A nyc art minute
The Armory, openings, and what's up in Seoul
In the last year, I’ve been to over nine art fairs. The fairs have blended into a labyrinth of booths and rectangular artworks. I’m not sure what the purpose of these fairs is—for me personally, at least. While fairs can be a place to discover new artists, I tend to get overwhelmed by the quantity of art, so I seek out artists I already know and love. Like visiting old friends in a large and overwhelming party. But truthfully, my art stamina is slowing, and I’d rather discover new artists from the comfort of my Instagram feed, gallery hopping, or suggestions from friends.
The Armory fair felt distinctly quiet, lacking the kinetic energy of swarms of collectors. At first, I thought it was because the fair was so big, but heard it mentioned a few times that a good number of people opted to go to Freize Seoul instead. If you remember, Freize bought Armory recently. So you might wonder why they planned the two fairs for the same weekend.
Lots of Canadians are in NYC right now. Last night, I went to the openings for Veronika Pausova at Simone Subal Gallery and Keiran Brennan Hinton at Charles Moffett. Veronika’s paintings are excellent—the rendering of the hands is like nothing I’ve seen. So is the triptych that reveals itself as a giant spider. Keiran’s show was also incredible—and, of course, very close to my heart to see a year’s worth of our lives brought together in an exhibition.
Veronika Pausova, detail Today, I’m heading to Brian Rideout’s exhibition at Patrick Parrish, followed by Milton Resnick and Matthew Wong at the Milton Resnick Foundation. I’m looking forward to getting a copy of the exhibition catalogue.
Of note in Seoul: I’m always obsessed with Cindy Ji Hye Kim’s work, and the paintings and sculptures up in Seoul are no exception. She’s always pushing her practice further, in form and technique. Pangee is showing Darby Milbrath, Jane Corrigan, and Rose Nestler at Kiaf Seoul in a very colourful and joyful booth. I love it.
My top painting picks at Armory: Alexa Hawksworth at Bradley Ertaskiran and Larry Madrigal at Nicodim. Alexa has very aptly translated her drawing practice into paintings. She avoids the pitfall of simply replicating the drawings in paint, instead translating the essence of the work. The dissolving figures, the surprising pairing of colours, a surreal storyline. Larry’s painting, on top of being well rendered, is simply sexy. I love how quickly, through visual aids, he tells the viewer that he and his wife love each other very much amidst the chaos of parenting.
Alexa Hawksworth + Larry Madrigal Two strong booths, almost side by side, at the fair: Patel Brown Gallery showing Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos; and Galerie Nicolas Robert with a solo booth of Ghazaleh Avarzamani’s latest work. Mini museum shows in a 100-square-foot booth.
My ranking of the fairs I’ve been to in the last year from best to worst:
1. Frieze LA
2. Untitled Art Fair
3. Art Basel Miami
4. Felix Art Fair
5. The Armory
6. NADA NYC
7. Art Toronto
8. NADA Miami
9. Scope Miami
Of note: NADA Miami suffers from a depressing, cramped, dark, and maze-like location. Please don’t ask why I went to Scope Miami, I wish I didn’t. Felix is the most fun because you’re forced into the proximity of a hotel room, which means learning a lot more about the artwork. Plus, the Hockney pool.
How’s everyone else feeling about fairs these days? They’ve really come back with aplomb—comment below or email me! I’ll be in New York for a minute; the next newsletter will be restaurant recommendations.