With the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, virtually every in-person event on Earth was cancelled, art fairs among them. Directors had to get creative, inspired to find a way to keep art, hope, and inspiration alive by bringing the show to the public somehow.

A little background: Cube Art Fair is actually a Brussels-based enterprise, happening in the Belgian capital every year for four years now. It mainly focuses on American artists through a high standard of curation, presentation, and organization of a major gallery fair. Through Cube Art Fair, European collectors have a unique change to get familiar with the contemporary art scene in the United States, be it emerging or established.

So how does a Brussels fair end up in New York? The reason would be Gregoire Vogelsang, the man behind Cube, who moved to the Big Apple after managing an art gallery in Belgium for two years.

Now onto the NYC event! To visit Cube Art Fair 2021, you better get your legs ready: the artwork can be viewed on over 100 of the city’s many billboards and kiosks, from the heart of Times Square to the Lower East Side, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, the Upper East Side and beyond. The whole of Manhattan is Cube Art Fair’s exhibition space! The billboard initiative seems to be part of Cube’s #staycreative campaign, which had already taken place in Brussels and Miami.

What not to miss? The Cube Art Fair definitely recommends seeing “Soft Stories,” one of the artworks appearing on a 12,000-square-feet billboard in Times Square. Created by Canadian photographer Laura Jane Petelko, the open series takes the symbolic inhabitation of animals as the point of departure and goes on to tackle the topics of intimacy, isolation, our relationship with nature.

On the other hand, the sculptural work of the American artist Sam Tufnell tries to reorient our understanding of beauty. His pieces present in the Cube Art Fair exhibition call out the macabre: there is a sculpture of a skull made of noodle soup, for instance.

Among other participating artists are Denmark’s portrait photographer Kenneth Willardt, the French-Mexican photographer Patricia de Solages, and Belgian wildlife photographer Griet Van Malderen.

Make sure you scan the QR code of each artwork, to find our more about it, or even to purchase it, in physical or NFT format.

Cube Art Fair is on view in New York City through May 9, 2021.

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For the ninth edition, Asya Rotella (the daughter of the unforgettable master Mimmo Rotella) has been the chief of the curatorial team, and we must tell, she made a great job!

54 international artists from Canada, the United States, China, Japan, and Europe brightened the second weekend of October.

Asya Rotella chooses among many applications the most representative artworks for this era: versatile, powerful, and eclectic.

Sculptures and paintings, installations, big sized pieces exposed to be the joy of all the art lovers.

Clio Art Fair is known to give to the exhibiting artist lots of services such as free studio visits, which for this edition if we can say, has been a very fortunate choice. Clio Art Fair is also the place where you can meet artists that are showcasing their works for their very first time as the talented Thomas Fazio (painting and sculptures). this edition has seen also the debut in the fine art world of the well-known fashion designer Adrienne Landau, who exhibited her painting for the first time ever.

As old friends of Clio we appreciated again Anne Hefer with two romantic oils, Lauralee Franco with her huge canvases; the exuberant photographer Amanda J Armstrong, and, after a few years, we were glad to meet again Anthea Zito, painter and photographer, just at the entrance.

We would like to highlight also the Greek artist Despina Zografos with her very mystical and elaborated multi-layered paperwork; not to mention the cityscape photographer Annette Schreiber, or the magic gouaches by Hyun Jung Ji or Denise Adler‘s complex paintings empowered by the collage technique; the exquisite bronzes by Emilio Diiorio, and a young – very Basquiat-inspired – Keith Josiah.

Clio Art Fair hosted a couple of thousand visitors from Friday 10th to Sunday 13th, and counting the red dots on the walls we can say that the 25% of the artists sold at least one piece, data that definitely confirm that the human size of the show, and the affordable prices of the artworks (from $300 to $20,000), are a winning formula.

Written by Caterina Chavez

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Artiholics is proud to present The Madness of Art. An online show, which the Huff Post calls “hilarious,” follows the chaotic life of a New York City gallery owner who can never seem to catch a break. With its slogan, “What’s so funny about the art world?”

You have just watched an episode of The Madness of Art as Chelsea art dealer Jim Kempner and his gallery staff interact with New York’s eccentric art world. New episodes will post every Tuesday at 3pm on Artiholics.

Posted July 22, 2014 by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post The Madness of Art: Episode (020) Miami Art Fairs appeared first on Artiholics.

