Independent New York 2017

Kitchen Sinks Welcome

Independent New York 2017 is a robust and rousing affair, ranging the art spectrum from sound art and installation art to collage and painting. From Gavin Brown to David Lewis, focus at the fair was on keeping an eye toward the unexpected while remaining relevant to current and upcoming art exhibits. Wide-ranging textures, as well as light and sound, were recurring themes through the fair’s floors as exhibitors favored non-traditional materials and practices. There was something for everyone, from bodega shopping bags strewn across the floor to deconstructed art books strewn across a table. Some more memorable offerings on view managed to present a cohesive vision while introducing thought-provoking elements to visitors. This is a run of our top encounters.

Barbara Bloom at David Lewis

Blending advertising and conceptual art, Bloom inserts fabricated messages into posters incorporating found imagery to comment on social mobility, cultural norms and international affairs. With a prescient eye to our global political conservatism, Bloom’s work remains as relevant today as it was in its 1981 introduction and presages her upcoming exhibit with the Hessel Museum at Bard this summer. http://davidlewisgallery.com/

Barbara Bloom, No Journalists, 1981, Archival Digital Print courtesy David Lewis

Udomsak Krisanamis, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise

Krisanamis’ wide-ranging practice incorporates conceptual work and text as comfortably as abstraction. Dexterous and delightful, Krisanamis commands the space and invites visitors to contemplate the notion of continuation and unity and how these manifest in an artist’s practice over time. Spanning from deconstruction to color field and ranging in scale, the works on view spark the imagination and leave the visitor wanting more. https://www.gavinbrown.biz/

Udomsak Krisanamis
Installation view of Gavin Brown’s Enterprise at Independent NY 2017 courtesy the author

Derrick Alexis Coard and Embah, White Columns

Haunting portraits and expressionist visions greet visitors to White Columns’ space on the 7th floor in the work of Derrick Alexis Coard and Embah, two self-taught artists who masterfully reveal the elevated human spirit. Through his reverential portraits of bearded black males, Coard exalts the spiritual in his subjects. Dignity of the spirit is a shared trait between works by Coard and Embah, as Embah’s work, Spiritual Interview, is a master study in composition and color. https://www.whitecolumns.org/

Derrick Alexis Coard
Installation view at White Columns, Independent NY, 2017, courtesy the author

Ei Arakawa, Galerie Meyer Kainer

Arakawa’s engaging LED light and sound installation dominates at Galerie Meyer Kainer’s Independent NY exhibit. The durational piece incorporates lyrics touch on queer theory and religious fanaticism, culminating in a powerful new work by an established artist that blasphemes while it exalts, with incredible detail and precision from the lighting presentation to the aura of sound. A definite standout at the fair.  http://www.meyerkainer.com/

Ei Arakawa
Cologne of the Maghreb (Bodyphila Song), 2016, courtesy Galerie Meyer Kainer

Jonathan Berger and Ellen Lesperance, JTT/Adams and Ollman

Berger’s odd chalk mosaics displace visitors to the joint JTT/Adams and Ollman booth by relegating guests to the periphery, a clever conceit demanding consideration from the edges. These minimal constructions flank Lesperance’s witty tongue-in-cheek artworks up-ending on the patriarchy. An odd and interesting juxtaposition, these artists compose a compelling half of this joint exhibition. http://www.jttnyc.com/6953 http://adamsandollman.com/

Jonathan Berger, Ellen Lesperance, JTT & Adams and Ollman
installation view, Independent NY 2017, courtesy the galleries

Jonathan Berger, Ellen Lesperance, JTT & Adams and Ollman
detail of installation view, Independent NY 2017, courtesy the galleries

Magali Reus and Lisa Oppenheim, The Approach

Reus’ exotically familiar constructions form the backbone of The Approach’s beautifully alien exhibition. The familiarity of the saddle shape, supported by industrial bars and incorporating precisely cut and arranged fabrics reveals the delicate hand and keen mind present in Reus’ practice. Set against Oppenheim’s surrealist imagery, The Approach has mounted an insightful and slightly unsettled vision at Independent NY 2017. https://theapproach.co.uk/

Magali Reus, Toucan Brow, 2016, Mixed media
Image courtesy of The Approach and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Plastiques Photography

Magali Reus, Toucan Brow (detail), 2016, Mixed media
Image courtesy of The Approach and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Plastiques Photography