By Ruth Green
THUMBS UP
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
All the lazy New Yorkers that stayed behind the whole week in Manhattan lost the most refreshing fair of the week: the fair for African and Africa related projects.
Frieze projects
The director of Frieze New York has changed and something has happened. Victoria Siddall has been able to keep basically the same galleries and same artists but to bring the strongest pieces yet, especially in the projects area.
Nada
With the strong endorsement of Roberta Smith, NADA confirms herself as the official satellite fair of the Frieze week. Nada is the place for people who collect art the old-fashioned way, says the strong critic, and yes, her words are able to move the opinions of thousands of art lovers and art professionals.
The Korean Vague of Artists in NY
Each Fair week in NY is an occasion to recognize the powerful wave of artists from Korea that are living and showing in the city. We point out, in particular, the works of Soyeon Shin, and HyoJin Yoo.
THUMBS DOWN
Miami Art
Katelijne De Backerthe, director of Miami Art 2015, comes back home: Pier 94 has also hosted the Armory Show in the past years including the years 2000 – 2011 directed by her. This year, the fair hosted a strong secondary market presence. This fair could be the best of our thumbs down or the worst of our thumbs up. In our humble opinion, such a big organization could walk with its own legs instead of presenting itself as a satellite fair.
Flux Art Fair
A respectable selection of 50 artists in the hands of a “lack of” organization. Harlem tried to be present, but the neighboring borough still doesn’t seem ready to host similar events. We invite them not to give up but to do better in the coming years.
Select Fair
Are we kidding? Wrong VIP List with a long line of hipsters outside that ticked off the few potential collectors (or let’s say wage tenants). Wrong performance program: An out of decibel concert non suitable to be hosted at an indoor venue. The wrong ticket box office choice: $ 25.00 for a Fair that basically remained without visitors for the whole week.
The public sculptures out of the Frieze stand
Don’t ask why that weakness shows itself in such a strong (and crucial business) area of the Frieze Art Fair.
