Quick hits from Aqua and NADA. I’m always pretty happy with Aqua as a fair and this is a good year for Aqua although I guess it’s not as new as it was a couple of years back and as a result it’s hard to keep it on the hipster radar – all in all probably a good thing. One disappointment I had with Aqua this year is the fact that they did not have both the hotel as well as the Wynwood locations this year. It appears the Hotel location was given up – I’m guessing economic forces were involved in that decision.
I have a trickier relationship with the show at NADA. While there is a bunch of art I like there, In the back of my head I’m always thinking that the galleries are all on the same note, and that is not a particularly good thing. I’m sure there are subtleties that you miss at the fairs as it pertains to a galleries program but based on what you see, it is becoming a monoculture in a way I’m not overly comfortable with. I really think this is more a fair thing than when you are actually at the gallery proper.
Here are a few things I saw that made me happy.
+ Kris Graves Projects (Aqua) +KGP is a fairly new gallery in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, I first met Kris at Pocket Utopia and have been impressed with his program. He’s brought a bunch of his artists down with him this year and it’s a great mix of interesting things to see.
Alex Schneideman at Chandler Fine Art (Aqua). Love these. AS makes images that seem like stripped down abstractions but have an added layer of context that brings forth both a documentary approach to a minimal aesthetic, the only question I get with these is where to next?
Randall Scott Gallery (Aqua) The former DC gallery, now in New York has a great overview of his program as well – I was always a fan of his gallery when I was in DC and that continues here
Lori Nix at Miller Bloch (Aqua). I was surprised to see a series of black and white images of hers in the booth. I was caught off guard by these and think these might be worth exploring a bit more. (can’t find a photo – sorry)
Damiàn Navarro at Evergreene (NADA). I really like these amazing monochromatic paintings that share sensibilities with Morris Louis. These were starkly different from much of the other work at the fair – and in that stood out even further.
Sarah Crowner at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery (NADA). Crowner sews panels together (not unlike Blinky Palermo) and then stretches and paints into these interesting and dynamic paintings. Her use of velvet alone is both surprising and gets far more than you would ever think possible from such a simple use of the material.