NADA, Photograph AFC

I’ll be honest; I don’t know what to think of NADA. The majority of the fair seemed average to me, and having spent a lot of yesterday looking at bad art, the inevitable show stinkers had a fairly negative effect on my viewing experience. Martin van Zomeren’s booth for example consisted of a lone hanging pocket watch by Wilfredo Prieto titled Time is Gold in their space…you can guess the color of that piece. If the work doesn’t already seem bad enough, anyone who attended the fairs last year would recall a strikingly similar stunt pulled by Urs Fischer and his gallerist Gavin Brown Enterprises at Art Basel whereby they cleared the booth for a single suspended cigarette box to be dragged around. Roebling Hall also disappoints, having shown much better work at the Armory and Nada Miami in previous years. The sculpture in their booth wasn’t awful mind you, but we’ve all seen mirror sculptures that make a space appear endless and various objects carved out of wood (Ersser was identified by us as a standout at Scope a couple of years ago, but he’s still doing the same thing with a concept that already risked falling into gimmick.) Momenta Art’s booth almost lost me for good with their celebration of poor text based art. Love is Over reads one poorly painted mirror on panel piece by Rockelle Feinstein, “Another gripping saga of the difficult and moody artist (yawn).” says another piece, this time by Carl Pope. Both inevitably evoke the response; So what?

Michael Jones McKean, Installation view, SUNDAY

Work like this can have a dampening effect on the fair as whole, which is real shame because I also saw gallerists and artists taking exactly the right kind of risks. First time NADA exhibitor SUNDAY immediately comes to mind, his booth filled with the layered material sculptures of Michael Jones McKean. It’s a ballsy move; objects don’t sell as easily as paintings, they are pricey to transport, and there’s no back up if the work doesn’t sell. But SUNDAY director Sean Horton talks about his goals for presenting the art first, “With fairs, it’s either too dark or too crowded…we have enough space to do one person’s work justice” says Horton, whose booth is a beacon of light in response to that issue. McKean’s montage sculptures achieve a level of accomplishment in space activation and exhibition design I have yet to see matched at any art fair, including Basel. What’s more, the work itself is amongst the best I’ve seen, the negative and positive space creating complexity and surface to the work. The arrangements themselves would seem almost too perfectly placed, were it not for the use rich textiles, which demand deliberation of that sort.

Pamela Jordon, Untitled, 2007

Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, another first time exhibitor from New York also puts together a fine booth, Alex Dodge’s keyboard drawing adorned with some sort of dried clear plastic material. It was the near by black paintings by Pamela Jordan however that left the largest impression on me, the subtle shifts in tone and color within the blacks creating a surface with great depth, the more vibrant tones adding movement. Dealer Sam Wilson explained that the fair has been great for Nichtssagend because it introduced them to so many potential clients, but did note the inevitable struggle associated with the fact that everyone, including collectors, tends to buy from whom they know. Although no one spoke specifically about sales, I sense a lot of hang wringing going on amongst all the exhibitors.

In the case of NADA, the hand wringing should be associated with the effects of a cautious collecting practice as opposed to the natural result of a poor fair. NADA may have performed inconsistently, but the number of first time exhibitors who brought their a-game to the fair, suggests they are doing something right.

Ida Ekblad, Political Song for Jessica Simpson to Sing

Jessica Simpson with a gum on her eye at Karma International. A bonus pick posted purely because I like it.

The Miami Convention Center Default Google Map Thumbnail. Originally from Joel Holmberg at nasty nets.

Unidentified dealer running around INK, Photograph AFC 

Trust a dealer association like the IFPDA to put together a great fair.  The organization claims to represent the best print dealers in the country,  so it stands to reason that the fair would be a good one. And it is.  The hotel suites are larger, the courtyard is relaxing, and the art is great.

John Wesley, Sleeping Porch, gouache on paper, 14 3/4 x 25 3/4 inches at Dranoff Fine Art

Take this great John Wesley at Dranoff Fine Art .  It’s a playfully inventive piece — great to look at.  Certainly, the fair presents a welcome relief to yesterday’s experience of dreading even looking at art.

Fred Sandback, Mapp mit zehn lithographien, 1977, Reverse ground lithograph, 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.

