ARMORY ARTS WEEK

Tuesday - The week started with the highly anticipated exhibition SKIN FRUIT - curated by Jeff Koons from the illustrious collection of Greek tycoon, Dakis Joannou at the New Museum. Having faced serious criticism from the arts community for perceived conflict of interest, the show went on... AND I have to say, in my opinion, that it was a celebration of the joys of collecting art. Many well known names were juxtaposed in curious and interesting ways. Highlights for me included Maurizio Cattelan, Matt Greene, Robert Gober, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, and some fabulous early Chris Ofili paintings.

Wednesday - Armory opening! Luckily I was able to enter the fair during the early preview which gave great opportunity to see the WORK...and later on...CELEBS! This year we saw highlighted artists from the Whitney Biennial (which opened the week before), Josephine Meckseper at Elizabeth Dee, who showcased a large installation by the artist, Huma Bhabha at Peter Blum, Maureen Gallace at 303, and Tauba Auerbach at Jack Hanley. Also highlighted was the Armory commissioned artist Susan Collis who created the visual identity for the 2010 fair. Brisk sales were being made at Seventeen gallery where a virtual mob-scene of collectors gathered at the booth! There was also a heavy presence of Marina Abramovic, whose life's work and retrospective opens at MOMA 3/9. Few discoveries were made this year, but if you looked closely you could find some gems: Michael Samuels at Rokeby gallery from London, Erin Wurm's hilarious sculptures of pickles at Jack Hanley, Mika Rottenberg at Andrehn-Schiptjenko, Agathe Snow at James Fuentes and Jacob Kassay's beautiful metallic paintings at Eleven Rivington. Post touring the artwork we gravitated to the VIP room where we took refuge in free champagne and celeb spotting... BJORK!! Kyra Sedgwick and Glenn Close! Here are pix including artists Emilio Perez (currently on view at Galerie LeLong) and Daniel Gonzalez.

Thursday - Volta & Independent Without a doubt this year's newest and coolest was the INDEPENDENT at the former Dia, former X initiative space. To some extent, the spirit of X Initiative lives on in Independent, which in its press material carefully avoids the term art fair, preferring to call itself a collective, a consortium and a “hybrid model and temporary exhibition forum.”


Highlights for me included Seb Patane, the Italian artist who lives and works in London, at Maureen Paley, Cyprien Gaillard at Laura Bartlett, and Ryan Trecartin at Elizabeth Dee. This exciting new art fair drew massive crowds and lived up to high expectations. As in previous years VOLTA showcased 88 different solo projects. Moving swiftly through the dense booths I was delighted to see some old friends and stellar presentations. Namely, Danny Rolph at Poppy Sebire, and Rebecca Chamberlain at Judi Rotenberg.







Friday - Chelsea Having made it through all of the fairs...as if there was further impetus to see galleries! I knew that New York gallerists were planning on putting their best foot forward. Mike Nelson at 303, Marcia Hafif at Newman Popiashvili, Liam Gillick at Casey Kaplan and Yuken Teruya at Josee Bienvenu.









Saturday - Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present at MOMA Thanks to the exceptional VIP program, directed by Manuela Paz, this year we were able to take a few sneak peeks. This performance retrospective traces the prolific career of Marina Abramović with approximately fifty works spanning over four decades of her early interventions and sound pieces, video works, installations, photographs, solo performances, and collaborative performances made with Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen). In an endeavor to transmit the presence of the artist and make her historical performances accessible to a larger audience, the exhibition includes the first live re-performances of Abramović’s works by other people ever to be undertaken in a museum setting. In addition, a new, original work performed by Abramović will mark the longest duration of time that she has performed a single solo piece. As always, April Hunt from PS1 looking glamorous as she leads a group of journalists around the exhibition! In addition to running up to the MOMA, I went to the anticipated Lucie Fontaine, Sign in/ Sign Out opening at Front Desk Apparatus. A MUST SEE! www.frontdeskapparatus.com

Sunday - Lower East Side Gallery Tours. On one of the most beautiful days in New York to date this year, hosted by yours truly, and I have to say an impressive turn-out of participants - we walked all over the LES on a guided tour of almost 17 different galleries. Highlights included: Simon Preston 301 Broome Street - Marco Rios: Plasma Pool, ELEVEN RIVINGTON
 11 Rivington St.- Valeska Soares: Vaga Lume, James Fuentes 35 SAINT JAMES PLACE- Book ends, Ben Berlow, Marc Handelman, Matthew Higgs, Larissa Nowicki, Stephen G. Rhodes, Thea Djordjadze and Richard Wentworth and Luxe/ Stephan Stoyanov Gallery 29 Orchard Street - AMELIE CHABANNES | VAST


PHEW...that was A LOT!! We are all pretty exhausted...but NY never stops! Are we art addicts?? The answer is a bonafide..YES!

the latest...