Bridgehampton, New York – Monday, July 14, 2014

The ArtHamptons Fine Art Fair enjoyed record attendance and sales last year,  it returned for the 7th edition this past Friday through Sunday, with an opening preview on Thursday Night. This year the fair is themed “Escape,” which is right up the alley for an event held in one of New York’s most desired summer retreat destinations.

The first major art event in the Hamptons this summer, organizers expected to see sales figures follow or supersede the record set last year. Artiholics enjoyed an exclusive preview black card access preview of the art and its crowd at the ArtHamptons Black Card First Look and Opening Night Preview.

The fair features 87 National and International Galleries, and art spanning 12 countries. This years show also promised to transport visitors into Korea’s thriving contemporary art scene with a Korean Showcase.

I took a break from painting the 10Subjects and helped my summer assistant Keziah get some flyers printed and bagged up with buttons pressed to give out at the show.  Keziah and my girlfriend Molly and I loaded up the car with gear, put on our Hamptons casual clothes and left the city.

Getting stuck in Long Island traffic didn’t set us back too much.  We arrived at the VIP black card first look an hour into the preview.  There was already a pretty solid crowd of Hamptons elites at work and socializing dressed to the nines, so we did a first lap around the fair to check out the art, the wine, and the overall scene before pulling out the camera and getting to work.

The first person I recognized right next to the central alcohol area was the musician Moby.

Suzanne LaFleur (Lawerence Fine Art).

Mary Ann Hill, Sandra Pelleher, and Parvi Parik.

Avalokitesvara 2, 2013
Long Bin Chen
Samuel Owen Gallery

Andre Hurni.

Kim and Amanda Coruzz.

Roxine Brown, Charles Fischler, and Sheila Delaney.

Nicole Ianniello and Mateo Suarez.

Catherine Smith, Jonathan Smith, and Jennifer Mabley.

Ruth Appelhof Guild Hall Executive Director.

Lightning Cat, 2014
La Roc
Lawrence Fine Art

Ellen and David North.

Jin Lee Sang and Young Kim.

Michele Zuflacht, president of the Suffolk County Women’s Bar Association and legal commentator on Court TV with glass artist Thomas Coates.

David Carr and real estate broker Felicia De Chabris.

Paul Bollo and Robert Florio from Sotheby’s International Realty.

The Gentle Breeze, 2013
Like Nothing Happens, 2013
Li Jin
Dubner Moderne Galerie D’Art

Michael Reynuso and Nicole Grill.

Anastasia Kun and Darius Kun.

Max Rowen, Matthew Hollander, Liam Chaskey, and Rowenna Chaskey.

Haley Dunham-Otero and Dennis Ketcham.

RJD Gallery owner Richard Demato and Eve Gianni Corio.

Richard Demato.

Amy Gause from American Art Collector Magazine and Richard Demato.

Artist Sherry Wolf in front of Mondrian Girl, at RJD Gallery.

Joni Palmer with Sherry Wolf.

Cindy Lou Wakefield and Lawton Wakefield (Producers of Art Hamptons)

Robyn Cooper and Alan Cooper

Ana Rosa and Lloyd Simon.

Artwork by Lee, Yong-Deok
Pyo Gallery

Pat, Pat, Bob, and Larry Siedlick of The Montauk Beach House.

David Levy, Piav Kasia, Kay.

Cherice Taylor and Eric Taylor.

Carol and Michael Weismen (former executive producer of NBC Sports), with Michael and Barbara Bebon

Lauren Roberts and Andrea Wernick.

Rae Phoenix.

Mitchell Summer.

Buck and Amy Wessel.

Y.K. Lee and Peter Stockfish.

Jill Sand and Dr. Barry Weintraub.

Judy Patron, Nancy Abel, and Deborah Peters.

Street Artist JQ.

Event and wedding planner Katherine Orzano.

Jon Gruen and Jeffrey Leff.

Karen and Alex White.

Rachel Speckenbach and Keriann Fitzpatrick.

Life coach Susan Korwin.

Katya Musacchio, Jennifer McDonald, and Molly Brutomesso.

Paul and Elish Match.

Timothy Kokott, Janet Finket,and Lindsey Nobel.

