Photography at the 2012 Armory Show

In previous years, my review of the photography at the Armory Show has required a handful of posts, breaking the fair up into smaller, more easily digestible chunks, since there was so much to write about. This year, I have collapsed all of the data into one single mega-post, the entire experience boiled down to something you can read in a few minutes. The reason I have chosen this approach is that for the first time in my many years of attending this fair, I was generally underwhelmed by what I saw on offer.

Taking pot shots at art fairs is far too easy to be any fun, and I have long been one of the few hold outs who actually enjoys the process of wandering through the bazaar, poking my head into booth after booth in search of something exciting hiding on an interior side wall. Perhaps it is because I already see so much here in New York that I felt that a spark was somehow missing this time; I bounced along the hallways, dutifully making my notes, but mostly nodding my head and moving along rather than digging in to engage the gallery owners. The fact that I could systematically cover the entire fair (both Piers) in just under two and half hours is proof that I didn't stop much to inquire more. I would hate to feel like I'd seen it all before, but that was certainly part of my reaction this year.

The second part of my conclusion was that I saw much more clearly a focus on what was sellable. For many of the non-photography specialist venues, I think the mantra was, when in doubt, put up a Cindy Sherman. From an economic standpoint, this makes complete sense - cover the walls of your booth with art that will sell (and sell for high prices) to ensure that you cover your costs of renting the space and doing all the work the fair entails; hopefully you'll sell a few pieces, meet some new collectors/clients, and come out ahead. The challenge is that if every gallery operates in this same manner, the fair takes on a quality of sameness that becomes dull. The richness of a fair comes in its diversity and risk taking, which is potentially at odds with maximizing profits. As I traveled the crowded halls, I felt the pressure of this commercial push and pull much more acutely than I had before. Of course, none of this is news, I just noticed it more than usual this year.

In any case, my notes from the fair are below, grouped by Pier and arranged by my path through the halls. For each booth, a list of photographers has been provided, with the number of works on display in parentheses. Additional commentary, prices, and pictures of the installation are also included as appropriate.

Pier 94

Galerie Anhava (here): Hreinn Fridfinnsson (1 set of 6)

NoPlace (here): Ingvild Langgård (1), Kjetil Berge (2), Kristine Jakobsen (2), Tommy Høvik
 (3)

Galleri Christian Torp (here): Marianne Hurum (1)

V1 Gallery (here): Peter Funch (1 triptych)

Christian Larsen Gallery (here): Charlotte Gyllenhammer (1), Joakim Eneroth (1). I liked the crisp abstract geometries of this series of red Swedish buildings by Eneroth. A monograph of the work is being published by Steidl. The print was priced at $10000.

Gallery Niklas Belenius (here): Leif Elggren (1 set of 18), Miriam Bäckström (2). There were two of these circular portraits by Bäckström in this booth. I was told the subjects are famous theater actors, but what I found intriguing was the heavy mirrored framing, tinted to match the photograph. The works were priced at $40000 each.

ELASTIC (here): Per Mårtensson (1 set of 8), Maria Hedlund (1 triptych, 1)

CRYSTAL (here): Julia Peirone (1 triptych, 1)

Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder (here): James Welling (1)

Galerie Nathalie Obadia (here): Youssef Nabil (1 diptych)

Whitechapel Gallery (here): Susan Hiller (1), Richard Wentworth (1), Paul Graham (1), Thomas Struth (1), Zarina Bhimji (1), Franz West (1), John Baldessari (1)

Richard Heller Gallery (here): Corey Arnold (4)

Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): Saul Leiter (6, plus 6 gouaches), Aaron Siskind (9), Charles Jones (4), Edward Burtynsky (1 diptych, 1), Vivian Maier (6), Weegee (5), Bruce Davidson (3), Robert Mapplethorpe (1), William Klein (1). I continue to enjoy Leiter's color work, and a grid of Siskind divers is always a high contrast visual statement.

