March 16, 2013

Saltz: 20 Things I Really Liked at the Art Fairs

By Jerry Saltz

As some readers already know, I do not really look at art at art fairs. I can’t. I’m sorry. Fairs are places where the dealer is always only a few feet away from the art, and I need my own space to see it. As soon as a dealer comes up to me in a booth to explain this or that work, my skin starts crawling, I have wee panic attacks, I begin behaving badly, and I duck away. They think I am insane. And rude. Which I may be. (I avoid fairs after the first day, too. So my ideas about them are very limited.) But when I do go, I go through in a semi-trance, catching reflections and filing away things I see to think about later. At last week’s three big art fairs (the Art Show, the Armory Show, and the Independent), these twenty pieces left traces and impressions on my frontal lobe.

Additional reporting by Molly Langmuir.

*This article originally appeared in the March 25, 2013 issue of New York Magazine.

1. Martin Wong's It’s Not What You Think, What Is It Then?
PPOW Gallery
This artist, who died young in 1999, is way overlooked. And much better than people realize. The intricate brickwork makes the painting look like a labor of love, a piece of flat sculpture, and a wall from the artist’s memory.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $200,000.

2. Edgar Degas' Henri Rouart et sa Fille Hélène
Acquavella Galleries
Father and child against a window (or another painting) in a space that reads almost as bas-relief that flattens out, then opens up again inside your mind.
Did it sell? A deal is in the works.
Price: $8 million.

3. Louise Lawler's Marie + 180
Metro Pictures
Since we’re on Degas, a well-known Pictures Artist riffing on him (Lawler’s work typically involves rephotographing other work and warping or resizing the image) triggers pictorial memories of one of the most peculiar pieces of modern sculpture ever made. Here, blown up way larger than life, it still doesn’t lose its strangeness.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $150,000.

4. Charles Burchfield's Untitled
James Reinish & Associates
Look into that mysterious thicket of trees and see space disappear, a square shape take form, the borders of the watercolor fall away a little, and you’re in a visionary state of mind.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: Undisclosed, but “between $50,000 and $300,000.”

5. Jannis Kounellis's All or Nothing at All
Cheim & Read
An A for effort. Plus it’s always nice to think about an artist hogging an entire art-fair booth, to the point of closing it up.
Did it sell? Talks are under way with an American museum.
Price: $500,000.

6. Andy Warhol's Camouflage
Gagosian Gallery
This booth gave me the feeling that the Armory comped the space to Larry; and that he had the Warhol Foundation ship something to the piers, which he then put up for sale. God bless the megadealer.
Did it sell? Who knows? Gagosian is like the Kremlin during lockdown.
Price: “We don’t comment on that.” Same as it ever was.

7. Tom Duncan's Dedicated to Coney Island
Andrew Edlin Gallery
A homegrown modern version of Calder’s Circus. This animated rendition of a Coney Island of the mind entices, and wowed crowds. Me included.
Did it sell? “We’re following up with a few interested parties, including one museum.”
Price: $300,000.

8. Peter Attie Besharo's Untitled (Target 1-9)
Fleisher/Ollman Gallery
An artist new to me who, from the looks of this fantastic abstract-diagrammatic image, may have been abducted by aliens. The thing I would have bought from all three fairs, if I bought art. Or had money.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: Between $8,000 and $10,000.

9. Desirée Holman's Outer Space, from the series “Destined to Disappear”
Jessica Silverman Gallery
I really like the weird handmade aura aspect of this thing that isn’t abstract exactly and not representational but that packs a great sense of irony. Good up-and-coming gallery, too. More, more.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $10,000.

10. Zanele Muholi's Zimaseka “Zim” Salusalu, Gugulethu, Cape Town, from the series “Faces and Phases”
Yancey Richardson Gallery
Intense portraits of African lesbians who are out and in danger at all times. Pretty powerful.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $4,200.

11. Nicole Eisenman's Big Head
Leo Koenig
Instead of being some Greek colossus or noble Roman god, Eisenman’s big plaster head feels surreal, sculptural, and strange in ways that keep us on edge. And happy.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: Undisclosed.

12. Nick Cave's Untitled, from his “Soundsuits” series
Jack Shainman Gallery
Whoa! A flying, knitting-covered, toy-bedecked creature from another imaginary realm. What’s not to like?
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $150,000.

13. Meleko Mokgosi's Modern Art: The Root of African Savages
Honor Fraser
A heady deconstruction of African-art labels from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that makes you realize that labels speak volumes.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $70,000.

14. Margarethe Held's Nr. 253: Eine Griechin, Beim Zeichnen Zuschauer
Galerie Susanne Zander
Maybe the best overall booth I saw this week. All work by mediumistic artists trying to reach “the other side.” This fantastical spirit being looks more than convincing to me.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: €6,100 ($7,906).

15. Dr. Thomas Glendenning Hamilton's series of five ectoplasm photos
Galerie Susanne Zander
You have to love a photographer trying to take pictures of ectoplasm eruptions on people’s faces. Pre-porn mystical money shots?
Did they sell? Yes.
Price: €6,000 ($7,776) each.

16. Paulo Nazareth, From the series “Imagens que ja existen no mundo”
Mendes Wood
You walk from Brazil to the United States and make drawings along the way and I’ll follow you anywhere. For a while, at least. Want to see much more of this artist.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: Still in negotiation.

17. Anna-Bella Papp's For David
Modern Art
One of an array of sixteen little clay landscapes or paintings or metaphysical maps, all laid flat. Each reads as a world, design, or tile. Wonderful Morandi-like internal space. Want.
Did it sell? All sixteen did.
Price: $6,800 each.

18. Ulrike Heise's Untitled
Klosterfelde
These objects are found pieces of animal architecture formed when desert worms secrete in the sand. Or something like that. The idea of going somewhere and having your body emit substances that turn into your home strikes me a bit like art.
Did it sell? No.
Price: Undisclosed.

19. Leigh Ledare's An Invitation, Saturday July 23, 2011
Office Baroque Gallery
The backstory of this photo-collage makes the thing turn twisted. Famous German couple has a need for her to be photographed naked. This is the result. Caged birds do sing, albeit with identities hidden.
Did it sell? Yes.
Price: $15,000.

20. Magdalena Frimkess' Ceramic bowls
White Columns
The pots are made by her husband, Michael Frimkess; the smaller ones, by Magdalena herself. She paints them. They give off love however they’re done, and are a total delight. Another want.
Did they sell? Yes.
Prices: From $350 to $750 apiece.

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Saltz: 20 Things I Really Liked at the Art Fairs

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