Pages

12.31.2010

Fair Enough: And It's a Miami Wrap

Report complete. The entire list of posts: 
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
Fair Enough: Color and Geometry

With this post we come to the end of my reports from the Miami art fairs, 2010. It's a full month from the time I packed for Miami and today, when the last cyber i is dotted and t crossed. If you like what you've read--shameless request alert--please support this blog, since doing this month-long project meant there were other projects I couldn't take on. It's a low-pressure request. The Pay Pal button will remain on the blog, so you are free to hit it when and if you can. (And those of you, dear ones, who supported my effort, many thanks.)

So, what were the oddments and highlights of the fairs? Everyone who went will have a different list, but here's mine :


1. I'd like to order a 1500-pound birthday cake, please.  And a fire truck.

Philippe Parreno's Untitled, 15 paraffin candles, each almost four feet high at Esther Schipper Gallery, Berlin; ABMB




2. What, this isn't Larry?

Matt Freedman, Bobblehead of St. Lazarus, at Bridgette Meyer Gallery, Philadelphia; Aqua Art
Freedman obviously has a sense of humor, so I'm sure he won't mind if I suggest a line of Bobblehead Dealers. Hey, kids, collect the whole set! Give St. Laz here a suit and tie and that head is good to go. Or should I say Gogo?

.

3. Apparently you really can't be too rich or too thin

Pip Culbert, Shirts, at Fouladi Projects, San Francisco; Aqua Art



4. And neither can your closet
.
Maskull Lasserre, Migration, carved coat hangers, at Birch Libralato, Toronto; Aqua Art



5. The love that will not shut up

 


Can we please go through just one fair without Mr. Indiana’s four-letter word? This year it was even done up in lights. If this trend continues, next year I fear it will show up with speakers and a Barry White soundtrack?   Various galleries at ABMB and Ink. Sho' you right



6. Did anyone else leave the Convention Center hankering for a lemon tart?

Anish Kapoor sculpture at Lisson Gallery, London; ABMB
I usually leave a Kapoor exhibition feeling slightly euphoric over his quirky vision and material mastery. This is the first time I left wanting coffee and a pastry



7. Connect the dots

As much as I saw tons of art made from money, there was a subset of art made about the lack of it.
Jane Masters' Starving Artist, a burned-paper drawing at Miller Block Gallery, Boston;  Aqua Art . . .

. . . and this painting at the Corey Helford Gallery, Art Miami. There was more, but it was too depressing

.
.
8. Best title: "Discoball After Rothko"
.
Daniel Gonzalez, Discoball After Rothko, at the Diana Lowenstein Gallery, Miami; Pulse
That sound you hear is not the ball turning; it's the irascible old painter rolling over in his grave


.
9. The Big Prick Award

Giuseppe Penone at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; ABMB
No, I'm not impugning the artist or his esthetic. This work is composed of acacia thorns, thousands of them. Better keep your distance, as the detail below suggests




10. Don't give these stuffed animals to the baby

Ross Bonfanti’s woodgie-woodgies are 20 pounds of solid concrete, and they’d flatten your little rugrat like that. At Blunt Collective/AWOL Gallery, Toronto; Aqua Art


11. You could give these fuzzy slippers to the baby . . .

. . . but you'd have to rip them off the feet of Bernice Steinbaum, photographed here in her booth at Art Miami. She may have her gallery in Wynwood now, but she's a New Yorker; you wouldn't stand a chance




12. Talking trash

Funny that in a season where so much money--actual moola and artwork depicting it--flourished, "trash" was equally in evidence
 .
Above: Ruben Verdu at Raul Zamudio, New York City; Scope
Below: Sylvie Fleury, Yes to All, steel with 24-karat gold plate, edition of 8, at Dranoff Fine Art, New York City; Ink. The price? $20,000



13. Taking the trash out

Price: 0
Yours, free for the taking




14. The creepiest surprise  

That step-up does invite you to look inside the pot. When you do, you'll come within inches of a taxidermied rattler poised to sink its fangs into your unsuspecting face. You've been punk'd 

Above and below: Huan Yong Ping, Well, ceramic and taxidermy; at the Rubell Family Collection




15. No, you're not tripping  

Jim Isserman installation at Praz-Delavallade, Paris; at ABMB

These walls provide their own hallucinogenic moments. Isserman, above, created a vinyl op pattern specifically for his installation at ABMB, replete with the wooze-inducing canvases. Trenton Doyle Hancock, below, printed a 3-D pattern in fluorescent inks--and when you put on the glasses, the red explodes off the wall.  Olek, bottommost image of the three, created an entire crocheted apartment


Trenton Doyle Hancock wallpaper, at Graphicstudio; Ink

Below: Olek installation at Christopher Henry Gallery, New York City; Scope. There were actual people (on the couch, in front of the TV)  inside crocheted skins; you weren't necessarily aware of them until they moved. Remember when you thought the walls were melting? It was like that




16. Best flashback to the 60's

The installation at Gary Snyder Project Space, New York; ABMB
Work includes Thomas Downing (dots) and Howard Mehring (stripes)



17. Sartorial serendipity

At the Charlotte Jackson booth at Art Miami, I snapped this pic of Jackson and her brother. I just love the symmetry of their clothing with the art.
But  wait, haven't I seen that pink sculpture before?

You've seen these two already, but they deserve a second look

Above: natty in front of a Yayoi Kusama at Gogosian Gallery, ABMB
Below: traveling under the radar in front of an Omar Chacon at Thatcher Projects, Pulse




18. Best use of a pencil? It's a draw
.
Piotr Ulanski pencil-shaving assemblage at Gagosian, New York City; ABMB
Detail below

. . . and . . .

David Poppie sliced pencil assemblages at Pavel Zoubok, New York City; Pulse




19. Quick, which one is the Morandi?

Just kidding
Above: Jim Lambie glitter turntable at Anton Kern, New York; ABMB
Below: The Master from 1957 at Galeria Leandro Navarro, Madrid; ABMB




20. And finally, The Doublemint Award 
 
Not Vital at Galerie Urs Miele, Lucerne and Beijing; ABMB
 On behalf of art-world insiders who fear they can’t tell the difference between shit and Shinola, Not Vital wins this year’s highest award for his bronze casts of Mongolian cow dung. It’s two, two, two mints in one


See you next year!


12.30.2010

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
.

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
.

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
.

Alicia McCarthy at Jack Hanley Gallery, New York; NADA
..
.
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