Cardi Black Box (here): Shirana Shahbazi (1 diptych). I have been hearing more about this Iranian photographer's work lately, but haven't actually seen much of it in person. This diptych was priced at 25000€.

Upstream Gallery (here): Jeroen Jongeleen (1)

Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): Shinichi Maruyama (3), Andre Kertesz (grid of 20, 1), Trine Sondergaard (2), Silvio Wolf (1), John Wood (1), Frederick Sommer (1 collage), Edward Weston (1), Constantin Brancusi (1), Robert Frank (1), Michael Wolf (1), Aaron Siskind (grid of 36), Todd Hido (2), Keith Smith (1 book), Zoe Strauss (grid of 12). There were several strong grids of work in this booth: the Kertesz distortions, the Siskind rock walls, and the Strauss color images on the outside wall.

Yossi Milo Gallery (here): Tim Hetherington (3), Matthew Brandt (1), Alison Rossiter (4 diptychs, 1), Simen Johan (1), Chris McCaw (1 diptych, 1), Sze Tsung Leong (1), Pieter Hugo (2)

Angles Gallery (here): Soo Kim (2), Ori Gersht (1 diptych), Augusta Wood (1), Judy Fiskin (2)

Frederic Snitzer Gallery (here): Kehinde Wiley (1), Sean Dack (1)

Galeria Senda (here): Ola Kolehmainen (1)

Galerie Crone (here): Rosemarie Trockel (2), Adrien Missika (4)

Michael Kohn Gallery (here): Simmons & Burke (5)

Rhona Hoffman Gallery (here): Robert Heinecken (1 triptych, 1 set of 6), Luis Gispert (1)

Galerie Parisa Kind (here): Mike Bouchet (1)

Peter Blum Gallery (here): Su-Mei Tse (1), John Beech (2)

Sprüth Magers (here): Louise Lawler (1), Cindy Sherman (3), Peter Fischli and David Weiss (3), Andreas Gursky (1), Barbara Kruger (1). I thought these perilously staged sculptural images by Fischli/Weiss were the best thing I saw at the fair. They were priced at 55000€ each.

Galleria Continua (here): Shilpa Gupta (1)

Mai 36 Galerie (here): John Baldessari (1 triptych, 1 diptych), Lugi Ghirri (1), Thomas Ruff (1), Robert Mapplethorpe (2). Hard to beat a monumental Ruff head shot portrait for being eye-catching and imposing.

Corvi-Mora (here): Anne Collier (1)

Kukje Gallery (here): Candida Höfer (1), Yeondoo Jung (1)

Corkin Gallery (here): Barbara Astman (1 group of 6, 6), Brett Weston (1), Marjorie Content (1), Berenice Abbott (1), Garry Winogrand (2), Robert Frank (1), Margaret Bourke-White (1), Herbert Bayer (1), Walker Evans (1), George Platt Lynes (2), Andre Kertesz (1), Guy Bourdin (1), Francesco Scavullo (3), Thaddeus Holownia (16), Frank Madler (4), Ian Baxter (1)

Galeria Filomena Soares (here): Joao Penalva (1), Carlos Motta (21), Helena Almeida (1), Vasco Araujo (1)

Dirimart (here): O Zhang (1)

Kalfayan Galleries (here): Hrair Sarkissian (3), Breda Beban (3)

Ai Kowada Gallery (here): Hiroshi Sugimoto (3)

moniquemeloche (here): Aaron Siskind (2), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1)

BISCHOFF/WEISS (here): Michael Reisch (3)

Ratio 3 (here): Geof Oppenheimer (3), Matthew Hale (1)

Cherry and Martin (here): Robert Heinecken (1 triptych, 1 set of 5), Amanda Ross-Ho (1)

Jack Shainman Gallery (here): Hank Willis Thomas (1), Gauri Gill (1)

González y González (here): Patrick Hamilton (3), Jota Castro (2)

Carolina Nitsch (here): Cindy Sherman (1), EV Day (1), Carsten Holler (5), Vera Lutter (1)

Galeria Nara Roesler (here): Lucia Koch (2), Marcos Chaves (1)

Galerie Georg Kargl (here): Cindy Sherman (1)

Galerie Bob van Orsouw (here): Nobuyoshi Araki (16), Shirana Shahbazi (2). This wall of Araki images from the 1960s/1970s was looser and less staged than his later, more recognizable work.