READ PART TWO – Artiholics Art Hamptons VIP Preview (Part 2 of 2) – Artiholics MORE PEOPLE- AND MORE ART

Photos by Keziah Quek
Photo Assistant Molly Roberson
Words by Cojo “Art Juggernaut” and Keziah Quek

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The Hamptons, New York – Thursday, July 10, 2014

In the mood for a summer art fair and some upwardly mobile schmoozing this weekend?  Pack up the family, rent a car, and get ready for a brisk two-hour road trip to Art Hamptons, the official art fair of the Hamptons. 

#ArtHamptons  is the premiere international contemporary & modern art event of the summer. Two fellow Artiholics and I will be in attendance.  We will be leaving the city sometime in the next hour for a hopefully uneventful Summer drive to the fair, in our “Hamptons Casual” attire.  We of course had to google how casual “Hamptons Casual” is.

Hamptons “REALLY” Casual.

The festivities kick off with the first look from 5-7pm where we will be photographing and hobnobbing with the black card social elites . Nothing but the best hor d’oeuvres by Cheffe Colette @ The Inn Spot on the Bay, complimentary open wine bars sponsored by Sequoia Grove, sparkling wine & specialty cocktails (courtesy of AVIV 613 VODKA).

After that from 7-9:30pm we will be taking even more pictures with the VIP’s at the opening night preview party, where we will witness thought-provoking performance art, enjoy complimentary wine bars, sparkling wine & specialty cocktails, and tour through 85 prominent gallery displays from 10 countries.

Art Hamptons is open to the general public Friday and Saturday from 11am to 8pm, Sunday, 11am to 6pm.

https://www.facebook.com/ArtHamptons

60 Millstone Rd, Water Mill, NY 11976  < This is where we are going on google maps, because the gps doesn’t know where Nova’s Arc is. Wish us luck!

Follow-up article coming Monday 7-14-14

Photos by Rick Friedman for Art Hamptons.
Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Art Hamptons Here We Come appeared first on Artiholics.

Cutlog is the first of the Frieze Week Art Fairs to open their doors to the press and VIP’s.  It’s hard to turn down an opportunity to check out the work before anyone else while being treated to a free gourmet brunch.  I can’t stress enough how much fun the perks of art writing can be, and recommend it to any artist who has a knack for words.

This morning the NY edition of the renowned Parisian art fair treated the press to a small talk with it’s founders Bruno Hadjad and NY Director, Guy Reziciner orchestrated by Lainya Magana in a small second floor theater.  It was followed by a brunch of Crepes and Champagne.

Cutlog NY Director, Guy Reziciner.

Cutlog Founding Director and visual aritst, Bruno Hadjadj

After brunch we were given full access to wander around Cutlog, to the 40+ exhibits featuring many first time galleries and curators, 80% of which are international.  Of all the booths 80% were only 80% hung.  This was truly a definition of a first look.

I found parking right out front, but the meter was only good for an hour, so after an hour I had to go out and feed it for another hour.  I felt a bit rushed in looking at the art, also knowing that they weren’t fully set up I didn’t want to get in the way of some booths, so in this article I  really have only documented about half the work in the fair.  If you hate spoilers, this article won’t ruin the show for you.

There are three theaters in the building which during the fair will have lots of scheduled live performances and presentations.

The building, The Clemente, is an old school house in the lower east side that has been converted into a community center, but unlike the schoolhouse that houses Spring/Break, this place is laid out in a weird way.  If you don’t pay attention to the map, you might get lost.

Look, there are some mirrors, how novel.

Artist Matthew Denton Burrows who is a recent SVA Masters grad, I recognized his work from the MFA senior thesis show last year.

Folioleaf founder Todd Masters.

Photographer Serge Sellem.

Above are some photos by Serge.

Installation artist and photographer Arnaud Cohen.

A Bowl Of Mixed Art curator Frankie Velez in front of the Folioleaf booth.

PG Artventure has a great booth of Swoon‘s work.

There are many more Swoon pieces, you will have to come to see them yourself.

Artwork by Marjan Moghaddam.

Amsterdam’s Amstel Gallery owner Petra Leene in front of the work of artists Laura O’Reilly, Kathy Grayson, Gregory de la Haba, and Lee Wells.

Family Affairs, an incestuous avant-garde survey of art group show within a fair by IFAC.

Neon artwork by Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos.

These paintings when viewed through this screen have secret three dimensional elements jump out of them.

The artist behind the 3D paintings, G.H. Hovagimyan

More mirrors.