Not that anyone reading this blog will know what they’re looking at, but the above documents an exquisite suite of Sandback prints.  Hard to believe just four years ago, those prints sold for a couple hundred bucks a piece.  Sadly, the artist’s death, and the explosion of the contemporary art market has increased the value of the work astronomically.  Today, the asking price for this series is $32,000.

Left: Amy Sillman, Oe-N, 2007, Color sugar lift and spit bite aquatints with soft ground etching, 35 x 28 inches, Right: Jose Lerma, Untitled 2, Lithograph and handmade paper, 32 x 30 1/4 inches photographs AFC

Finally, apologies to the artists for posting such a poor representation of their work, but it’s either this or guessing what the work looks like.  Sillman and Lerma, at Crown Point Press and Tandem respectively, earn the award for best art by emerging to mid-career artists.  Lerma’s work in particular grabs my attention, the layers of handmade paper in this work adding depth and character. In fact, the print is probably my favorite of the fair.  Not bad for an artist who really hasn’t been showing for that long.

Art Basel redux!

Photograph AFC 

Several sources tell me the really ugly overpriced art at many of the larger fairs isn’t selling.  Normally statements like this wouldn’t be a conversation piece, but today, it inspires the question, “Is the party almost over or are collectors just not that dumb?” Given some of the prices around here I’d like to say it’s the latter, but then again I saw art sell last year I never thought would find a home.  I guess we’ll know how the fairs will pan out by the end of the week, but speculation tells me this may be the first year dealers go back without their standard Basel boatload of money.

Art Basel redux!

Flow Miami, Photograph AFC

Taking hotel fairs up a notch, virtually every location I visited today had the majority of the beds removed from the suites. This improves the viewing experience by a level of magnitude eliminating the burdensome question, “What will this look like without a giant bed in front of it”. Additionally, virtually at the exhibitors at Flow, Bridge and Red Dot (possibly others, I noticing after a while,) used track lighting, which means viewers no longer need bring a mini maglight to view some of the finer details in the work.

Linda Durham Contemporary Art at Flow had the most impressive set up of the day, offering a near complete transformation of their hotel room to an exhibition space. The gallery shows work I’m not overly interested in (photographers who sign the front of their prints need to be told to stop), but they otherwise receive a thumbs up from us on presentation.

Michael Berkhemer in the Wildwood Press bathroom at Flow, Photograph AFC

The prize for best bathroom installation I’ve seen thus far also goes out to a Flow exhibitor. Again, the art work at Wildwood Press won’t be making any headlines, (though I’m sure there’s a corporate collection somewhere that will fall in love with it) but the gallery has to receive credit for turning their toilet into an art object. Nothing Duchampian here, just some reasonable exhibition design.

Botero, National Holiday, 2003, Oil on Canvas, 39 1/4 x 51 1/4 inches

For those interested in second rate Boteros (the majority of his recent work), KN Gallery has a poorly painted work executed in 2003. National Holiday includes the signature of Álvaro Uribe, the president of Columbia, which may add something to the history of the painting, but nothing to its quality.

David Byrne, at Hemphill

Last but not least, I took a few shots of David Byrne’s drawings at Hemphill, initially thinking they weren’t overly remarkable. Well, I changed my mind. Later on in the day it occurred to me all that time I spent trying to eliminate the ugly work next to it was influencing how I saw the work. Looking at my photographs, these drawings stand out from a crowd of mediocre at Flow.

Art Basel redux!

Outside the ArtNow Fair, Photograph AFC

Word on the street tells me ArtNow won’t be the worst fair I see this week, which frankly frightens me. I made it through the first floor of galleries before I gave up on the chance of seeing anything moderately interesting, and walked next door to Flow. I’ve posted the best work I saw at the fair below. Consider yourself warned.

Jean-Paul Bourdier, Beginnings, Chromogenic print, 48 x 48 inches, photograph copyright of the artist and Volakis Gallery
Related: Last week’s guess at who would take home the award for worst Miami fair.

Art Basel redux!

