NYC Art Fairs Recap
NADA, Future Fair, TEFAF, and Frieze
May is off to a busy start; the streets are abuzz with art happenings, from opening across Tribeca, major artists receptions, Takashi Murakami at Gagosian, and numerous art fairs hostings. It’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed. I definitely did. Every time I thought I knew everything that was happening, more kept popping up. It was a whack-a-mole of updates in a flurry of word-of-mouth recommendations. I did my best and was able to catch most things. This year was actually my first time attending these fairs, so we’re getting out footing.
Here’s everything I attended:
Art Fairs:
NADA
Future Fair
Frieze
TEFAF
Openings:
Gagosian
Chelsea Walls
Miles McEnery
I attempted the Tribeca art night but unfortunately missed the collection of openings; I’ll insert the flyer for the event below for anyone interested in checking out the exhibitions. I’ll try to visit the shows I missed in the upcoming days. Check out my thoughts and highlights of the art fairs below.
The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA)
NADA is a definite hub for the art world; it attracted a range of visitors, which we'll explore in the outro. The picture featured above is the Embajadada booth, A205, which featured the artist Joshua Nazario. Besides Cub_ism_Artspace, which I reviewed in Cultbytes, this booth's vibrant and intentional rudimentary style caught my eye and became a focus of the fair.
Embajadada is based in Puerto Rico founded in by Christopher Rivera and Manuela Paz in 2015. They featured Joshua Nazario (b. 2001), a self-taught artist based in Isabela, Puerto Rico. Nazario's style stems from an interest in culture, cars and sports.
The saturated, hastily sketched lines colored in the stylized figures reminded me of a torn page from a kid's coloring book. Obviously sports-inspired, which is a topic I know nothing about, Nazario's work seemingly commented on the fan culture surrounding popular teams. Ranging from NASCAR to basketball, I'm no sure if any of the figures were based on actual athletes or if they were created as a representation of them. If my readers see anyone they recognize, let me know! In the booth's center, a woman in a bikini rested on top of a wooden miniature red sports car. The image was similar to those often seen in sports posters and publications, such as Sports Illustrated.
Nazario's booth reminded me of a rapid discussion in sports, the kind my Dad would try to have with me. Typically, I would tune out these topics and nod while going to a happier place. But the stylized interpretation of sports culture met me at an comfortable intersection. I can appreciate art, and now I can appreciate sports art.
Honorable Mention: Pangee, Booth C114
Future Fair
I came upon a ticket to Future Fair by pure chance. As I was heading to NADA, I ran into an art influencer I follow. We exchanged hellos, and they sent me a QR ticket before running out of eyesight. So, it was a very lucky moment.
Future had a larger turnout than the other fairs I attended. The booths felt more tightly spaced and were contained within one floor. As I navigated the fair, the Mitochondria Gallery (Booth E1), pieces stood out to me.
Mitochondria Gallery, based in Houston, TX, was formed in 2019. Its mission is to "…educate and further expand the global public awareness of contemporary African art." Their program focuses on emerging to mid-level artists from Africa and the African diaspora. Their booth featured Ejiro Fenegal, Izere Antoine, and Dusabe King Christian. Of the three, Ejiro Fenegal's work caught my attention.
It's uncommon to see traditional African culture portrayed in a stereotypically European style. The artist, Ejiro Fenegal, is from Ughelli, Delta state, situated in Nigeria. She attended the School of Arts, Design and Printing, Yaba College of Technology. Fenegal's busts feature traditional Nigerian gele (a traditional head tie native to the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Benin and Togo) and jewelry. Seeing African women in this medium is rare for me. I've seen similar things, such as this when studying classical African sculpture (pre-colonization), but nothing truly like the image above.
