Liu Xiangdong at Lisson, all images via Art Observed
Since moving its running dates away from the hustle and bustle of Armory Week in New York, the ADAA Art Show has emphasized and capitalized on its reputation as a special and singular event in the New York and international market calendar. Liberated from the usual hustle and bustle of the surrounding fairs, The Art Show’s curatorially-focused programming and emphasis on project-based booths has made for an ever stronger draw, welcoming a casual, meandering pace, with its gentle lighting and wide aisles, all driving home its exploratory and thoughtful program. This year, the event was no different, and its return to the aisles of the Park Avenue Armory was met with enthusiasm with guests during the opening reception last night.
Zio Ziegler at Almine Rech
Robert Motherwell at Kasmin
With the clusters of artists and works each competing for the viewer’s attention, yet drawn together by the fair’s encouragement of curatorial rigor and focused exhibitions, the fair’s presentation as a series of micro-exhibitions has long made it a draw and a consistently strong bet for those looking to see a great number of works, and to learn a bit while doing it, has maintained the ADAA’s strong position. The fair’s intimately scaled presentations foster new relationships, active conversations with gallerists, and close looking at works by artists representing a variety of genres, practices, and national and international origins. This was in full view this week, with a range of impressive shows on view.
Raul Guerrero at David Kordansky
Rafael Ferrer at Fredric Snitzer
At Mitchell-Innes & Nash, artist Antonio Henrique Amaral was on view, presenting a series of canvases that mixed natural iconographies and structures with a distinctly surreal edge, while at the Peter Blum booth, another series of canvases, composed by Erik Lindman, offered a decidedly more minimalist take, with harsh brushstrokes and a rigid color palette that made for a brusque and engaging body of works. Another highlight came at Lisson Gallery, where a massive canvas by artist Liu Xiangdong was on view, exhibiting a striking and energetic depiction of Chinese youth. By contrast, artist Nicholas Hlobo’s booth at Lehmann Maupin engaged with a series of enervating and twisted sculptures and wall-mounted works that seemed to take the human form and twist it well beyond recognition, arriving at canvases and sculptures that seemed to negotiate new and abstracted ideas of the human.
Nicholas Hlobo at Lehmann Maupin
Marcus Jamal at Anton Kern
With the clusters of artists and works each competing for the viewer’s attention, yet drawn together by the fair’s encouragement of curatorial rigor and focused exhibitions, the fair’s presentation as a series of micro-exhibitions has long made it a draw and a consistently strong bet for those looking to see a great number of works, and to learn a bit while doing it, has maintained the ADAA’s strong position.
The fair closes November 6th.
Jim Dine at Jonathan Novak
Erik Lindman at Peter Blum
Antonio Henrique Amaral at Mitchell-Innes and Nash
–D. Creahan
Read more:
The ADAA Art Show [Exhibition Site]
