This year’s ADAA Art Show wandered the stylistic line that it always does: somewhere between classy and snoozy. Only 12 booths out of a possible 72 had any photography in them, so photo collectors and enthusiasts can expect to travel along decent stretches of real estate without anything to tempt you. That said, each photography find is worthy of a closer look, so treat the whole thing like a treasure hunt and you won’t be disappointed.
My notes from the fair are below, organized alphabetically by gallery name. For each booth, a list of photographers has been provided, along with the number of works on display, a highlight image or two, and the prices where appropriate.
Brooke Alexander, Inc. (here): John Baldessari (1 photogravure, $8500)
Alexander and Bonin (here): This entire booth was devoted to the work of Mona Hatoum, with a mix of photographs and sculptural objects. After expressing my interest in the flattened perspective severed fish head image ($6000), I was given a peek at the lovely cheese grater photograph tucked away in the very tiny closet ($12000, next slide).
Alexander and Bonin (here): This entire booth was devoted to the work of Mona Hatoum, with a mix of photographs and sculptural objects. After expressing my interest in the flattened perspective severed fish head image ($6000, previous slide), I was given a peek at the lovely cheese grater photograph tucked away in the very tiny closet ($12000).
Fraenkel Gallery (here): This booth was a solo showing of Robert Adams images from The New West. A total of 27 prints are on display.
Marian Goodman Gallery (here): This booth was filled with works by Tacita Dean (15 works, plus 1 glass box of overpainted postcards and 1 set of 3 sculptures). Most were gouaches over various 19th century photographic landscapes, where slivers of paint added a tree, a glacier, or a man perched on a rock outcropping. The work below is a Carleton Watkins Grizzly Giant image overpainted in misty white ($35000).
Sean Kelly Gallery (here): This booth contained a fine selection of Robbert Mapplethorpe’s portraits of artists (20 in all). I enjoyed his image of De Kooning best, which of course was NFS (as was the portrait of Louise Bourgeois).
Barbara Krakow Gallery (here): This single work by Liliana Porter was the only photographic work in this booth ($10000). Notice the clever conceptual line that extends from the finger, travels across the photograph, jumps up on the mat, and eventually continues along the wall.
McKee Gallery (here): Two new Richard Learoyd prints were featured in this booth, one a portrait and the other this sculptural, fishing-lined pink flamingo ($65000). A show of Learoyd’s new work is scheduled for this coming May.
Metro Pictures (here): This triptych of Louise Lawler images of a Degas sculpture was the focal point of this booth (there was one smaller Lawler on the outside wall, but that’s all that was on display). The three versions have been alternately tinted in RGB (each $150000) and were surprisingly elegant close up. There were also 4 smaller Cindy Shermans hiding in the storage closet.
Laurence Miller Gallery (here): This booth was filled with Eadweard Muybridge collotypes from Animal Locomotion (a total of 33, individually priced between $3000 and $10000, plus 1 video, the leather case, cover plate, and supporting letter). I have to say that these seemed like an odd choice for this fair; perfectly fine to be sure, but I wonder whether a more contemporary choice might have been more powerful. There was also 1 Ray Metzker composite tucked away on a side wall.
Yossi Milo Gallery (here): This booth contained a mix of gallery artists: Matthew Brandt (1), Chris McCaw (5), Sze Tsung Leong (5), and Alison Rossiter (12). These more angular Rossiters were fabulous and likely my favorites in the fair ($6500 each, these four all already sold!).
Pace/MacGill Gallery (here): This booth was smart mix of large and small prints: Paul Graham (1), William Eggleston (1 of the recent big prints), Richard Misrach (1), Vito Acconci (2 tiny prints), Irving Penn (1 small portrait), Hai Bo (2 huge full length portraits, apparently of his uncle), Andreas Gursky (1), Robert Rauschenberg (1), Harry Callahan (2 small light drawings). The image below is an up-close detail of the tiny colored spots in the Graham work from his Films series ($30000).
Skarstedt Gallery (here): Fitting that this summary should end with a blockbuster Cindy Sherman centerfold ($1300000), as what is an art fair without a bunch of Cindy Shermans? The booth also contained a Richard Prince cowboy and a large Cindy Sherman film still.
Read more about: Alison Rossiter, Cindy Sherman, Eadweard Muybridge, John Baldessari, Liliana Porter, Louise Lawler, Mona Hatoum, Paul Graham, Richard Learoyd, Robert Adams, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tacita Dean, Alexander and Bonin ~ 47 Walker Street, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Brooke Alexander Inc., Fraenkel Gallery, Laurence Miller Gallery ~ 521 West 26th, Marian Goodman Gallery, McKee Gallery, Metro Pictures Gallery, Pace/MacGill Gallery, Sean Kelly Gallery, Skarstedt Gallery, Yossi Milo Gallery, ADAA Art Show
