Some Armory Week Installations

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At Scope: Here's a booth that stood out even from a distance

One thing about seeing so many fairs in a short time is that after a while it become less about individual works and more about how they are set into the larger context of an installation. I'm showing a few booths and walls that jarred me out of my art-fair trance.

Above and below: Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York

Artists  on left wall include Altoon Sultan and Shawn White, top row; Meghan Brady and Matt Philips, center and center right 

Big like here! Andrea Bergart painted the mural--reminiscent of South African Ndebele murals, but with a softer palette--and dealer Steven Harvey placed geometric abstractions theatrically within the composition. I loved the way each painting informed the others, and the way the walls embraced them all.

View of back wall with two large paintings, by Margrit Lewczuk and Joe Ballweg

Above Harvey, in black jacket: Matt Phillips; past his right shoulder, Shawn White, I think

Detail below: Ken Kewley, Matt Phillips, Altoon Sultan

At Volta: Andrew Masullo at Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston

Volta is a solo-projects fair, and Zevitas chose Andrew Masullo, who's having a major moment. His work is included in the Whitney Biennial, and during fair week it was also shown with Feature Inc, the Lower East Side gallery, at The Independent. Not only do I love Masullo's brand of abstraction--idiosyncratic and throbbingly saturated--but I appreciate that he hasn't capitulated to size. These works are meant to be viewed on an intimate scale.
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View inside the booth, and an intimate view, below, of one of the works (my favorite)

At Armory Modern: Betty Parsons at Spanierman Modern, New York City

Spanierman Modern placed this installation of Betty Parsons assemblages on the outside wall of its booth. Parsons is famous as the 57th Street dealer who championed Abstract Expressionism, but she was also an accomplished sculptor.

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Also at Armory Modern: Karl Benjamin paintings and Harry Bertoia sculpture at Louis Sterne Fine Arts, West Hollywood

One of the California Cool abstractionists from the Sixties, Benjamin is still painting. Read a fabulous interview with him on Geoform, where he chats with the site's editor, Julie Karabenick. And how much do I love the Bertoia against the Benjamins? 

Below: a view of the paintings with some distance between them and the Bertoia.  (Would someody please get rid of that wastebasket?)

At ADAA: Pavel Zoubok, New York City

Zoubok's program is focused on collage and assemblage, and his booths are always curated to reflect that same esthetic. (He had another booth at Armory Modern.) A find for this gallery: Lisa Nilsson, who makes rolled-paper collages of cross sections of body parts, like the head and chest, below left, and the slice of chest on the table. "A thoracic surgeon bought it," said Zoubok of the chest slice. 

Lisa Nilsson, mulberry paper collages

At Armory: the "wood" floor at Cardi Black Box, Milan

At Armory: Arlene Shechet at Jack Shainman, New York City

This large corner of Shainman's booth holds Shechet's clay sculptures and two cast-paper wall pieces.  The works are just radiating power.

Closer view, below

At Armory: Jennifer Dalton at Winkleman Gallery

There's Jennifer Dalton, socializing with the art fair hoi polloi. She really knows how to party. Wait! That's her caftaned doppelganger. The real Dalton is shown below. And her Mega Art Fair Dos & Don'ts is shown at the bottom.

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