Lisson Gallery (here): James Casebere (1), Gerald Byre (1 set of 16), Tim Lee (1)

Max Wigram Gallery (here): Mustafa Hulusi (2)

Ingleby Gallery (here): Peter Liversidge (1), Garry Fabian Miller (1)

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (here): Pertti Kekarainen (2), Ola Kolehmainen (4), Jorma Puranen (4), Susanna Majuri (2), Niko Luoma (4)

Other Criteria (here): Polly Borland (2)

Parkett Publishers (here): Zoe Leonard (1), Tracy Emin (1)

Mary Ryan Gallery (here): Sangbin Im (1 dipytch, 1)

Poligrafa Obra Grafica (here): Tony Oursler (1)

Galerie Anne de Villepoix (here): Sam Samore (1)

Kavi Gupta (here): Roe Ethridge (3)

Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art (here): Andres Serrano (13). An entire booth of bold silhouetted toys and action figures, derivative of David Levinthal I thought.

Andréhn-Schiptjenko (here): Matts Leiderstam (14)

Victoria Miro (here): William Eggleston (1), Stan Douglas (1), Issac Julien (1), Francesca Woodman (3), Alex Hartley (1 diptych), Doug Aitken (1 lightbox)

Sean Kelly Gallery (here): James Casebere (2), Frank Thiel (1), Idris Khan (3), Robert Mapplethorpe (2), Alec Soth (3). These new images of London landmarks by Khan seem less ridigly conceptual than his earlier works, while still employing the ghostly multiple overlayed exposure technique. This print was priced at £35000. The Soth images were from his series of goth girls.

Leo Koenig Inc. (here): Gerhard Richter (3), Sigmar Polke (1)

Mendes Wood (here): Paolo Nazareth (7)

ONE AND J. Gallery (here): Kang Hong-Goo (6, 1 triptych, 1 wall installation)

On Stellar Rays (here): Clifford Owens (1 wall installation)

Henrique Faria Fine Art (here): Marta Minujin (6), Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck (1), Pedro Teran (2), Anna Bella Geiger (1 set of 18)

Galerie Forsblom (here): Chen Jiagang (1), Ola Kolehmainen (1). I haven't seen images by Chen this large before; it appeared to be in three integrated panels. The work was priced at $60000.

Luciana Brito Galeria (here): Caio Reisewitz (1)

Galerie Daniel Templon (here): James Casebere (1)

BLAIN/SOUTHERN (here): Mat Collinshaw (1), Wim Wenders (4)

Marianne Boesky Gallery (here): Anthony Pearson (5)

Baro Galleria (here): Claudia Jaguaribe (2)


Pier 92

Vivian Horan Fine Art (here): Cindy Sherman (2), John Baldessari (1), Elger Esser (1)

Springer & Winckler Galerie (here): Hiroshi Sugimoto (1), Arnold Odermatt (3 color, 6 black and white), Georges Rousse (1), Andy Goldsworthy (1), Bernd and Hilla Becher (1 set of 4). I think these black and white Odermatt car crashes are wonderfully formal; while I've seen many of them before, they continue to grow on me. They were priced between $4000 and $8000 each.

Galerie Thomas (here): Thomas Struth (1)

Galerie Sho Contemporary Art (here): Helmut Newton (1)

Wetterling Gallery (here): Nathalia Edenmont (2), Mike and Doug Starn (2)

HackelBury Fine Art (here): Garry Fabian Miller (4, 1 set of 11), Mike and Doug Starn (5)

Senior & Shopmaker Gallery (here): Jan Dibbets (1), Richard Long (1)

Mireille Mosler Ltd. (here): Ed Van Der Elsken (1), Philip-Lorca diCorcia (1), Cindy Sherman (8), William Wegman (1 diptych). I really enjoy the clever absurdity of Wegman's early 1970s conceptual work. This work is entitled Which Tube Attracts the Dog?; Wegman holds a tiny tube on the left and a massive one on the right. The dog's head peeks in from the left in the right panel. The work was priced at $30000.

