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New York Art Fairs – Armory Show Contemporary disappoints, Volta not so much
March 17, 2013 · 3 Comments
We attended the Armory Show and Volta, something we’ve been doing for a number of years. We may change it up next year because we were a tad bit underwhelmed this year. The free-for-all commercial atmosphere was not so thrilling — maybe we’re getting jaded, who knows.
Below are some pictures of favorite moments at The 2013 Armory Show and Volta. Loads more pictures at Libby’s Flickr (Armory & Volta) and Roberta’s Flickr (Armory & Volta).
The 2013 Armory Show. We went to both Piers (92-Modern and 94-Contemporary)
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- Stephan Balkenhol, Man in dark red shirt (big relief) 2012, poplar wood, painted, Galerie Forsblom. No art fair is complete without a Stephan Balkenhol.
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- Pier 94, Julian Opie Robbie walking 1, 2012, continuous computer animation Balerie Bob Van Orsouw
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- Pier 92. Julian Opie, Standing Packet, 1985, oil paint on steel, Hollis Taggart Galleries, sold
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- Breath-taking iconoclasm. Tala Madani, Brown Christmas 2012, oil on linen at Pilar Corrias
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- Nick Cave, always a hit at Jack Shainman
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- Kerry James Marshall, The Academy, 2012, acrylic on PVC
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- Highpoint of the fair for gallerist John Ollman, who walked us over to see it, Roman Abramovich’s yacht parked at Pier 92.
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- Ron Nagle at Rena Bransten, San Francisco. A biscuit floating in dark chocolate -good enough to eat
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- Yemeni artist Raed Yassin, Ming Dynasty-like representations of the Middle East uprisings
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- John Ollman at Fleisher-Ollman booth at Pier 92, with William Edmondson sculptures
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- Chitra Ganesh Atlas, archival lightjet print, 50×69 inches, 2013, 1 of 3
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- Hank Willis Thomas, Zero Hour, 2012, Digital C-print and plexi with Lumisty film, 6 panels, each 27″x20″. In collaboration with Sanford Biggers
Volta 2013 New York — making its debut in Soho (a move from a mid-town hotel). Four thumbs up on the new location. And gallerists Becky Kerlin of Gallery Joe and Christine Pfister of Pentimenti, both participants at Volta this year, told us they love the downtown locale.
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- Jock Mooney’s cartoon drawings and 3-D works intrigued. He’s a friend of Dave Shrigley and it shows.
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- We were told that Jade Townsend, maker of the nautical/historical installation, is a friend of Duke Riley, maker of nautical/historical works
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- Amy Bennet’s miniature narrative paintings were mini-spectacular
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- Pentimenti’s Christine Pfister with work by Derrick Velasquez
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- Libby and Cate puzzle over manikins in a murderous game at Volta
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- Mark Jenkins’ teddy bear rug paintings tickled us
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- Roberta looks on as gallerist explains the Zen implications of the work by Kyotoaro Hamata
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- Clint Jukkala at Fred, Giampietro of New Haven. The through-the-airplane-window aspect reminded us of Charlotte Hallberg at Grizzly Grizzly last May.
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- Gallery Joe’s Becky Kerlin, first time Volta participant, happy in her booth with work by Nicole Phungrasamee Fein
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- Carol Young’s ceramic scrolls in wood book cases at Beatriz Esguerra Art, Bogota, Colombia, give off a West Elm vibe Young btw is Uruguayan
I love this format! Great to get the virtual visit, saves me a half an hour looking for the kybo! Only kidding.
What did you think of the fair formats? Wasn’t Volta a one artist one stand show? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Hey Matthew, glad you like the format! If you click the images they open in a new window and then you click the image again and you can see it big, just in case you want to. And yes, Volta is a one artist/booth fair. We LOVE that! It gives the fair a coherence that fights against the natural chaos of the art fair format.
Great pics! Nice to see Clint Jukkala here too- he has a nice local connection as he was part of a 2 person show at Tiger Strikes Asteroid with Mia Rosenthal back in 2010!
http://philadelphia.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/tagged/clint-jukkala