Bewitched: Stunning Standouts at VOLTA NY 2017

Wandering the aisles at VOLTA NY can be compared to browsing the racks at your local upmarket thrift shop: every now and then an Armani jacket catches your eye among the Merona sweaters. This year’s edition was no different. Taking a plunge into this year’s offerings, several features were immediately apparent: Wendy Vogel’s curated Your Body is a Battleground section highlighted cutting-edge artists considering social justice subject matter, while Rebecca Goyette’s Golden Showers: A Sex Hex, a video featuring Brian Whitely, provided some delightful shock-and-awe near the (much-needed) lounge area. Traipsing through the charmingly inoffensive abstraction and quirky representational works, certain dealers stood out, taking a daring leap into ongoing traffic to bring visitors something new and entirely unexpected. These daredevils are featured below:

Aljira, Zachary Fabri

Aljira presents a stunning selection of works by emerging artist Zachary Fabri. Predicated on the theme Your Body is a Battleground introduced by curator Wendy Vogel, Fabri’s work provides a sly yet touching look into the politics surrounding black identity. Fabri’s nuanced and poetic vision manifests in text, photography and video explorations of subject matter surrounding self-empowerment and support for black communities, Fabri’s deft attention to his subject matter creates an elevating experience in tune with Vogel’s focus on upending the erosion of human rights overtaking our current political system. http://aljira.org/

Zachary Fabri, The Big Payback, 2009, Still from Single Channel Video (courtesy of the artist)

Ana Mas Projects, Quisqueya Henriquez 

Quisqueya Henriquez’s work proves equally powerful whether in abstract or figurative form, upending expectations around the aesthetics of contemporary beauty and denial of conforming to stereotypes. Her work reaches new heights in exploring Lynda Benglis’ portraits of power and gender, upending traditional concepts of masculinity, while her abstract pieces show a masterful consideration of both material and composition. http://www.anamasprojects.com/

Quisqueya Henriquez, Secret Possibilities, mixed media, (courtesy Ana Mas Projects)

C24 Gallery, Irfan Onurmen

Approaching C24’s exhibit at VOLTA is a fabulously disorienting experience. Akin to emerging from a dark alleyway to a magical wonderland, Onurmen’s featured artwork encompasses various pieces emerging from his broad studio practice. Sculpture exists alongside installation works, paintings and photographic prints. Different images coexist comfortably and disorienting by degrees, denying the visitor easy access to the works’ meaning. Abstracted portraiture evincing a delicate hand blends with images of war and political intrigue, making this exhibit the kind of spectacle worth indulging in. http://www.c24gallery.com/

Irfan Onurmen, Diffusion, mixed media, (installation view – courtesy C24 gallery)

Irfan Onurmen, Diffusion, mixed media, (installation view – courtesy C24 gallery)

MoCada Brooklyn, Sable E. Smith

Smith gently probes the boundaries of identity politics with a poignant view into incarceration and its effects on African-American communities. Providing a look at family portraits taken at a California state prison, Smith considers the gaze of the viewer and complicates the message of this poignant scene by revealing that these lush, tropical background murals are produced by unpaid, incarcerated artists and only accessible by inmates paying exorbitantly high fees. These powerful works are aesthetically pleasing and challenging, offering no easy entry into the ongoing issues plaguing America’s criminal justice system. https://www.facebook.com/MoCADAmuseum/

Sable E. Smith, Landscape III, 2017, C-Print (courtesy the artist)

Claire Oliver, Lauren Fensterstock

Fensterstock’s slick black surfaces, invading and overcoming the objects included within her artworks, presages a dark and sinister view of contemporary technology. Providing a gateway to a “selfie” moment for visitors to the Claire Oliver booth, these three-dimensional works seduce the viewer while obscuring details of the objects incorporated into the pieces themselves: the color of the flowers enclosed and the detailing on the mirror become secondary to visitors’ ability to assert their presence within them, to the delight of social media-ites. http://www.claireoliver.com/index.html

Lauren Fensterstock, Scrying 2, mixed media installation, (courtesy Claire Oliver gallery)

Pablo’s Birthday, Thorsten Brinkmann

Brinkmann’s found-object assemblages confound and delight. Consisting of materials ranging from buckets and rugs to frame fragments, the artist’s self-portraits present him completely consumed by his collected art objects. This denial of identity and obfuscation invite prolonged consideration. Profound yet unassuming, Pablo’s Birthday provides an exhibit that manages to be surprising without striving to overawe, striking the perfect balance of irreverent materials and captivating imagery. http://www.pablosbirthday.com/

Thorsten Brinkmann, El D’Or (detail), 2014, C-print, (courtesy Pablo’s Birthday)

Sapar Contemporary, Faig Ahmed

Ahmed’s work on view at Sapar Contemporary signals a paradigm shift in considering a traditional medium from a radical perspective. Rebellious and subversive, Ahmed – an Azerbaijani artist – invites the viewer to consider traditionally woven rugs within a decidedly contemporary framework: neon colors, odd tessellations and thick, deconstructed masses of thread shock and provoke visitors into reconsidering what contemporary art says about societal norms and traditional practice. http://www.saparcontemporary.com/

Fair Ahmed, Virgin, 2016, hand woven installation, (courtesy Sapar Contemporary)

Faig Ahmed, De stabilization, 2016, hand woven installation, (courtesy Sapar Contemporary)