Marc Selwyn Fine Art (here): Robert Heinecken (3), Matt Lipps (1), Richard Misrach (1)

Alan Koppel Gallery (here): Walker Evans (1), August Sander (1), Hiroshi Sugimoto (4), Diane Arbus (1), Yves Klein (1). For our particular collection, this tiny Walker Evans was the best fit at the fair. I have always coveted the few images from this series of train tracks he did in the late 1920s, and this is one of the best I've seen. It was priced at $20000.

James Barron Art (here): Luigi Ghirri (3)

Chowaiki & Co. (here): Marilyn Minter (2), Cindy Sherman (1), Gregory Crewdson (1), Nobuyoshi Araki (1 diptych), Shirin Nehsat (1)

Gerald Peters Gallery (here): Alfred Steiglitz (2), J. Henry Fair (2), Craig Varjabedlan (3). The two O'Keeffe nudes by Stielglitz were on a side wall.

Robert Klein Gallery (here): Francesca Woodman (7), Mario Giacomelli (4), Edward Burtynsky (1), Irving Penn (10), Bill Jacobsen (3)

Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): Jitka Hanzlova (6), Andrew Moore (1), Sharon Core (5), Rachel Perry Welty (2), Bryan Graf (3), Olivo Barbieri (1), Sebastiao Salgado (1), Victoria Samburnaris (1), Bernd and Hilla Becher (1 set of 9), Kenneth Josephson (1)

Ricco Maresca Gallery (here): Tim Freccia (4)

Carl Hammer Gallery (here): Blythe Bohnen (3)

Auction: Photographie, June 10, 2011 @Van Ham

Later this week in Cologne, Van Ham finishes up the Spring season in Germany with a various owner Photographs sale. As usual, there is a generous selection of lower end German/European material, with a special section of vintage architectural images of Cologne headlined by Werner Mantz and Hugo Schmölz. Overall, there are a total of 398 lots on offer in this sale, with a Total High Estimate of 793380€.

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 383
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 626380€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 15
Total Mid Estimate: 167000€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 0
Total High Estimate: NA
.
The top lot by High estimate is lot 1146, Floris Neusüss, Sabine, 1961, at 16000-18000€.

Here is the list of the photographers who are represented by five or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Hugo Schmölz (21)
Albert Renger-Patzsch (16)
Werner Mantz (14)
August Sander (11)
Weegee (7)
Margaret Bourke-White (6)
Brassai (6)
Germaine Krull (6)
Paul Wolff (5)
.

(Lot 1035, Joachim Brohm, Franzosische Zeitzone, 1985, at 2800€ , at right, top, lot 1074, Frank Gohlke, Landscape, Moorhead, MN, 1977, at 2800€, at right, bottom, and lot 1149, Arnold Odermatt, Stansstad, 1966/Later, at 2800€, at right, middle, all via Van Ham.)

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Photographie
June 10th
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Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Schönhauser Straße 10 - 16
D - 50968 Köln

Photography at the 2011 Armory, Part 4 of 4

The 4th and final portion of our 2011 Armory summary covers Pier 92, also known as the Armory Show Modern. Part 1 of the review (which includes an explanation of the format) can be found here; Parts 2 and 3 can be found here and here.

Marlborough Gallery (here): Hans Silvester (1)

JGM. Galerie (here): Anne & Patrick Poirer (2)

Vivian Horan Fine Art (here): Cindy Sherman (1), Lynda Benglis (6). I had no idea photography was part of Benglis' artistic practice. These color lanscapes were carefully traced with gold paint in certain areas. I didn't ask the prices.