Peres Projects installation view, photograph AFC

Admittedly some of the photographs in the Kirstine Roepstorff, Terence Koh collaboration at Peres Projects Art Basel aren’t bad, but so much of this work is over done it’s hard to know what’s good. For example, how many self portrait anal bone probings do we need to see by Koh? Is it necessary to feature all of those black skulls drenched in drippy enamel? At what point does an artist say, okay, I’ve got enough sparkling black blood on this photographed ass? Many of us would have been happier had this point been hit a lot sooner.

neugerriemschneider, installation view, photograph AFC

In other Basel low points, neugerriemschneider’s mirrored floor, hanging wire sculptures and chandeliered overhead, stood out as a booth to avoid. Collectors it would seem, inexplicably love tackiness though; I wasn’t able to get within five feet of a single employee. That said, asking the gallerists questions wasn’t exactly my top priority.

Did I mention I’m reposting material from Art Basel this week? Because I am.

Installation View, ShanghART Supermarket, Art Basel. Photograph AFC

ShanghART supermarket wasn’t the best art I saw at Basel yesterday, but I probably enjoyed it the most. Priced in Chinese currency the convenience store carries virtually every product you might want, but would never find in Miami Beach. Chinese yogurt, frozen dumplings, pock and countless other items fill the store, a would-be break from the Entenmann’s strong hold on fair cuisine. “Divide by seven”, a woman explains to me when I ask how to calculate the price in American dollars without adding that the store was only selling the packaging. I suppose she thought it was obvious to most, what with the empty plastic pop bottles lining the back shelves. Well, not to me. Add this layer of meaning to ShanghART Supermarket: extended art fair viewing without food may cause a viewer to miss a detail or two.

Interior View, ShanghArt Supermarket, Art Basel. Photograph AFC

Installation detail, ShanghArt Supermarket, Art Basel. Photograph AFC

Since it’s neither July or Art Basel, I figured I’d fill the last week of summer with 2007 posts from Miami. I will write regular posts as well — perhaps just not as many.

Art Basel Miami, 2007, Photograph, AFC

Let’s get one thing straight: it’s impossible to provide brilliant fair analysis one hour after you’ve seen the thing. I can’t tell you how well Art Basel has performed — I don’t know yet — but if it means anything my instincts tell me it’s not bad. I liked the carpet despite the fact that I am told it is camouflage for dry wall screws, I liked the tall booth walls, and most importantly, I liked the art. Don’t get me wrong — it wasn’t all good, (Peres Projects‘ photo installation saw to that), but aside from the fact that the fair is too large to properly evaluate what’s there, they really do a good job at recreating a gallery experience.

Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, Laugh, 2007, Edition of 250, Screenprint with Glazes and diamond dust on paper, 39 3/8 x 29 1/2 inches. At White Cube

I took great interest in White Cube this year, because they had an infamous Damien Hirst skull print made of diamond dust and glazes. The dust was already falling off the print and collecting in the bottom of the frame, but, you know, for 10,000 GBP that problem can be yours. Hirst’s edition size of 250 probably means to reference Warhol, since he too frequently worked with that edition number and material, not that it adds anything but egotism to the piece. At some point collectors will have to lose interest in this man’s balls, and his grossly arrogant behavior will actually cost him money.

Joseph Cornell, at L&M Arts, Photograph AFC

On a note unrelated to Hirst, L&M Arts put together a beautiful wall of Joseph Cornell boxes, facing an opposing wall of with a Richard Prince, John Baldesarri Tom Friedman and a David Hammons. A tip of the hat to the L&M curators Robert Pincus-Witten, Leila Saadai, and Eloise Benzekri, who presumably had something to do with this arrangement. Galerie Max Hetzler displayed a beautiful op art painting by Bridget Riley executed in 2007, Paul Kasmin, The Electric Eat, an early Robert Indiana sculpture made of light bulbs that spells the word Eat, and Alan Stone, a large and gorgeous Thiebaud landscape. The Thiebaud was of particular interest to me, since I so rarely see his work at contemporary galleries, I assume this is because collectors purchase his art and hold on to it, but I’m making educated guess made without any real knowledge of the Thiebaud market.

Bridget Riley, Red with Red 1, 2007, Oil on Linen, 67 x 89 3/4 inches at Galerie Max Hetzler, photograph AFC

It may go without saying that I have more work to talk about, but in an attempt to keep my post within a reasonable length, I’ve decided to divide it up a little. I will however leave you with the sentiment that I generally remain pleased with Art Basel. It consistently shows high quality work, displays it well, and thankfully does a good job of downplaying the ick factor/ostentatious money that inevitably becomes part of such events. You’ll have to ignore the BMW’s for sale in the front of the convention center however to believe that last statement.