Day two:
Another bright, yet chilly day in New York, yet the heat was on at the Armory,when I arrived at around lunchtime to register my press pass on Pier 94.
The first dealer I had a chat with was David Roberts of Alan Cristea who was proudly showing a new series of historical portraits by Julian Opie, an edition of 40 priced $6,800 each. He had already sold 4 sets.
I moved on, suitably impressed. The rest of Pier 94 seemed rather subdued in comparison to the frenzy of the more contemporary Pier 92, which one reached by means of a stairwell built out of scaffolding, I noticed quite a few grand New York dames nervously negotiate this like an art assault course.
Once you reached ground level, you were immediately struck by the buzz of activity, the constant chatter, the hugs and the hand shakes, the air kisses to both cheeks.
Even before I spoke to any of the dealers, I knew that serious business was being done. The economy has certainly bounced back and the wealthy were out shopping again. Why the hell wouldn’t they be? This is New York after all. A place where buying and selling is the fabric of life, an integral part of it’s nature.
The American mentality dictates this, they say that this is a ‘classless society’ and that success and standing is relative to ‘how much you are pulling down’, so by virtue culture and art is up for sale and the more culture you acquire the more sophisticated you are. Fact.
Who were the big collectors at the turn of century? It was the new money of Boston society, snapping up French Impressionism as well as their own brand.
So, this great tradition continues today, as I witness at the Lehmann Maupin’s booth, devoted to the new series of work by Gilbert and George, which was recently shown by White Cube in London. I overheard women speaking about the time they used to live off the King’s Road in the 70’s and how ‘cute’ this work was. For them, this is nostalgia art, reminding them of their youth in a direct and obvious way. So of course they just had to buy it.
I wander on from booth to booth, bumping into a few familiar faces, Anthony Haden-Guest admiring work at the Lisson Gallery. James Brett from the Museum of Everything near Victoria Miro’s booth. He told me that he was working on a project that promises to be totally different from anything that anyone has seen before and to tell you the truth, I believe him. He has a mischievous quality that is rare to find and those of you who have visited his marvellously eccentric museum in Primrose Hill, will know exactly what I mean.
Onwards, up along rows upon rows of booths, through an exciting edition of galleries from Latin America and indeed it is a Chilean artist who steals the show
– Iván Navarro, presented by Paul Kasmin. His ‘Armory Fence’ (priced at $360K or $40K for a seven foot section), is a powerful statement reflecting the artist’s concern with political issues, such as power, control and authority. The five foot high neon barrier runs around the perimeter of the booth and challenges the traditional way of seeing or experiencing artwork at a fair. His solo exhibition opens at the Paul Kasmin gallery and runs until 6th March.
Other than this bold statement and the booth devoted to Sam Van Aken’s mini orchard of hybrid fruit trees at Ronald Feldman, the rest of fair was the usual mix of work seen out of context and thus difficult to conceptualise although easier to present as a commodity.
I know that there is a lot of good quality work on show here, but much of it gets lost under the sheer weight of it. Which is a shame.
So, eventually before I get completely lost by walking around and around in circles, I decided to make a break for the exit and go to see a proper art show, whereby one can actually see a well curated body of work and I was not to be disappointed by the Abstract Expressionist show currently on at MoMa.
Image:Woman, I Willem de Kooning (American, born the Netherlands. 1904-1997) 1950-52. Oil on canvas, 6′ 3 7/8″ x 58″ (192.7 x 147.3 cm). Purchase. © 2011 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
At last a place where the work is given non-commercial context and each piece has room to breathe. I will not go on about the show, but just to say it is fantastic to see such a collection of work that defined an artistic era in the States and was the defining moment when America broke away culturally from the old guard of Europe. Go and see it.
Also well worth seeing whilst there is the Picasso’s Guitar show, a fascinating collection of colleges and assemblages pieces, which were the essence of Synthetic Cubism. There was also a slightly disturbing show of women photographers there, which is powerful and provocative. There is still no getting away from Arbus’ or Goldin’s evocative oeuvre.
I was glad to fall into an Irish pub outside the museum for a refreshing glass of Guinness after all that.
More art fair reviews to follow…
