NEW YORK—This is a great weekend to explore the contemporary art world. Frieze, the London-born art fair has landed for the first time in New York, where it will be held on Randall’s Island. PULSE Contemporary Art Fair and several other shows will take place this weekend too, and many arts institutions are holding special events, complementing Frieze with a flurry of activities.
PULSE features more than 40 U.S. and international galleries. Featured artists include Fred Wilson who has a pair of intriguing glass installations near the entrance to the show. Mixed-media embroidery and x-ray portraits of George Washington, Ben Franklin and Barbie; a collection of vintage cameras constructed with cardboard; and a taxidermy horse by Tinkebell, are among the works will prompt visitors to take a closer look. Several artists are present to explain their work and the dealers are particularly open to providing information and discussing their offerings.
The fair also includes IMPULSE, located on the second floor, where 13 emerging galleries a presenting solo-artist shows. One of the more innovative presentations is a series of meticulously cut architecture magazine by Andreas Bauer at balzerArtprojects of Switzerland.
PULSE runs from May 3 to May 6 at the Metropolitan Pavillion.
All photos by Arts Observer
Above, from left, Embroidered x-rays featuring George Washington, Barbie and Ben Franklin by Matthew Cox at Pentimenti. Top of page, from left, Detail of “SLR #1 (Take a Longer Holiday Series),” 2012 (chipboard, canvas and fabric); “SLR #6,” 2010 (chipboard, pine, cotton trim, high-density foam and UV resin); “Twin Lens #1,” 2010 (chipboard, canvas and fabric); “SLR #1 (Take a Longer Holiday Series),” 2012 (chipboard, canvas and fabric) all by Kiel Johnson at Davidson Contemporary in New York.
Above, from left, Detail of “Sneaky Leaky,” 2009 (blown glass, six wall units and five floor units) and “Reign,” 2011 (cardboard globe, glass beads, coated steel cable and wood bracket) both by Fred Wilson at The Pace Gallery.
Detail of “Un coup de des #16-37” a series of light boxes by Angel Marcos.
“Un coup de des #16-37,” 2008 (light boxes, edition of three) by Angel Marcos at Hilger Modern Contemporary.
“Oyster Piano,” 1992 (steel, oysters, metal and motor) by Rebecca Horn at Galerie Stefan Ropke of Cologne, Germany. Each oyster lever moves up and down randomly as though being played like a piano key.
“Leave a Mark (pink detail),” 2012 (silkscreen, acrylic on canvas) by Trey Speegle at Benrimon Contemporary. The artist claims to own the largest collection of vintage paint-by-number sets in the world and uses the style as a running theme in his work.
“Cupcake,” (taxidermy horse) by Tinkebell at Torch Gallery of Amsterdam.
“Galaxy (cluster of planets),” 2011/2012 (exotic animal skins) by Jonathan Hammer at Miyako Yoshinaga art prospects of New York.
Series of 12 “Untitled,” 1996/1997 by Aleksandar Duravcevic at Galerie Stefan Ropke of Cologne, Germany.
“Brighton Beach Bench,” 2012 (wood, metal wire, newspaper, glue, tape, matte medium, cardboard, screws, synthetic hair and hari tie) by Will Kurtz at Mike Weiss Gallery of New York.
Portraits by Phillipe Paska at Zemack Contemporary Art of Tel Aviv, Israel.
“State of Being,” 2011 (works on wall and floor have the same title and are both constructed of black string and steel) by Chiharu Shiota. In background, “Yuki,” 2005 (silver print on paper) by Jeff Cowan. All three at Galeria Nieves Fernandez of Madrid.
“Tape Noir series,” (packaging tape on plexiglass, translucent resin light box) by Mark Khaisman at Pentimenti.
Detail of embroidered x-ray featuring Ben Franklin by Matthew Cox.
“Polaroid,” 2010 (chip board, canvas and fabric) with several SLRs by Kiel Johnson. Detail at top of page.