Taunus, 2009, spray paint on cutout; at Galleri Thomassen, Sweden

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I responded to a number of small works, a few paintings but mostly work on paper, that explored the theme. If blog space (and personal time) had allowed, I would have included at least two dozen additional images.

ABMB: Benjamin Butler, Untitled Tree (Green), app. 16 x 20 inches; at Galeri Martin Janda, Vienna

Pulse: Sabine Finkenauer, Space, 2009, work on paper; at MasArt Galeria, Barcelona

ABMB: Jorge Macchi, one of six framed works in an installation; gallery unknown

Scope: Eko Nugroho, Studi, Figur, Fantasi, acrylic on canvas, app, 14 x 12 inches; at Ark Galeri, Jakarta

Pulse: Amy Wilson, watercolor (?) on paper; framed app 16 x 14 inches; at Bravin Lee, New York

Pulse: Neil Farber; at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London

Aqua: Paul Wackers, Slow Light, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 28 inches; at Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco

Art Miami: The grandaddy of tree painters, Wolf Kahn, Tones of Yellow and Green, 2009, oil on canvas, 68 x 80 inches; at Rosenbaum Contemporary, Boca Raton
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