Fair Enough: Color and Geometry

The posts so far:
Fair Enough: And I'm Off
Fair Enough: Traveling Incognita?
Fair Enough: All Over But the Posting
Fair Enough: Art or Trash?
Fair Enough: Prologue to the Report
Fair Enough: ABMB, Part 1
Fair Enough: ABMB, Part 2
Fair Enough: Aqua Art
Fair Enough: Pulse
Fair Enough: Seven
Fair Enough: Scope
Fair Enough: NADA
Fair Enough: Ink
Fair Enough: A Peek at Art Miami
Fair Enough: Doubletake at Art Miami
Fair Enough: Art Miami
Fair Enough: My Just Right Breakfast
Fair Enough: Speaking Volumes
Fair Enough: Moola-riffic
Fair Enough: Really Reductive
Fair Enough: High Fiber, Part 1
Fair Enough:: High Fiber, Part 2

Poul Gernes at Bjerrggard Gallery, Copenhagen; ABMB

Art Basel Miami Beach is is set up with long aisles containing booth after booth. The saturated color and bold shapes of geometric abstraction are as effective as neon in drawing attention to a gallery

Remember the story in the news some years ago about a man who lived in an airport? He couldn’t go back to his country, but the U.S. wouldn’t let him in. That's how I feel.  I’ve been living in the Miami Convention Center all month with side trips to the various other venues. Every day since I got back from the actual fairs I’ve been walking the aisles and peering into the booths, folder after folder, click after click. I have viewed each of 5000 images dozens of times.  

Specific themes may change from year to year—last year it was trees, remember?—but the geometry of line and curve is a constant. That’s the topic of this post. It’s the last of the curated posts. The next and final one, which I’ll post tomorrow, is the Wrapup. After that I’m going to take the rest of the year off.

Installation view at Gary Snyder Projects, New York; ABMB

I'm starting this post with vintage geometric abstraction. Yes, I know these galleries are in the business of selling art, but they also create a historical context for the contemporary work we see

Above: Sven Lukin, 1964. The perspective in the installation shot is misleading; this painting is about 12 x 12 inches

Below: Howard Mehring, 1966

Another great installation, here with masters of Minimalism, at Nyehaus/Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York; ABMB

From left above: Jo Baer, John McCracken, John McLaughlin

Closer view of the John McLaughlin 

Above: Jo Baer at Nyehaus/Parrasch with a corner detail below

Below: Baer at Greenberg Van Doren, also at ABMB, with a work from 1968-69 (just visible is the Robert Morris felt work shown in High Fiber, Part 2)

More of less: Installation above and below at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York; ABMB

Above: Ellsworth Kelly painting; two Anne Truitt columns

Below: another view of the Truitts

Wall installation at Galerie Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo; ABMB

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Imi Knoebel in a dedicated space at Grasslin/Nagel, Frankfurt; ABMB

Below: My favorite of the three works

Installation at Team Gallery, New York; ABMB

Above: Cory Archangel unique c-print and undulating sculpture

Below: Stanley Whitney painting and another view of the sculpture

Sherrie Levine at Mary Boone Gallery, New York; ABMB

The installation shots give you a sense of scale so that I don't have to note dimensions in the captions

Below: closeup of one work, which is velvety casein on wood.

Frank Stella at Van De Weghe, New York; ABMB

Work shown is from 1977 (also in the frame: Calder mobile and Judd wall sculpture)

A Josef Albers Homage to the Square, 1961, at Helly Nahmad Gallery, New York; ABMB

Installation view, from the outside wall of the booth looking in, of Kenneth Noland paintings (with Anthony Caro sculptures) at Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York; ABMB

Above and below: additional views

Rivane Neuenschwander painting, app 11 inches high, at Stephen Friedman, London; ABMB

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Bridget Riley,Chant, 1967, at Aquavella Galleries, New York; ABMB

Detail below

Thomas Glassford at Sicardi Gallery, Houston; ABMB

Those verticals? Broomsticks

Daniel Buren at Xavier Hufken, Bruxelles; ABMB

Sarah Morris at White Cube, London; ABMB

Chris Johanson painting, 58 x 66 inches, at Altman Siegel, San Francisco; NADA

Chris Gallagher at McKenzie Fine Art, New York; Aqua Art

Bernd Ribbeck at Galerie Kamm, Berlin; ABMB

Installation view, above, with closeup below

Small work (by Chris Duncan?) at Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco; Aqua Art

I was struck by the references to color systems, especially color wheels, at the fairs this year (I brake for color wheels)

Karina Peisajovich showed a fabulous grouping color studies at Alejandra Von Hartz Gallery, Miami; ABMB. I braked. Detail below

 Lucas Samaras painting, 1973, at Pace, New York and elsewhere; ABMB

Continuing with circles: Jylian Gustlin assemblace of stitched rubber at Stephanie Breitbard Gallery, Mill Valley, California; Aqua Art

Gunther Uecker nail painting, 1970, at Galerie Thomas, Munich; ABMB

Detail below

Anich Kapoor reticulated disc about six feet in diameter at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York; ABMB

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Alicia McCarthy at Jack Hanley Gallery, New York; NADA

..

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Megan Whitmarsh at Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco; Aqua

Detail above; full view below

Thomas Nozkowski at Pace Gallery, New York and elsewhere; ABMB

Peter Millet at Robischon Gallery, Denver; Aqua Art

Don Voisine at McKenzie Fine Art, New York; Aqua Art

Cildo Miereles at Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paolo; ABMB

Andrew Bick at Hales Gallery, New York; Seven

Ivin Ballen at Winkleman Gallery, New York; Seven

Leonhard Hurlzmeier at Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco; Aqua Art

Derrick Velasquez at Robischon Gallery, Denver; Aqua Art

Ara Peterson at Ratio 3, San Francisco; ABMB

Bridget Riley, recent painting, at Pace; ABMB

Pedro Reyes (I think) at Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paolo; ABMB

Ted Larsen at Robischon Gallery, Denver; Aqua Art

Richard Purdy at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York; Art Miami

Detail below

Fanny Senin at Durban Segnini Gallery, Miami; Art Miami

Joe Fyfe at Graham Gallery, New York; Art Miami

Imi Knoebel at Sabine Knust, Munich; ABMB

Joanne Mattera at Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson; Aqua Art

(Yes, moi)

Dan Flavin at Nyehaus/Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York; ABMB

Paulo Pasta at Galeria Millan, Sao Paolo; ABMB

Ronald Davis at Charlotte Jackson Gallery, Santa Fe; Art Miami

Sarah Crowner at Nicelle Beauchene, New York; NADA

Charles Arnoldi at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe; Art Miami

Tomorrow: The Wrapup