Fair Well: Some Figuration

Previous Miami posts

Is Anybody Happy?

C'est What?

Miami 101 (Part 1): Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Miami, Aqua Art 

Miami 101 (Part 2): Untitled and Miami Project   

Miami 101 (Part 3): NADA

Miami 101 (Part 4): Pulse and Ink  

Miami 101 (Part 5): Design Miami and Bass Museum Sculpture

The Right Stuff 

Looking Sharp: Some Mid-Century Geometric Abstraction

Contemporary Geometry

More Abstraction

At ABMB: Enrique Martinez Celaya, The Forgotten, 2013, oil and wax on canvas, at Frederic Snitzer Gallery, Miami

Closer view below

I have to admit that I don't go to the fairs looking for figurative painting--certainly not the way I go looking for geometric abstraction, material- or process-based work, or abstraction in general. But I'm an equal-opportunity looker, so when I see a painting or sculpture that interests me, I stop, take in in, and then photograph it. That was the case with the painting you see here, which was one of the first things I photographed at Art Basel Miami Beach. I found it compelling. Thus primed for figuration, I kept my eyes open. I have to say, however, that figuration was not the preponderant expression at the fairs. In this post I offer en edited version of the best of what I saw

At ABMB: Rina Bannerjee, Her Turban Teased and Tortured: Her breath stunk of ink on silk and crusty nets tasted of meat and nectar, bees sprang to her with every cry, 2013, ink and acrylic on panel, 16 x 20 inches, at Galerie Nathalie Obadiam Paris and Brussels

At ABMB: Mickalene Thomas, I've Been Good to Me, 2013, rhinestone, acrylic and enamel on panel, at Lehman Maupin Gallery, New York City

Detail below

At ABMB: Manolo Valdes, Perfil XIII, 2013, collage, at Marlborough Gallery, New York City

At Aqua Art: Kesha Bruce, Sukko, mixed media on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, at Morton Fine Art, Washington, D.C.

At ABMB: Raffi Kalendarian, Shanti (Yellow Room), 2013, oil on canvas, at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City

At NADA: Karl Wirsum, Toot Toot Tutu Toodle-00, 2013, acrylic on canvas, left; Keith Mayerson portrait of Abraham Lincoln, at Derek Eller Gallery, New York City

At Aqua Art: Tim Okamura, Les Nubians, 2013, oil and mixed media on canvas, at Lyons Weir Gallery, New York City

At Aqua Art: 

Above, Susan Jamison, Devour My Tears, egg tempera on panel. 28 x 18 inches, at J. Fergeson Gallery, Farmville, Virginia

Below: Curious Walk, egg tempera on panel, 72 x 44 inches

At Miami Project: Christoph Ruchhaberle at Ziehersmith, New York City

At Art Miami: Grace Hartigan, Greta, 1983, oil on linen, at C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore

At Aqua Art: Frank Hyder, illuminated collage prints at Projects Gallery, Philadelphia and Miami
Closer view below

At ABMB: Louise Bourgeois, Femme, 2005, cast bronze figure with silver patination, at Galerie Karsten Greve Ag St. Moritz 

Next up: A thematic post, Drape, coming this weekend

If you are enjoying these posts from Miami, please consider making a yearly donation of $20 to support my blog. The cost in money and time to attend and report on the fairs is significant for an artist with an ongoing studio practice. A link to PayPal is on the right sidebar close to the top of the page (look for the red type). Any amount is welcome. Thank you.

Fair Well: More Abstraction

Previous Miami posts
Is Anybody Happy?
C'est What?

Miami 101 (Part 1): Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Miami, Aqua Art 

Miami 101 (Part 2): Untitled and Miami Project   

Miami 101 (Part 3): NADA

Miami 101 (Part 4): Pulse and Ink  

Miami 101 (Part 5): Design Miami and Bass Museum Sculpture

The Right Stuff 

Looking Sharp: Some Mid-Century Geometric Abstraction
Contemporary Geometry

At Miami Project: Paul Feeley, Rafinas, 1963, at Garth Greenan Gallery, New York City

Were there thousands of paintings at the fairs in Miami? Without a doubt.  I photographed hundreds of them. It's hard to say how I selected the abstractions you see here (indeed, any of the art you've seen in these posts) except to say that I looked a lot, photographed a lot, and have been doing a lot of desktop editing since I got back. Then for each post I printed thumbnail images, which I cut out and moved around on a table top to create a visual narrative. There is so much more I don't have room to show you, but I picked the most compelling of what I saw (even if I didn't personally love all of it). Because the lighting conditions aren't ideal at the fairs--the combination of natural and artificial light is a killer for little cameras--I sometimes relinquished an image of a great painting because it wouldn't represent the work or the artist well enough. And sometimes I just didn't get the necessary information. (The dealers who provide wall tags with the artist name, information about the art, and the gallery name have my undying love.) 