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Springer & Winckler Galerie (here): Georges Rouse (2), Andy Goldsworthy (2), Hiroshi Sugimoto (4), Sigmar Polke (4), Arnold Odermatt (18). The entire outside wall of this booth was devoted to Odermatt. Aside from the two color portraits of children, they were all black and white car crashes from Karambolage.

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Wetterling Gallery (here): Nathalia Edenmont (6), Mike and Doug Starn (1 diptych, 1 triptych). I liked the simple fragility of this massive Starn leaf. It was priced at $38000.

Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): Shinichi Maruyama (3), Michael Wolf (6), Barbara Morgan (2), Rosalind Solomon (1), Andre Kertesz (10), Nathan Lyons (3 diptychs), Trine Sondergaard (10), Frederick Sommer (1), John Wood (2), Edward Weston (1), Alfred Stiedglitz (1), Irving Penn (2), Todd Hido (3), Paul Strand (1), Yao Lu (1), Aaron Siskind (10). I never tire of Siskind's building facades, with their patterns of windows, moldings, and architectural lines. They clearly also work well when hung as a group/grid, so the geometries and differences in scale/color can play off one another.

Francis Naumann Fine Art (here): Man Ray (6). This Man Ray nude was terrific close up; it was priced at a hefty $250000. I also liked the suite of mathematical objects (particularly the star shaped form in the upper left), which I had never seen before. They were priced at $120000 for the set of 4.

Marc Selwyn Fine Art (here): Richard Misrach (1), Robert Mapplethorpe (1), William Wegman (2), Donald Huebler (1), Robert Heinecken (3). I've always liked Heinecken's Polaroid foodgrams. They were priced at $11000 each.

Alan Koppell Gallery (here): Hiroshi Sugimoto (2), Diane Arbus (1), Gregory Crewdson (1), Richard Hamilton (3), Robert Frank (1), Robert Moskowitz (1)

Armand Bartos Fine Art (here): Barbara Kruger (1)

Gerald Peters Gallery (here): J. Henry Fair (1)

HackelBury Fine Art (here): Doug and Mike Starn (2), Garry Fabian Miller (4), Pascal Kern (10)

Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): Victoria Sambunaris (2), Sharon Core (1), Olivo Barbieri (2), Rachel Perry Welty (2), Alex Prager (7 + 1 video), Andrew Moore (1), Laura Letinsky (2), bryan Graf (3)

Amy Wolf Fine Art (here) and Elrick-Manley Fine Art (here): Hannah Wilke (4)

Chowaiki & Co. (here): Cindy Sherman (1)

James Barron Art (here): Elinor Carucci (1), Sally Mann (1), Kohei Yoshiyuki (1), Brian Finke (1), Wolfgang Tillmans (1). This installation shot doesn't do justice to the delicacy of this huge abstract Tillmans. The pigment washes down the surface in tiny traceries and puffs of purple smoke. The print was priced at $78000.

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Nancy Hoffman Gallery (here): Lisea Lyons (2)

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Nohra Haime Gallery (here): Eve Sonneman (2 diptychs)

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Contessa Gallery (here): David Drebin (5)

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Next up: Photography at the 2011 ADAA Art Show

Arnold Odermatt, On Duty @Amador

JTF (just the facts): A total of 18 color photographs, mounted and framed in black without mats, and hung against cream and grey walls in the main gallery spaces. All of the works on display are modern digital type c prints, made from negatives taken between 1964 and 1986. The images are generally 19x19 (two are sized 19x14), and all are printed in editions of 15. A monograph of this body of work was published by Steidl in 2006 (here). (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: With easy mockery becoming a pervasive lowest common denominator in recent photography, finding subtle undercurrents of genuine, non-ironic humor has proven to be particularly elusive of late. Arnold Odermatt's staged photographs of Swiss policemen in action are the welcome exception to this unfortunate rule. Made with the help of his fellow officers, his images were designed to expose new potential recruits to the positive aspects of police work. They combine a careful documentary aesthetic with an underlying feeling of the absurd, as if the serious policemen pictured were stifling their urges to burst out laughing.

