ADAA’s The Art Show Presenting Work from Over Two Centuries of Art History

The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) celebrated the opening of the latest edition of The Art Show yesterday at the Park Avenue Armory. This year, The Art Show itself is also offering a special silent sale by Paddle8 of The Clove by Alexander Calder. The piece was donated to the ADAA in 1971 to support the creation of a prize for the ADAA Award, which celebrated achievements in art criticism and curation. Since its donation to the foundation, there have been winners given a replica of The Clove as an award slightly larger in size and in unpainted copper.

“We’re pleased to welcome new and returning members to The Art Show in 2017,” said Anthony Meier, Chair of The Art Show. “This year’s fair will showcase an amazing range of international artists and works that span over two centuries of art history.”

Open to the public through March 5, the fair stunned with a range of work being presented, from modern to contemporary. 303 Gallery (New York) offered a large-scale work by Rodney Graham. Broken up into three large lit-up panels, it showed the image of a man who seemed to have fallen asleep on his couch in his living room. Not far away, Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago) showed colorful square artworks by Jacob Hashimoto made of acrylic on paper, nylon, thread, bamboo, and wood, strung geometrically between twelve pegs. Casually tucked under the gallery’s table, next to business cards and information sheets, were also three gorgeous box stools, all made with materials sourced from recently closed Chicago public schools by John Preus.

Adler & Conkright Fine Art (Miami) offered a small Alexander Calder sculpture with a curved black base, flat mushroom-shaped top, and the iconic balancing stems in red, white, navy, and yellow. CRG Gallery (New York) showed two gorgeous tapestries by artist Alexandre da Cunha—made of mop heads, dye, and metal fittings in blush pink and terracotta orange—behind a large cylinder sculpture. Along the booth’s left wall were Cunha’s work of varying and mixed materials, including wood, pestle, stockings, sand, glass, concrete, a tambourine, and an ice bucket. Brooke Alexander (New York) showed a few John Baldessari archival inkjet prints with Engravings with Sounds: SOB, GRUNT, CLACK, SNEEZE, URG, TOOT (2015), and a color lithograph and screen print on paper and aluminum with The Fallen Easle (1988). Kohn Gallery (Los Angeles) presented sturdy collage-like works such as Pillow Talk by Tony Berlant, which was found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads.

Petzel (New York) is showing Brooklyn-born-and-based artist Joyce Pensato’s Double Donalds next to the artist’s signature creepy smiles from an altered Mickey Mouse and Homer Simpson, all individually framed charcoal and pastel on paper pieces. Next door at the Julie Saul Gallery (New York) booth, is a full Jackie Kennedy experience in “The Secret Drawings of Jacqueline Kennedy.” Walking through a series of paintings of Kennedy’s life, we travel back in time—but this time, through watercolors “she” painted during a psychotic stage in her life. The works are actually painted by Moscow-born artist Pavel Pepperstein (who represented Russia at the 53^rd Venice Biennale in 2009, and is celebrating his first solo American exhibition with these works).

At Peter Blum Gallery (New York) is a portfolio of 9 Louise Bourgeois engravings, He Disappeared into Complete Silence (1947). Paul Kasmin (New York) has an inviting booth with a design-savvy charcoal interior, smartly showing oil and paper collages on lithograph by Lee Krasner.

Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (New York), showed a large and striking square block of cement with peeking openings on its sides in front of calming circular slate grey works on paper by Olafur Eliasson. Bortolami (New York) may have presented some of our favorite works of the show—delicate free-standing sculptures atop master works books and clear stands by Nicolás Guagnini. Behind those, anchored to the booth’s walls, were gorgeous pastel-colored paintings by Caitlin Keogh, showing flowers behind a dark grey hand holding a magnifying glass and a headless three-quartered figure decorated in gold and vines, and green fabric, too.

Yesterday’s Annual Art Show Gala Preview benefitted the Henry Street Settlement with all ticket sales. Known for providing the community and more than 60,000 Lower East Side residences with innovative art, social service, and health care programs at 17 sites, including satellite locations in public schools and housing, Henry Street is committed to providing access to the arts for all. For the art show, the organization also had a silent bid, featuring works by artists like Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, Tal R, and Dan Graham.