Given the breadth of art normally on view at the annual ADAA Art Show, photography is generally only a minor subtext to the fair. This year was no different – out of the roughly 70 booths at the Park Avenue Armory, just five were filled with solo shows of photography (or of artists who use or used photography as one of their primary modes of expression), with a handful of other photographic works sprinkled throughout the rest of the fair. So for the photography-focused collector, it only took a quick pass through the aisles to survey everything on offer.
What follows below is a brief survey of the photography highlights, organized in slideshow form. A short discussion of each featured work is provided, along with linked gallery names, artist names, and prices as appropriate/available.
Jessica Silverman Gallery (here): A group of 1990s era rephotographed collages by Coreen Simpson was an unexpected discovery near the back corner of the fair. In this construction, lushly braided hair is set off by the introduction of a boldly darkened eye, and other works nearby added surreal watch faces and open mouths to various portrait subjects. Priced at $8000.
Yancey Richardson (here): This booth was dedicated to the photographs of Tseng Kwong Chi, with part of the space featuring a series of images Tseng made in 1983 of Keith Haring painting the nude body of the dancer Bill T. Jones. The works in this grid are formally crisp, with Haring’s painted decoration accenting the often dramatic movements, gestures, and poses. Modern prints, priced at $6500 each.
Peter Blum Gallery (here): This booth was a solo presentation of the work of Su-Mei Tse. Tse’s photographs are generally seen through some kind of glass or veiling, creating a fogged, muted, and often ethereal feel. Here a single tendril from a plant seeking the light seems to reach out from a wash of misty indeterminate green. Priced at $22000.
Sprüth Magers (here): This booth gathered together a variety of John Baldessari works (from across his long artistic career) centered on scripts and movie storyboards. This 1974 collage rethinks a fragment of Sunset Boulevard, with the artist reimagining both dialogue and imagery, as though stepping into the roles of scriptwriter and cinematographer. Priced at $250000.
Yossi Milo Gallery (here): Sparkling works like this one by Sarah Anne Johnson (reviewed here) must be sitting well with collectors, as they’ve been consistently presented at fairs of late. Johnson continues to produce new works in the series, adding unique color tints to each natural scene, the effusive jangling energy replicating the feel of stained glass. Priced at $22000.
David Zwirner (here): This booth was an edited reprise of the superlative Roy DeCarava shows the gallery put on in 2019, with a few new variations and introductions. One new entry was this image of a man quietly sitting in a wheeled cart, the metal mesh creating a prison-like enclosure right on the sidewalk. The print was for exhibition only, and not for sale.
Danziger Gallery (here): This booth was a colorful presentation of Karen Knorr’s India Song series, where images of animals have been digitally inserted into views of elaborate Indian palaces. Here a red-headed sarus crane stands in a gloriously arched gallery, the soft colors of red and grey echoing down the hall. Priced at $20000, in the medium size.
Read more about: Coreen Simpson, John Baldessari, Karen Knorr, Roy DeCarava, Sarah Anne Johnson, Su-Mei Tse, Tseng Kwong Chi, Danziger Gallery, David Zwirner, Jessica Silverman Gallery, Peter Blum Gallery, Sprüth Magers, Yancey Richardson Gallery, Yossi Milo Gallery, ADAA Art Show