View of  the Fuman Art booth, a gallery from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On the left: works by French artist Stephane Blanquet,  In the middle: works by Japanese artist: Aoi Fujimoto, On the right: works by Japanese artist: Minoru Sugiyama.

Works by Malaysian artist: Azizan Paiman.

Rafael Fuchs in front of a lot of his work in the Fuchs Projects booth.

Greg Haberny and Matt Kinney art at Ethan Cohen Fine Arts‘ booth.

Matt Kinney himself standing in front of a few of his tools which are sculptures carved from wood.

Artist David Henry Brown Jr.

  David Henry Brown Jr.’s artwork in the Bleeker Street Arts Club booth.

cutlog NY Dates and Times
May 7, 2014: Vernissage by Invite Only, 5 – 10pm
May 8, 9, 10, 2014: 12pm – 9pm
May 11, 2014: 12pm – 9pm

Location
107 Suffolk Street,
New York, NY 10002

Written and photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post A First Look at Cutlog Art Fair 2014 appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Sunday, March 9th, 2014

Sunday between 8pm – 10pm I will be performing two 10 minute butoh inspired pieces at THE (UN)FAIR.

Belly full of artifacts by Betty T. Kao
A scientist and a monk reshuffle photos of world events, scientific papers, and diagrams to try to decipher the mystery, and understand what the events of the world are leading toward for it’s strangest sentient being, humankind.

The papers are constantly rearranged as a detective or pathologist would, to see how the data relates to each other, the info comes together to form different shapes, but mostly that of the human body. Performed by Betty T. Kao and Amanda Flowers

Unfair Performance Schedule:

Find us at the freight elevator on the 3rd floor.

THE (UN)FAIR (Free And Open to the Public
500 W 52nd St. New York, NY 10019

Artiholics is a Media Sponsor of The (UN)Fair

Photographs from Thurs 6th, Benefit party art show. Panoramic pictures by Lauretta Prevost

Written by Betty T. Kao

The post Belly Full Of Artifacts: Performance Art At The (UN)Fair Sunday appeared first on Artiholics.

THE ART SHOW:  March 5th – 9th 

General Admission: $25

Wednesday – March 5, 12pm – 8pm
Thursday – March 6, 12pm – 8pm
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 5pm

Website: https://www.artdealers.org/artshow.html

About THE ART SHOW (In Their Words)

Gallery presentations at the 26th annual Art Show, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA), will feature thoughtfully curated solo, two-person, and thematic exhibitions by 72 of the nation’s leading art dealers. The Art Show takes place March 5 through March 9, 2014 at the historic Park Avenue Armory, with a ticketed Gala Preview on Tuesday, March 4. All ticket proceeds from the gala and run of show benefit Henry Street Settlement, one of New York City’s most effective social services agencies. AXA Art Americas Corporation has also returned for the third consecutive year as Lead Partner.

Featuring: Solo Shows, Museum Quality Gallery Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: John Leguizamo

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Andy Warhol & James Rosenquist
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Rosenquist, Henri Matisse, Mark Rydan, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, George Condo, Ray Johnson, Phil Guston, Wim Delvope, Sperone Westwater, Charles McGill.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: The Egon Schiele / Gustav Klimt exhibit.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at ADAA THE ART SHOW? No, this is a serious art fair.

The Scoop on The Art Show From An Artiholic:
This fair is decades older than The Armory Show and has a sterling reputation as presenting some of the best in the business.  Blue chip art, museum art.  Most of what you will find here by artists who’s names you will recognize from your Christie’s and Sotherby’s catalogs.

Positives: You will see museum quality work, amazing drawings and paintings from many dead modern artists, and some current living blue chip artists, as well as original portraits of famous artists.  If you are a fan of really good drawing, and seeing drawings by some of your favorite dead artists, this is a good place to get a glimpse of artwork that exists outside of museums and is sold to private collectors.

Negatives: This is a lot like the Modern section of The Armory Show.  It is old masters, mixed with some more elite contemporary artists.  The crowd is extremely highbrow and it’s easy to feel under-dressed when attending.

Location: Park Avenue Armory – Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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FOUNTAIN ART FAIR:  March 7th – 9th 

General Admission: $10 – VIP Pass: $50 – Weekend Pass $15

Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm (VIP Press Preview / Open to the public)  7pm – Midnight (Opening Night Reception) Music Lineup: DJ Nick Zinner
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm (Open to the public) 7pm – Midnight (Saturday Night Event) Music Lineup: THE DEEP!
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 5pm

Website: https://www.fountainartfair.com/

About Fountain (In Their Words)

Featuring: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Live Painting, Live Performance, Performance Art,  Music, Collage, Car, Interactive Art, Neon, New Media, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Mia Tyler

Unofficial Art Matriarch: Swoon

Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Alison Berkoy, The Murder Lounge, Brian Leo, Dave Tree, Casey Porn, Jonny Fenix, Veng, Victor W. Cox, Ryan Cronin, Chris Smith, Alex Emmart, Rob Servo, Leah Yerpe, JMR, Brandon Friend, Christina Ray, Mighty Tanaka, Leo Kesting, Front Room, Munch, Dacia.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Nude Body Finger Painting.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Very Good.

Artist JMR Live Painting.

Ian Ross live painting.

Topless fountain tribute performance art piece.

DJ’s take over the stage at night.

Collaborative live painting.

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at Fountain? Yes, tons.

The Scoop on The Fountain Art Fair From An Artiholic:
I love fountain, it is such a fun fair to attend and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  Lots of good artists, also a lot of not so good, but the needles in the haystacks are in the numbers at this fair.  This is truly the independent fair as usually it’s one artist, or a group of artists splitting a booth on their own.  No galleries need be involved, although a lot of booths are represented by galleries.  It’s one of the cheapest art fairs for artists to get work in (per square foot) so the bar is set a little lower than a Scope or Pulse, and leaves the door wide open to untrained artists, street artists, and Brooklyn artists on the rise.

You will see a lot of drawing at this fair, a lot of painting, and a lot of pop.  I have heard it referred to many times in art circles as “amateur hour” but there are generally some stand outs in the masses, and as years go by you will start to see artists who got their start at Fountain’s careers shoot them up to larger galleries, and land them larger exposure at the top tier fairs like Scope and Volta.

You will be likely to meet a lot of artists if you wander around this fair, as most booths are artist run.  It is a great way to talk to artists and have them talk to you about their work.  Almost everyone is friendly and open here, and there is very little pretension.  You will find a few street artist wanna-be-banksies aka Mini-Banksys, who don’t want to have their photo taken, which is annoying as fuck, and almost comical.

When I  first attended this fair in 2009 it was on the frying pan pier.  In a tent that leaked when it rained.  There was a basement floor called the Murder Lounge
Where a small collective of Greenpoint artists would always show together. Fountain in gaining credibility and exposure has moved several avenues over to the Lexington Ave Armory and now has a solid foundation and doesn’t have to worry about dark clouds.They still have a section of the new location called The Murder Lounge, but it’s more of just a tribute.
Fountain sculpture in honor of the Marcel Duchamp R.Mutt signed piece titled Fountain after which this fair is named.  Fountain is a 1917 work widely attributed to Marcel Duchamp. The scandalous work was a porcelain urinal, which was signed “R.Mutt” and titled Fountain. Submitted for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917, Fountain was rejected by the committee, even though the rules stated that all works would be accepted from artists who paid the fee.  The exhibition took place in the building where The Fountain Art Fair now resides almost a hundred years later.

Positives: A lot of fun, a lot of really great artists and a lot of good drawing.  Live painting, performances, music.  It is almost like getting a first glimpse into the unsigned talent of the art world.  You see what bubbles up from Brooklyn, Queens, and the outer boroughs before it gets snagged up by the machine.  The Friday opening night reception is the most fun you will have at any of the art fairs with open bar and live music – it becomes a party – and I will see you there.  If you are a fan of drawing, street art, illustration, comics, lowbrow, or graffiti, you will really enjoy yourself.  If you are a collector you can find a great deals on artwork by emerging artists here, and fill your apartment for a fraction of the price you would have to pay at the other fairs.

Negatives: Depending on your perspective, you will either come away loving, or hating Fountain.  If you like drawing and painting, you will have a good time.  If you really enjoy The Independent, you will probably not like Fountain so much.  If you are looking for Museum Quality work, you will not like Fountain.  It is very unpolished, but that’s what gives it it’s underground handmade charm.  Although I have a great time at Fountain it is one of the lower tier fairs and doesn’t get much love from the mainstream art press, but art blogs and Scene and Alt magazines like Paper are all over it. 

