There are a dozen art fairs taking place throughout the city this weekend, and examiner is here to give you the scoop on each and every one of them! Whether you have the opportunity to visit one, all, or none of them, this is where you can find the highlights from each. The most scandalous, the most beautiful, the most colorful, and the most thought-provoking artworks have all been captured for you here.
This first installment introduces you to SCOPE Art Fair, located in the iconic post office directly across the street from Pennsylvania Station at 312 West 33rd Street. SCOPE has consistently offers one great experimental work of art after another. According to their website:
“With over 60 art shows spanning more than a decade, SCOPE has solidified its position as the premier showcase for international emerging contemporary art and multi-disciplinary creative programming. SCOPE’s extensive reach enables an unrivaled opportunity for networking with art patrons, creative professionals and a culturally relevant public audience. Renowned for presenting the most innovative galleries, artists and curators, SCOPE Art Shows in Miami, Basel, New York, London and the Hamptons have garnered extensive critical acclaim, with sales of over $450 million and attendance of over 700,000 visitors.”
SCOPE is one of the most popular fairs on the circuit every year. This year is no exception – crowds gather in the halls from morning to night, and for good reason. Galleries present works of all mediums, from the traditional oil painting to the uncommon vintage book creations, mirrored works, and cardboard cutouts. SCOPE, ultimately, is where you’ll find both works that you can hang in your living room and works that are truly completely inane.
Here are the artists to look out for as you make the rounds:
• Kyu Hak Lee (Black Square Gallery): Boats, Night Café, and Railroad Bridge, each 2012. These are deceptive works – pieces that, from a distance, seem to be paintings, but when viewed close up, the beauty of each work is in the details. Each piece is made of mixed media and forms a greater image of an often-recognized artwork. Peer closely and you might catch a glimpse of a newspaper clipping, alphabet stamps, or wood slivers. Works cost about $18,000.
• Nick Gentry (Robert Fontaine Gallery): Paco. These bird cages encase small screens of colorful parakeets – the perfect pet for an art lover whose landlord doesn’t allow pets! A bit different from SCOPE’s regular works of art, Gentry’s pieces are fun and certainly a topic of conversation.
• Russell West (Woolff): Somewhere. Drip-painted sculpture pieces seem to be in vogue recently, with more than a few examples being shown at other art fairs around town this weekend. The colors alone are enough to attract even the most uneducated art lover, spanning the entire rainbow, but the perfect organization of this work, the clarity in which it was conceived, is what makes it so attractive. This work is offered for $29,000.
• Marck (Licht Feld Gallery): Neue Freiheit, 2011. This video piece is one of the most innovative at the show, although it’s placed on a side wall almost hidden by a riser next to the café area. In it, a 3D glass horseshoe looms out of the center of the screen. The screen itself is an image of a pool with a young woman swimming back and forth between the edge of the screen and the horseshoe.
• Chul Hyun Ahn (Grimaldis Gallery): Railroad Nostalgia, 2012. A haunting piece, this work pictures railroad tracks extending into the oblivion, with the help of some mirrors. Standing in front of this piece gives the viewer a certain sense of isolation, an uncomfortable-ness that pervades every inch. Ahn is also presenting a few of his neon works, each running upwards of $80,000.
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