Stuart Lantry curated by Shona McAndrew, all images via Libby Langsner for Art Observed
The first notes of fall are in the air in New York, and, like clockwork, another art season is now underway, kicked off once again by the opening of the Armory Show and its satellite fairs in New York City. That means that, once again, the night before the fair is the domain of Spring/Break Art Show, the curator-first, project oriented fair that brings together a range of expressive and imaginative works under a broad curatorial banner. Leaving ample space for exploration and investigation, the fair is a perennial highlight, and, now in its 11th year, has reached cruising velocity, bringing with it a year that takes a moment for retrospective conceptions of the event.
Gvantsa Jishkariani at CH64
This year, the theme was WILD CARD!, a moment to look back and allow all concepts previously explored to be given a new shot. “After 11 years and 11 themes, SPRING/BREAK Art Show NYC embraces a good gag for its 2023 large-scale iteration, doubling down on elevens, so to speak. Like the court jester who imitates all things throned, and the Fool who moves for speed and intuition rather than procedures of great labor, the 12th New York City exhibition will, as an act of japing mimesis, host a show of shows this Fall, allotting a wider bend to the road’s access by giving 11 themes for curators to get by with. In a so-called ‘WILD CARD’ exhibition, curators will be encouraged to put forward exhibitions of artists’ works that fall into one (1) of our near-dozen categories.”
Cate Pasquarelli, curated by Sara Driver
Ophelia Arc, curated by Eric Shiner
The result was a fair that brought forth new twists on old shows, and familiar names deployed in new modes. Artist Shona McAndrew, whose participation in prior years was an artist, here took on a curatorial bent, presenting work by artist Stuart Lantry. Artist Cate Pasquarelli was offering an intriguing booth, meditating on rural sites and spaces, imagined narratives and constructed environments in her booth curated by Sara Driver, while artist Ophelia Arc’s lumpen forms, suspended in space, create an ominous and somewhat unnerving atmosphere upon entry into the booth curated by Eric Shiner.
Melissa Webb at Camp Gallery
Megan Bogonovich at Kishka
All told, the fair has continued its mission of providing an artist-focused exhibition at the height of the New York art calendar, and serves as a colorful reminder of the power and joy art can have away from the sterile aisles of rote fair events. One can only hope that this sense of the unexpected continues to sit at the core of its mission, offering a refreshing respite from the all too familiar fair fatigue of the week.
The fair closes September 11th.
Kay Seohyung Lee at Blah Blah
Clint Baclawski at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery
– D. Creahan
Read more:
Spring/Break 2023 [Exhibition Site]
