armory 2011 and volta

okay every year the armory show is an art marathon. get in early and within 2 hours you want to escape. this year was no different. i have to say i left not as jazzed as last year. more established artist and less new discoveries for me. don't get me wrong, i love me my oldies but goodies.

susan hiller

chris johanson

peter liversidge - "i propose that any visitor to the armory show who stands in front of, and reads this proposal should approach a member of ingleby gallery staff with a single dollar bill.

the dollar bill will be taken from them and embossed with a text piece."

edward del rosario

glad to see one of my london galleries - seventeen at armory with abigail reynolds

erwin wurm

jacob hashimoto

kehinde wiley

hirst incognito?

volta , on the other hand, was all new to me and after the crazy crowds at armory i was ready for respite.

mini portraits by oana farcas

laurina paperina

christina benz

jim houser

fltgc: pulse and armory show

blockbuster fltgc: pulse and armory show. talk about some art overload. first up pulse, which was in the same space where the mcq pop-up (rip alexander mcqueen). shar really enjoyed the scaled down art fair size compared to the likes of the armory. here is my laundry list of artists that caught my eye:

• roberto molla at christina ray - shar met him, and he was a delight. it took him a day and half to draw the piece on the wall of the booth i-12. love, love, love. vote christina ray for the people's choice pulse award here.

• josh dorman at mary ryan, whose graphite drawing evokes a chagall-like sensibility
  

• devorah sperber at zidoun and caren golden - a strange sense of deja vu is a diy sewing illusion
  
• liliana porter at hosfelt and carrie seacrist - has a lovely play of size and craft. mini grannie's knitting life size scarves.

• valerio barruti at ermanno tedeschi - reminds me at yoshitomo nara
  

next up was none other than the armory, which seemed more vibrant than last year. shar over heard some wheeling and dealing at multiple booths. art was for sale. who said there was a recession? there were established names like:

christo at gabarron foundation

barry mcgee at ratio 3 (yay sf represent) and roberts & tiltonolafur eliasson at i8, sol lewitt at hoffman, damien hirst at other criteria and white cube, ruth asawa and john bankston at rena bransten and louise bourgeios at carolina nitsch

but some newbies to me were:

polly morgan at other criteria - balloons and taxidermy under glass

adam mcewen at nicole klagsbrun - i am curious yellow wins best use of color in a booth.

hans-peter feldman at simon lee - play of cut out and shadow really drew me in. reminds me of my banksy print of girl with red balloon.

birgir andresson at i8 - simplicity in pantone and text.

art overload: armory show

must art overload: armory show. i heard about this monolith of art last year when i was at the moma attending an art talk. i'm soooo glad i got there early with matilda because after an hour the place was significantly more crowded and stuffy. i was bad and forgot my camera. really i suck, but pal adam took some good pics yesterday. tis true, there was a bunch of marcel dzama and chris johanson. also a lot of diane arbus, including this print at white cube. here is a just a rundown of what struck my fancy:

• sangnam lee at pkm gallery
• kara walker's paper doll cut outs at sikkema jenkins & co.
• kim gordon at ks art. yes, that kim gordon of sonic youth.
  
• hernan bas at fredric snitzer gallery and victoria miro. matilda told me this kid is HOT in miami. he resembles gael gracia bernal she said and i think that's a stretch, but he still is the shit.

• christine hill at ronald feldman fine arts. i loved the presentation of these works within the armory apothecary.

best overheard art inside: richard heller talking about how he got his early dzama for $40 a piece. he said and I quote, "best deal i ever got." looks like his gallery has some great stuff, like pieces by devendra banhart, dan clowes, evah fan and mel kadel. i was originally draw to his booth because of masahiko kuwahara's work. looks like dreamy art fit for a nursery.


choice celeb sighting: glenn close (#14). she was at the modern wing of the armory show at pier 92 speaking the rep at maxwell davidson. she was fresh faced with no make-up, but still looked great.