In lieu of not updating my blog since Up Against the Wall...here are the highlights:







Performa '09 kicked off with a stellar performance by Alterazioni Video in collaboration with Ragnar Kjartansson in, Symphony n.1 at Performance Space 122. The set looked like something from a Fischli & Weiss work, where Alterazioni Video, dressed in tuxedo's, played absurd instruments derived from mic'd appliances; a drying rack became a stand-up bass, ping-pong balls were thrown in a wondrous obstacle course, a giant cocktail was prepared and served from 12 feet off the ground, bowling balls were stacked meticulously in a vertical line, Italian words beginning with the letter P were recited into a microphone with great fervor and Kjartansson accompanied via video monitor on guitar with tasseled pasties attached to his nipples. This hilarious composition reached its crescendo as chaos ensued and 'Super Tele' footballs were kicked into the audience and all over the set. Needless to say a great time was had and both Roberta Smith and Simon Dumenco gave rave reviews in the New York Times!

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/performa-09-gooaaaaallll/?emc=eta1

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/performa-09-alterazioni-video-and-ragnar-kjartansson/

Alexandre Singh at White Columns: taking the mantle from Homer, Singh recited from memory “The Alkahest,” a series of complex tales written by the artist, featuring golems, monks, parrots, 20th-century abstract painters, and the creation of the world. For three hours (inc. two intermissions) Singh took the audience on a adventure that only he could envision. The magic of this performance was how Singh delivered his rhetoric by interweaving formal and informal verse captivating the audiences attention. As the narrative ensued Singh juxtaposed colored transparencies on an overhead projector which gave the work an edge and firm roots in a contemporary art dialogue.

Ryan McNamara's loosely choreographed performance with forty male dancers at X Initiative billed as "The Sacred Band of Thebes AKA In Memory of Robert Isabell AKA Any Fag Could Do That", inspired by 375 BC, whereby the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite force composed entirely of homosexual lovers, annihilated the Spartan army, a brigade three times their size, at Tegyra. 2353 years later, party planner Robert Isabell triumphed as well, becoming an instant sensation when he filled Studio 54 with four tons of glitter. Without a doubt this performance was one of the highlights of Performa '09 for me. Having recently visited with Ryan in his studio I was impressed with the way in which he kept this epic from verging on the extreme of parody. As the audience entered the ground floor at X Initiative there was a pungent smell of sweat..at first not so enticing...but once the room was filled with toga clad men wearing beat-up kicks, parading around the room in various stances of embrace, the smell added to the dimension of the drama. It was funny and fun and engaging and there was a lot going on at once. AWESOME!

Guido van der Werve at Marshall Chess Club. Having seen this artist's work at Manifesta 2008 and at Creative Time's PLOT09: THIS WORLD & NEARER ONES, I was really excited to make it to this live performance in the second-floor parlor room of the storied club (founded by the chess legend Frank Marshall, who held the United States championship title for 29 years beginning in 1909), the Dutch artist presented a “chess piano concert.” Facing off against an opponent from the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and rounded out by nine string players (two first violins, two second violins, two cellos, two violas and one bass). The chess set was actuated from the bottom so that for each move made by the player, there was an accompanied sound. This intimate setting was perfect for such a soulful composition. The performance mimics a prior date where the artist filmed a game with Grandmaster Leonid Yudasin for his work Nummer twaalf, currently on view at Luhring Augustine until March 13th.


PINTA ART FAIR
As a Latina myself and a student of Latin American art and KEEN fan of what is currently coming out of South America, I always like going to Pinta. Most often works by master artists I love are on view...Jesús Rafael Soto and Wilfredo Lam being the stand outs and always the stellar representative galleries in attendance. But this year seemed a little lack luster. EXCEPT of course for Henrique Faria from FARÍA+FÁBREGAS GALERÍA. The gallery is based in Caracas, Venezuela but shows at most global art fairs. Henrique Faria has an incredible eye and this year showed a museum quality booth. Discovery is the driving force for any curator. This is what we love..what we travel the world to find...and if in doubt, GO VISIT HIM AT ARMORY & VOLTA from March 4-7th.


FRONT DESK APPARATUS
Insightful and serious, this salon program curated by Rob Teeters in association with his artists and peers, has proved to be outstanding. It is rare to see exhibitions outside of museums where lines are being drawn and multi-generational connections made in such subtle and clean ways. Teeters has carefully chosen to juxtapose artists that parle in ode to prior generations while maintaining their own voice. There is a critical dialogue here and Teeters is aware of it.
54 KING STREET, PARLOR FLOOR , NEW YORK, NY 10014, WWW.FRONTDESKAPPARATUS.COM
OFFICE HOURS: FRIDAY & SATURDAY 12-6 PM
Up Next: LUCIE FONTAINE, Sign in / Sign Out, OPENING MARCH 06, 2010 / 8-10 PM

Armory 2010
I AM GIVING A TOUR OF THE LES!
I have been asked by the Armory to give a tour of the galleries in the Lower East Side. Sunday March 7th at 2pm. Meet in the New Museum lobby. This tour will circulate the neighborhood and give a stellar insight as to what is going on in this bustling scene. Highlights will follow online here!