The show gathers together a collection of different police tasks: directing traffic, fingerprinting, stamping passports, checking travel paperwork, setting radar traps, photographing accident scenes, and training police dogs, each depicted in vivid 1960s color. In every scene, the policemen wear their finest uniforms, complete with white leather sashes, red collars, and crisp white hats. Several images capture the men earnestly racing ahead in their sleek police speed boats, like a chase scene from a James Bond movie. The pictures stand right on the edge of deliberate camp, the posing done with a nuanced mix of studious diligence and not-quite-acknowledged fun.

The rest of the exhibit is peppered with images of oddities: the crumpled remains of sculptural car crashes, the globular wavy forms of melted plastic tail lights, and the unexpected landing of a light plane in the middle of the roadway (with a spectacular snowy mountain vista in the background). Together they are overwhelming evidence that Swiss police work is anything but dull and boring.

Overall, this body of work can't help but make you smile. It's advertising of course, but it's done with such affection that it's hard not to be seduced by its warmth.

Collector's POV: All of the prints in this show are priced at 5000€ each. Odermatt's work has not been widely available in the secondary markets, although a handful of prints have come up for auction in the past few years; prices for these lots have ranged between $2000 and $4000.

By the way, these are some super color prints (particularly the first car crash as you enter the exhibit and the two melted tail lights across from it), even if they are modern. They have none of the faded, dated look that you might expect from negatives from the 1960s and 1970s. Some of these pictures really explode off the wall with the intensity of their colors, making the images surprisingly fresh and timeless.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Koenig Projekte show, 2010 (DLK COLLECTION review here)

Arnold Odermatt, On Duty

Through January 22nd

Amador Gallery
41 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022

Arnold Odermatt @Koenig Projekte

JTF (just the facts): A total of 30 black and white photographs, pinned directly to the wall under glass, and hung in the simple single room gallery space. All of the works are vintage gelatin silver prints, made in editions of 8 between 1953 and 1983. Most of the prints are sized at 12x16 or reverse, with a few at 12x12, and one at 7x16. A monograph of this body of work, entitled Karambolage, was published by Steidl in 2003 (here).

Comments/Context: The unlikely back story to the work of Swiss photographer Arnold Odermatt makes his black and white sculptural images of car crashes all the more unusual. During his long career, Odermatt was the official police photographer in the canton of Nidwalden, where he documented everyday auto accidents for police and insurance files. When he finished with his work, he often took another set of images of the crash site for himself, and it is these images that have resurfaced in the last decade, eventually finding their way to the Venice Biennale and a solo show at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Unlike the gritty urban voyeurism of Weegee's crime scenes, Odermatt's car crashes are pensive and wistful, where crumpled hoods, broken barriers, and snowy skid marks are captured with crisp, pared down elegance. His photographs document the moment after the ambulance has gone and the glass has been swept up, leaving just the quiet aftermath of the car abandoned in the roadway, flipped over down a hill side, or filled with water in the river. While people are generally absent from these pictures, their lush tonalities somehow prevent the images from becoming too clinical or antiseptic. Chalk lines on the road are swirling and gestural, a knocked down light pole creates compositional chaos, and a boat in the roadway or a police officer doing a handstand offer a few moments of subtle and unexpected comic relief. Evidence has been turned into quiet art, the personal tragedy moved into the background, allowing the formal beauty of muddy roads, spin outs, and crushed cars to come forward.

Collector's POV: The vintage prints available in this show are priced between $3200 and $4500. Odermatt's work has not been widely available in the secondary markets, although a handful of prints have come up for auction in the past few years; prices for these lots have ranged between $2000 and $4000.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Reviews: Artforum (here, scroll down), New Yorker (here), NY Times (here), Flavorwire (here)

Arnold Odermatt
Through September 10th

Leo Koenig Inc. Projekte

541 West 23rd Street

New York, NY 10011