VOLTA 5 Breaks No Building Codes

by Art Fag City on June 18, 2009 · 2 comments Posting Notice


Zilvinas Kempinas, Flux, 2009, Magnetic Tape, fan, painted plywood. Spencer Brownstone Gallery, NY

Art Fag City editors remain divided about whether VOLTA 5 bests Liste, though based on location alone I think we can all agree VOLTA takes the prize.  Their space may be little run down, but at least it’s not a safety hazard.  Beyond this observation, VOLTA suffers from the same problems every other fair does; no quality filters exist for the viewer.

As per usual, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite highlights and lowlights of the show.  The full post after the jump.

BEST IN SHOW


Lawrence Weiner bookshelf, installation view, OneStar Press.


Lawrence Weiner bookshelf (detail), OneStar Press.

Art Fag City loves artist books, so it’s not a surprise we responded to the OneStar Press booth at VOLTA.  Founded in 2000, the publishing house collaborates with international artists to produce a diverse range of artist books, not to mention the alluring Lawrence Weiner bookshelf.  Notable multiples and/or titles include Haim Steinbach’s Duchampian bookshelf one star assisted (not on display), Mircea Cantor’s book 9+1=10, and Michael Rakowitz’s Circumventions.

art fag city, volta
Katharina Grosse, Christopher Grimes Gallery

It’s hard to get enough of Katharina Grosse after having seen her show at the the Temporäre Kunsthalle in Berlin.  These comparatively small abstract works find resonance with us.

art fag city, volta
Terry Haggerty, 0, 2007, Acrylic on Canvas, 70.9 x 59 inches, Kuttner Siebert Gallerie Berlin

Terry Haggerty has garnered a reputation for abstract line compositions that break direction as they reach the edges of the painting.  I’m not convinced it is an overly new approach to paint, but well executed work such as this tends to win favor here.  Certainly it represented a diamond in the VOLTA rough.

MEMORIES FROM PULSE NEW YORK

art fag city, volta
Debanjan Roy, Aicon Gallery, Installation view

Who could forget Debanjan Roy’s, Indian Shining II, or as we’ve nicknamed it, The Well Hung Buddha on Cell Phone, from the New York Pulse fair earlier this year?  VOLTA proves there’s plenty more where that came from.

art fag city, volta
Tom Fruin, Gallerie Bertrand & Gruner

A dark shadow made of red enamel and neon nooses hovers over the VOLTA fair.

VOLTA LIFESTYLE

art fag city, volta
Art professionals hang out at VOLTA.

Closing off this post, we offer the above action photo of people smoking inside VOLTA last week.  We were impressed by the fashionable smokers, but guess the art doesn’t benefit much from the policy.

{ 2 comments }

Claudia Barthoi July 1, 2009 at 7:58 pm

THANK GOD smoking is allowed in Swizzerland!!!! I enjoyed it very much there on location. *c*

Claudia Barthoi July 1, 2009 at 2:58 pm

THANK GOD smoking is allowed in Swizzerland!!!! I enjoyed it very much there on location. *c*

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: