- A giant metal webbed cube and crinkled blue paper by Michel François at the Bortolami booth.
The second edition of Elizabeth Dee and Darren Flook’s Independent art fair opened yesterday afternoon at the former Dia space on West 22nd Street, rooftop deck and all—great view from up there, don’t miss it. The free fair takes up three floors and features some 45 galleries from the U.S. and Europe (plus one from Istanbul), and is easily the best (and least exhausting) I’ve seen this week—although the Moving Image comes a very, very close second.
- Playful sculpture and painting installation by Ryan Gander at Paris gallery gb agency’s booth.
- This massive two-sided painting on multiple sheets suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room seems to be by an artist from Meyer Reigger, but we couldn’t figure out which one; anyone know? It’s pretty stunning.
- Another view of this giant hanging painting, with some interesting sculptural appendages.
- Like this weight with a face painted on it, anchoring one corner of the canvas.
- These two torqued mirror sculptures remind me of the mirror sheets adorning the Ronald Feldman booth at the Armory Show, but less obnoxious.
- Also at the Meyer Riegger booth, Katinka Bock’s “Miles and Moments” (2010) tire marks sculpture stretches across the whole space.
- Another car! Last year it was a Delorean, this year Folke Koebberling and Martin Kaltwasser cut up a Saab into two fully functional bicycles. Car collage!
- Another view of the Folke Koebberling and Martin Kaltwasser motorcycle car.
- Wavy stainless steel room dividers by Alice Channer at London gallery The Proposition’s booth.
- Cats and ropes in Laura Aldridge’s installation “Cats Are Not Important” (2010) at the Studio Voltaire booth.
- “The Pack” by Jon Pylypchuk at L.A. gallery China Art Objects’s booth. There were some similarly black light-eyed figures at an Armory Show booth; same artist?
- Victoria Morton did the entire booth for Glasgow’s The Modern Institute, including this great piece.
- Giant windchimes by Klaus Weber at the Andrew Kreps booth.
- A wall-embedded piece by Ricci Albenda at the Andrew Kreps booth.
- Also at the Andrew Kreps booth, this excellent Robert Melee sculpture, “Her Chair” (2010).
- At the Gavin Brown’s Enterprise booth, someone (Rirkrit Tiravanija? Urs Fischer?) put out some cookies and fruit.
- Alicja Kwade does a Picasso guitar collage in sculpture form at the Johann Konig booth.
- Bejeweled fake cakes by Sarah Pucci at the Air de Paris booth.
- Stacked and photocopied window frames by Josephine Meckseper (?) at the Elizabeth Dee booth.
- Two pieces from Blake Rayne’s “Cover Letter” felt-on-canvas series at Sutton Lane.
- Justin Matherly’s hilariously titled “The degenerated instinct which turns against life with subterranean vengefulness; See you again in your muck of tomorrow” (2010) at the Bureau-Hard Hat booth.
- The Bureau-Hard Hat-Anton Kern corner of Independent is its strongest section. This looks like some Blair Thurman.
- Still in the Bureau-Hard Hat corner, this is what a changing room designed by Anna Betbeze would look like.
- A Matthew Monahan desk at Anton Kern’s booth.
- Lothar Hempel’s “Return of the Invisible Sex” chez Anton Kern.
- And finally, appropriately, David Shrigley’s “I’m Dead” puppy speaks for all art fair marathon participants.
The Independent continues through Sunday at 548 West 22nd Street, and is free. This afternoon, incidentally, the one-day Armory Week fair the Dependent Art Fair, also free, takes over the Sheraton at 160 West 25th Street. We’ll be there, tweeting it @LMagArt.