Location: Centrally Located at the 69th Regiment Armory (Lexington Avenue & 26th Street)

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INDEPENDENT:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $20

Thursday – March 6, 6pm – 8pm (Private Vernissage)
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 6pm

Website: https://independentnewyork.com/

About Independent (In Their Words)
This year will feature over fifty international galleries and non-profit institutions representing fourteen countries.

Featuring: Sculpture, Kinetic Sculpture, Collage, Car, Interactive Art, Neon, Animation, New Media, Painting, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: John McEnroe
Unofficial Art Patriarch: Dan Flavin

Turner Prize nominee David Shrigley.Painting by Ella Kruglyanskaya. 
Notable Artists Associated With This Show:  Ella Kruglyanskaya, Steve Claydon, Thomas Julier, Oliver Mosset, David Shrigley.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: A random DeLorian with no flux capicitor.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good.

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at The Independent? No

The Scoop on The Independent From An Artiholic:
To me this fair always felt the least like a fair, and even refused to call itself a fair.  The floors have big open spaces in the middle rather than the sectioned off walls that the other art fairs are known to have, all the galleries share the same light.

Since it started The Independent has always been free admission to the public, and the focus has been more about the art than the selling.  It is many people’s favorite fair because of the amount of sculpture, and minimalism and distinct lack of drawing and painting.  I am in the minority, and the lack of drawing and painting drives me up the wall.

In an effort to document drawing in The Independent in three years I managed to take only a handful of pictures of actual drawings, and three out of four are just reproductions of licensed characters and mascots.  I still always have hope though, I went to two Whitney biennials in a row that had little to no drawing, and then the 2012 biennial was bursting with drawings – so things can change drastically overnight.  I am excited to see what this year’s show brings.

I did hear one of my all time favorite curator /patron interactions as she explained in a British accent the price of these three “Untitled, 2012”  pieces by Oliver Mosset (above)  Polyurethane on Canvas 96 x 48 inches

It went something like:

“How much are these?”
“Ninety thousand”
“Dollars?”
“Yes, each.”

I don’t know exactly what changed with Independent’s business model,  but this year it costs $20 instead of costing nothing to get in ($20 is a distinct price increase from free).

Positives: A ton of big sculptures on four floors.  The possibility of a random car in the middle of one of the floors.  The permanent Dan Flavin instillation on the staircase in between floors is always inviting – not technically part of the show, but a welcome break from the different levels.  Top Floor Cafe, with Roof Access

Negatives: Extreme lack of drawing and painting. Super snobby curators who really don’t want to talk to you, which is another thing that makes this unlike the other art fairs where the exhibitors actually want to interact.  I have hundreds of photos I’ve taken of artists and curators at the various art fairs, and Independent is the only art fair I have taken zero shots of any curators or artists.  I am acting the same as I do at the art fairs but never get approached.  Located in Chelsea it is close to other art openings, but far from The Armory Show piers.

Location: 548 West 22nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in the heart of the Chelsea gallery district.

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Randall’s Island, New York City, NY – Saturday, May 11, 2013

While I was taking my first lap around Frieze Art Fair New York on Randall’s Island today I ran into Darrell “The Gambler” Sheets, one of the principal characters on A&E’s Storage Wars.  At first glance might seem like an unlikely reality TV star to see at a significant NY art world event (he almost never appears on Storage Wars outside of a tank-top), but even though he makes a living competitively out bidding other auction speculators for the contents of abandoned storage lockers in and around California the man can spot valuable art when he sees it.

Through this gamble he has actually become quite a collector (and seller) of art. He buys and flips huge quantities, some worth money, some unknown artists.  It’s a numbers game when you are in the business of buying entire lots in bulk based only on what you can see from outside the container.

Of the cast of regulars, Darrell Sheets is always ready to jump on a locker that has art in it, and buys more “art heavy” lockers than anyone on the show.  I don’t know how, but he can spot valuable artwork a mile away.

This habit paid off recently in the final episode of season three when Darrell bought a locker for $3,600 (after spotting art in it) and it turned out to have a massive treasure trove of art.  He took it to an art appraiser and found that the art was actually a large collection of original work by Frank Gutierrez (valued at $300,000 – read HuffPo).

Darrell is selling a lot of Gutierrez’s work on his website piece-by-piece with most of the work going for under $200 each, that’s a lot of inventory to make $300K, but talk about a honey hole of a locker.

