Armory Show
Two Palms, New York City
Tschabalala Self’s (1990 –) colorful installation at Two Palms features silkscreens and paper pulp sculptures of soda, candy, toilet paper, laundry detergent, and more. This simultaneously playful and interrogative presentation expands upon Bodega Run, Self’s 7-year-long project that investigates the sociocultural significance of the New York City bodega. Self’s paper pulp sculptures add a new dimension to her previously two-dimensional exploration of the Bodega, inviting visitors to occupy and question the space.
Cecilia Brunson Projects, London
A standout of the Armory’s Focus Section was Cecilia Brunson Projects’ presentation of new textiles from Claudia Alarcón & Silät. Alarcón (1989 –) is a Wichí artist from the La Putana community in Salta, Argentina, who leads the Silät collective of over one hundred women weavers from the indigenous Wichí communities. The mesmerizing abstract textiles hang loosely, revealing spaces between the threads of chaguar yarn. Claudia Alarcón & Silät’s textiles made waves this spring, appearing at the Venice Biennale for the first time.
Shrine, New York City & Los Angeles
Ava McDonough’s cluster of small but mighty butterfly paintings were the highlight of Shrine. McDonough (1999 –) further abstracts the natural patterns of the butterfly wing through close cropping and magnification, creating a dizzying kaleidoscope of color and pattern. These intricate paintings were a hit among collectors, selling out within the first couple days of the show. McDonough is a self-taught artist based in LA, whose practice spans painting, sculpture, and printmaking.
Baró Galeria, São Paulo & Mallorca
In Eugenie Tsai’s Platform section entitled Collective Memory, Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos’ Valkyrie Liberty was a marvel. Inspired by warrior maidens from Norse mythology, Vasconcelos (1971 –) created a colossal sculpture of diverse colors and textiles that hung suspended over the crowds of fairgoers. The works title invokes the Statue of Liberty, thereby entwining Norse and American mythologies.
Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town
Whatiftheworld Gallery’s exhibition of Chris Soal’s innovative sculptures was not to be missed. Soal’s “Hide” first appears as a blooming coral reef or spreading fungus but reveals itself as a dizzying array of bamboo and birch wood toothpicks upon closer looking. Soal (1994 –) arranges found materials in organic forms as a way of interrogating the binary of nature and culture.
Hales Gallery, London & New York City
Hales Gallery presented vibrant large-scale paintings from New Mexico-based artist Jordan Ann Craig (1992 –). Inspired by her Northern Cheyenne heritage, Craig creates geometric compositions that incorporate Northern Cheyenne and Cheyenne design and material culture, such as beadwork and textiles. Through her practice, Craig celebrates her indigenous heritage and investigates the relationship between abstract painting and Indigenous culture.
Mignoni Gallery, New York City
Cyrielle Gulacsy’s (1994 –) solo show at Mignoni showcases colorful large-scale pointillist paintings and wooden sculptures that stem from the artist’s mission to bridge the worlds of art and science. Gulacsy’s fascination with space-time, electromagnetism, and light diffraction is clear in her paintings that seem to vibrate with particles of light. The experience is immersive for viewers, who can even peer through the wooden sculpture at the galactic paintings beyond as if using a telescope.
RX&SLAG, Paris & New York City
RX&SLAG’s solo presentation of Tamara Kostianovsky
Independent 20th Century
Alison Jacques, London
Lenore Tawney’s (1907 – 2007) tapestries offered a warm welcome to those arriving at Independent 20th Century, swaying slightly while casting intricate shadows at the fair’s entrance. Tawney is best known for her textiles, although some of her smaller and more delicate sculptures were also on display. These works featured organic materials, including eggshells, feathers, and wood, which mimicked the natural fibers and delicate patterns woven within her larger tapestries. These works were all created in the 1960’s while Tawney lived at the Coenties Slip, right next to the fair site today, alongside fellow artists such as Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, Robert Indiana, and Ellsworth Kelly. Looking out onto the ships from Cipriani South Street today, it is easy to see how the southern point of Manhattan influenced her work.
Gomide & Co, São Paulo
São Paulo gallery Gomide & Co’s presentation of Paraguayan ceramicist Julia Isídrez (1967 –) and Brazilian artist Maria Lira Marques (1945 –) created a whimsical world within Gomide & Co’s exhibition space. Isídrez, whose work is currently on view at the 60th Venice Biennale, was taught the centuries-old Indigenous way of creating ceramics by her mother – as is customary within the Guaraní tradition. Her bulbus vessels resemble animals native to Paraguay, and playfully complement Marques’s earth toned animalistic silhouettes. Marques began her artistic journey by sculpting as a child. She later transition to collecting mineral pigments to create textured works, depicting imaginary animals that reflect her indigenous heritage and the sertão landscape in which she was raised.
Ippodo Gallery, Tokyo & New York City
Ippodo Gallery debuted at Independent 20th Century with group show Voyage Blue, featuring ten artists innovating traditional approaches to painting, ceramic, glass, and lacquer. At the heart of the presentation is Master Nihonga painter Masaaki Miyasako’s (1951 –) Byoubu screen, Firework ‘Aqua.’ The screen depicts a fisherman casting a wide net into the undulating waves of the Go-no River in Miyasako’s hometown in Shimane prefecture, Japan. Combining multi-point perspective and the urazaishiki method
James Barron Art, Kent
Janet Sobel (1893 – 1968), a previously overlooked artist, creates vibrant and abstracted works that draw inspiration from Ukrainian folk art and Surrealism. As a self-taught artist, Sobel was not limited by any formal training and was not afraid to deviate from the norm, incorporating dripped paint onto her canvas before Jackson Pollock, and even inspiring his work to come. James Barron exhibits Sobel's works on paper, across from a selection of equally colorful works by Sol LeWitt (1928 – 2007).