We start off with some splendid 20th-Century paintings in pristine condition and then move right into the contemporary stuff, pausing briefly for a little R.I.P to Gunther Forg, who died on December 3, just at the fairs were getting under way.

At ABMB: Morris Louis, Gamma Omicron, 1960, magna on canvas, at Paul Kasmin Gallery

Detail below

At ABMB: Joan Mitchell, Edouard, 1980, oil on canvas, at unidentified gallery

Detail below

At ABMB: Sam Gilliam, Red Stanza, 1969, acrylic on canvas, at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

At Art Miami: Grace Hartigan, Chinese Calendar, 1993, oil on linen, at C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore

Detail below

At ABMB: Anne Truitt, Way III, 1974, acrylic on canvas, at Matthew Marks Gallery

Detail below

At ABMB: Agnes Martin, Untitled #7,  1985, at Mnuchin Gallery

At ABMB:  Gunther Forg at unidentified gallery

At ABMB: Louise Fishman,  9/11 Redux,  2013, oil on canvas, at Cheim & Read, New York City

At ABMB: Mark Bradford, Africa, 2013, mixed-media painting in two parts, at Hauser & Wirth

Detail below

At Miami Project: Shaun O'Dell, Peeled Weave, 2013, gouache on paper mounted on canvas mounted on panel, at Inman Gallery, Houston

At ABMB: Per Kirkby, Untitled, 2012, oil on canvas, at unidentified gallery

Detail below

At Untitled: Agathe de Bailliencourt, acrylic on linen, at Benrimon Contemporary, New York City

At NADA: Gabriel Hartley at Foxy Production, New York City

Below: Closer view of middle painting, oil on canvas

At Aqua Art: Federico Cattaneo, at Jack Geary Contemporary, New York City

Below: Closer view of -3, 2013, oil on panel

At Untitled: Melissa Brown at Fred Giampietro Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

Additional views of Melissa Brown paintings, above and below

At Miami Project: Norbert Prangenberg  (I think) at Garth Greenan Gallery, New York City (I think)

Views of individual Prangenberg paintings above and below

At ABMB: Enoc Perez, Nude, 2013, at Acquavella Galleries, New York City

Detail below

At ABMB: Jon Pestoni, Headliner, 2013, oil on canvas, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

At ABMB: Markus Oehlen, youyouyou, 2012, at Galerie Hans Mayer

At Untitled: Amy Feldman at Blackston Gallery, New York City

At ABMB: Theaster Gates, A Modest Development, 2013, wood, rubber and tar, at White Cube, London

Detail below

At ABMB: Georg Baselitz, Kopf an Kopf II (Head to Head), oil on canvas, at unidentified gallery

At ABMB: Chris Martin, T.A.Z. #17, 2013, acrylic, oil and glitter on canvas, at Mitchell-Innes + Nash, New York City

Detail below

At Miami Project: Craig Taylor at CB1 Gallery, Los Angeles

At NADA: Sachin Kaeley at Seventeen, London

Below: Installation view for scale

At NADA: Anke Weyer,  All the Wrong Colors, 2012, oil and acrylic on canvas, at Canada, New York City

At ABMB: Alex Hubbard at Standard, Oslo

At Miami Project: Joshua Aster, Thicket, 2013, oil in linen, at Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles

Detail below

At Untitled: Shane Hope at Winkleman Gallery, New York City

The works above and below, each about 12 inches high, are from a grouping of 3-D prints whose non-objective forms are painterly, even textile-like

At ABMB: Keltie Ferris, Salt-fire, 2013, oil and acrylic on canvas, at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York City

Installation view above for scale

Full view below

At Aqua Art: Deanna Lee, Yellow Drift, 2011, acrylic on paper, at Robert Henry Contemporary, Brooklyn

At Aqua Art: Jaq Chartier at Prole Drift, Seattle

Below: Core Sample, 2013, acrylic, stains and spray paint on panel

At Untitled: Todd Kelly at Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York City

Closer view of one work below

At ABMB: Polly Apfelbaum installation at Galerie Nachst St. Stephan/Rosemarie Schwarzwalder

Above: Individual piece from a wall of what look to be marker-on-paper drawings

Below: Installation with dyed fabric elements

Next up: Some Figuration

If you are enjoying these posts from Miami, please consider making a yearly donation of $20 to support my blog. The cost in money and time to attend and report on the fairs is significant for an artist with an ongoing studio practice. A link to PayPal is on the right sidebar close to the top of the page (look for the red type). Any amount is welcome. Thank you.