I wonder if Darrell was in town looking for a gallery to take some of that work off his hands, if he got possibly got cut from the show, or he’s just taking a nice NYC vacation and maybe wanted to pimp his house with some new art…ya know, spread some of those $300 G’s around.

Frieze runs May 10 -13 rain or shine.

Written and Photographed  by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[read about the $300,000 locker on HuffPo]

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In another creative version of artistic upcycling, artist Long-Bin Chen represented by Frederieke Taylor Gallery at Armory Show offshoot fair Volta NY had on display a group of impressive larger than life human busts carved from old books and periodicals.  In this show he presented some Renaissance era art masters in carved paper form, including DaVinci &  Michelangelo (tough luck for the other ninja turtles).

I was wondering if there was any correlation between the person sculpted and the materials used to sculpt them.  The artist wasn’t there but I talked to the women minding the booth.  One told me that the one I was looking at was made with travel magazines.

This was disappointing.  Maybe if it was a sculpture of Lewis & Clark, Marco Polo, or Magellian that would make sense, but a renaissance painter could have been made out of something more relevant, or at least something contrary to the person being sculpted.

Darwin out of bibles for example.  I have a problem with always trying to improve the concept on conceptual art.  Beyond drawing &  painting, in me beats a heart of a conceptualist.

These are pretty cool sculptures though I must say, most busts don’t look this interesting from behind.

Written & Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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The Scope Art Fair has always been a good dowsing rod for what’s going to be hot and popular if not for the art world as a whole, at least it at all of the other art fairs this week.  I had fun roaming around Scope during the private press and VIP viewing.  Based on Scope here are 10 TRENDS you will likely be able to expect from the other fairs in the days to come.

TREND NUMBER 1: Assemblage Faces

I have a feeling assemblage will be the keyword of the 2013 Armory Week trends.  Other names I’ve come up with for this are Army of One.. One of many, The Big Picture.  The gist of an assemblage, as humans we have a instinctive ability to search for patterns and try to recognize a human face and facial features even in objects.  Throughout the history of human experience it has been important to recognize in real time the slightest facial movements and gesture and be able to respond accordingly with the appropriate reactions, we can blame the human eye + brain for this.   The eye will not only cheat reality to fill in the gaps, but also blur the obviously inhuman incongruities of oddly shaped items, or tiny uniform patterns, grids, or dot matrixes touching one another, or arranged next to or above one another, and visually merge them to see one image.

TREND NUMBER 2: Lincoln, the Dollar sign, and or The 5 Dollar bill

How could this be a trend?  Black President, and two Lincoln movies in the same year  that’s how.   Lincoln is part of the collective unconscious this year.  There were a few other Lincoln pieces I didn’t photograph at Scope because I didn’t think about the trend until I was already on my way out the door, but I can see the pattern.  Money is always a good topic, because it’s one of the only pieces of art we carry around in our pockets all the time, and even people who don’t collect art want to have more of those portraits.

TREND NUMBER 3: Corrupted Disney & Classic Cartoon Characters

Disney has spent literally HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS branding these time tested characters and putting them into your brain as a child, and your parent’s brain as a child, and your grandparent’s brain as a child.  You want to take an unproven artist and have his work be instantly recognizable by the masses, have them redraw characters they already know, in poses they already know, but slightly altered and maybe in a different color scheme…

TREND NUMBER 4: Upcycling

Art using found objects which could be of no good use and “recycling them into art.”

TREND NUMBER 5: Sugar Skulls

Sounds a little out there for a trend, but I actually painted a sugar skull into a painting this year, and then I see about 4 of them at Scope.  The voodoo is in the air this year my friend.

TREND NUMBER 6: Objects Encased In Lucite Or Resin

Things look cool suspended in the middle of a clear box, just ask Damien Hirst.

TREND NUMBER 7: Art Which Appears To Be Melting

For some reason Jackson Pollock splatter is the end result of all this melt, let’s try to catch the paint in suspended animation before it hits the canvas!

TREND NUMBER 8: Art Made To Have The Illusion Of Depth – Using Mirrors

This art is amusing as it initially tricks your eye.  It is an optical illusion, more magic trick than art.  That box is only 3 feet deep, how come it looks as though it Is a mile deep.  Magic?  Or Art?

TREND NUMBER 9: Neon

You can’t escape it, there is always a ton of it.

TREND NUMBER 10: Glitter

See #9.

BONUS TREND: RADIAL BURSTS

Written  by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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