Honorable Mention:
Frieze
Out of all the fairs, I was most excited about Frieze. When I first came to NY, Frieze was almost always talked about, and I always missed it. Not this year. It was pretty much as I imagined. There was a range of booths, from blue chips to mid-tier to emerging. Some were local to NY, while others were from overseas. Union Pacific Gallery stood out to me. The classic Disney style in the piece above to the left brought out my inner child’s excitement. As a lover of classic animation and as someone who once wanted to be trained in the craft, seeing a style I thought was falling out of favor caught my eye.
Union Pacific Gallery, based in London, was founded in 2014 by Grace Schofield and Nigel Dunkley. The gallery represents “challenging and ambitious new artworks and artists.” They feature a range of international artists, from Tokyo to Rome; their booth showcased Niklas Asker, Jin Han Lee, Aya Higuchi, Nova Jiang, Koak, Oliver Osborne, Emiliano Maggi and Velma Rosai-Makhandia. Koak and Niklas Asker caught my attention.
The Disney work I described above was created by Koak. The work to the right is created by Niklas Asker. Asker portrays idols. His religious figures have sharp contrasts; the heavily shadowed idol against the light cream background forces the viewer to focus on the shrouded figure and creates an interaction veiled in mystery. Where the viewer imposes their relationship with these Saints onto the work; at least, that’s what I did.
The rest of the booth featured similarly illustrated work, attention grabbing and nostalgic, the pieces were reminiscent of some part of my life and made the booth feel familiar.
Honorable Mention:
This guy from Tomio Koyama Gallery’s Booth, D13.
The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF)
I was previously unfamiliar with The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) but decided to attend as many fairs as possible this season, so I went ahead and purchased a ticket. The fair was definitely a different experience from the other ones I attended. Flowers lined the ceiling, and though there was a great many people in attendance, the air was hushed. Wealth definitely does whisper. TEFAF's visitors were on the wealthier side, and the price points in the booths reflected that. At one booth, Greek statues from 170 - 180 A.D. were for sale, which I found strange. I feel like things that old should be public domain, like Winnie the Pooh.
Out of the numerous booth on the 2 floors, Gagosian stood out to me. The juggernaut blue chip gallery presented Anna Weyant, though her raise to fame is controversial, I believe her work backs up her visibility.
For my readers that don't know, Gagosian founded in 1980 by Larry Gagosian in Los Angeles in 1980, Gagosian is bluest chip gallery I'm aware of. With exhibition spaces spanning in eighteen locations across the United States, Europe, and Asia. As boasted on their website, "From its inception, Gagosian has prepared and presented unparalleled museum-quality exhibitions of works". Gagosian has a tight hold on the art world, and is a definite taste maker.
Weyant had a series of small works presented that looked similar to a jewelry box. The work in the header image on the left side was a favorite of mine. The muted colors made the pastel blue of the ribbon pop, and the balance of colors also brought the viewer's eye to the white pearl. I love an optical illusion, and the shadows you see in the 'box' the pearl necklace is held was crafted by Weyant. The work is 2D, but the crafted layers create depth that makes the viewers feel they are looking into something precious.
Sean Kelly (Booth 330) featured Yves Klein's "La Victoire de Samothrace" work, which I featured on the right side of the header image. Sean Kelly Gallery was created in 1991 and features a wide program with diverse artists. The use of true blue, which Yves Klein is iconic for, captured my attention.
Honorable Mention:
Venus Over Manhattan (Historic Room 103)
Okay, I think this is enough information for the both of us. Look forward to the upcoming updates, as I said I’ll try to check out some of the exhibitons I missed in Tribeca, there was over 70 galleries participating, and this was the inaugural night to what is going to be a yearly conjoined opening. Love community.
Interestingly enough, without meaning to, I was able to gain insight into the buying power of the visitors each fair attracted. Future fair was the most accessible, there were prints available alongside the artwork in a few of the booths. While, TEFAF was intended for visitors with a larger buying power. NADA sit squarely in-between, with a range of price-points, it also felt more immersive as some of the booths had interactive artworks.
This year was my first visiting these art fairs and I enjoyed experiencing the global art community. I was able to learn about a ton of new galleries and artists and have places to visit when traveling. Thanks for reading!