Photography in the 2013 Frieze New York Art Fair, Part 4 of 5

Part 1 of this five-part Frieze report can be found here. Start there for introductory background and explanatory notes.

Sikkema-Jenkins & Co. (here): Vik Muniz, $75000. Muniz' take on Courbet's Stone Breakers, using his recent follow-the-ideas, rebus-like scraps of magazines approach.

Paul Kasmin Gallery (here): David LaChapelle, $65000. A glowing model gas station in a nighttime jungle.

Reena Spaulings Fine Art (here): K8 Hardy, $10000. Two fashion handbags sliced apart and glued back together in a mismatched hybrid. Shown on a lightbox for added brightness.

Galerija Gregor Podnar (here): Attila Csörgö, €8000. An intricate mirrored structure, used to capture the falling trajectory of a lighted die. The result is both a sculpture of movement and an illusionistic multi-angle view.

Wallspace (here): Daniel Gordon, $10000. These Gordon still lifes were among my favorite works at the fair. They erupt in a riot of color and pattern, with layers of photographs collaged into a multi-dimensional installation and then flattened back into a single plane. They take ideas begun in previous smaller still life works and boldly extend them into much more complicated constructions and compositions.

Jack Shainman Gallery (here): Richard Mosse, $20000. These cotton candy Mosse landscapes have become an art fair staple, but there always seems to be a new one to catch my eye.

Almine Rech Gallery (here): Taryn Simon, $35000. Simon's archival investigations have turned to photographs of collections of images around a certain word or theme (in this case "wealth", perfect for an art fair). I was more intrigued by the underlying system of sorting/choosing than the actual end results, and maybe that was the point.

Stephen Friedman Gallery (here): Rivane Neuenschwander, $12000. Talcum power and water constructions that recreate the swirling look of oil spills.

Kadel Willborn (here): Barbara Kasten, $25000. The architectural patterns of World Financial Center, doused in candy colored light and repeated via mirrors, 1980s abstraction gone wild.

Art: Concept (here): Geert Goiris, $32700. The wailing girl in the newspaper clipping is an ominous, almost traumatic partner for this dead bird.

Continue to Part 5 here.

Photography in the 2013 Armory Show, Part 1 of 2

In what might sound like a contradiction, this year's Armory Show has both more and less photography than in previous years. "More", in that by my count, there were 97 booths showing something that might be called photography (out of a possible 214 not including the publishers). That's over 45% of the galleries, which must be some kind of record and is certainly an increase from what was on offer last year. But a glass half empty kind of person might characterize this show as quite a bit "less", in that eclectic mid-tier randomness seems to have replaced the parade of boldfaced names and highly saleable, contemporary material that we've come to expect at this kind of gathering. If you are looking for Sherman, Gursky, Prince, Gilbert & George, Ruff, Struth, Tillmans, and the like, you will wear out your shoe leather and generally come up empty handed.

This portion of my notes covers the Focus area and the long extending arm of Pier 94; the second part will cover the remainder of Pier 94 and all of Pier 92. The booths/galleries are arranged by my path through the fair, roughly up and back along the aisles. 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.

Galleria Continua (here): Carlos Garaicoa (2)

Higher Pictures (here): This booth contained three new works by Artie Vierkant. They're physically thinner than his last works (now on Dibond instead of thick Sintra) and more compositionally complex and multilayered ($17000 each). I think they're getting better.

Aisho Miura Arts (here): Shuhei Yamada (9)

Various Small Fires (here): Liz Magic Laser (2)

moniquemeloche (here): Joel Ross and Jason Kreps (4)

CONNERSMITH (here): Lincoln Schatz (1 set of 30, 1)

Anthony Meier Fine Arts (here): Roy McMakin (1 set of 6, 1 set of 4)

Francis M. Nauman Fine Art (here): Sherrie Levine (1 set of 18 postcards)

Pilar Corrias Gallery (here): Leigh Ledare (1)

Pekin Fine Arts (here): Kata Legrady (1), John Clang (2), Martin Parr (1), WassinkLundgren (4 diptychs). The photography duo of WassinkLundgren have taken to the streets of Tokyo, simultaneously taking two images of the same scenes from slightly different vantage points. The effect is Paul Graham's The Present meets Barbara Probst, highlighting the particular unmistakable flow of Tokyo ($2000 for each diptych). While discussing the fine Martin Parr auto show image on the outside wall, I heard that Parr is at work on a book of Chinese photobooks.

Kalfayan Galleries (here): Hrair Sarkissian (12)

Spaces Corners (here): Ed Panar (2), Andrea Galvani (1), Tim Hyde (5). These four photo collages by Tim Hyde were shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art a few years ago. I like the way they break up the parking lot view into Cubist shards that are reassembled into abstract interruptions ($5000 each).

Andy Warhol Museum (here): Andy Warhol (5 modern enlargements)

Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (here): Cui Xiuwen (1)

Aperture (here): James Welling (1), Andrea Galvani (1), Enrique Metinides (1), Bill Armstrong (1), Doug Rickard (1), Michel Campeau (1), Sarah Moon (1), Richard Mosse (1), Silvio Wolf (1), Lars Tunbjork (1), Hank Willis Thomas (1), David Levinthal (1), Abelardo Morell (1), Rinko Kawauchi (1), Bruce Davidson (1), Michal Chelbin (1), Denis Darzacq

Whitechapel Gallery (here): John Baldessari (1), Roy Voss (1), Thomas Ruff (1), Zarina Bhimji (1), Rodney Graham (1), Peter Abrahams (1), Gerard Byrne (1)

Upstream Gallery (here): Frank Ammerlaan (1)

Baró Galleria (here): Ricardo Alcaide (2)

Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): André Kertész (3 Polaroids), Max Neumann (6), Man Ray (1), Silvio Wolf (1 set of 30, 1), Trine Søndergaard (4), Bill Brandt (1), Shinichi Maruyama (3), Keith Smith (2), Constantin Brancusi (2), Michael Wolf (1), Todd Hido (2), Mark Cohen (1), Nicolai Howalt and Trine Søndergaard (1), Walker Evans (1), Aaron Siskind (1), Nicolai Howalt (1), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1). This booth was a solid mix of both contemporary work and vintage gems. This 1930s Brandt nude was a particular surprise, as I hadn't previously seen one from earlier than the mid 1940s ($35000).

espaivisor - Galeria Visor (here): Nil Yalter (1 set of 10, 1 triptych, 1 set of 16), Sanja Ivekovic (1 set of 100)

ONE AND J. Gallery (here): Jung Lee (5). I suppose it was inevitable that the "pithy phrase in neon" so prevalent in contemporary art would finally make the jump to staged photography ($15000 each).

Galeria SENDA (here): Oleg Dov (2), Anna Malagrida (2)

Galerie Crone (here): Daniel Megerle (10), Adrien Missika (4)

Galerie Ron Mandos (here): Hans Op De Beeck (1)

Rhona Hoffman Gallery (here): Luis Gispert (1), Xaviera Simmons (1), Karthik Pandian (2), Vito Acconci (1), Robert Heinecken (3)

Ingleby Gallery (here): Garry Fabian Miller (1 set of 4)

Sies + Höke (here): Joao Maria Gusmao and Pedro Paiva (1), Daniel Gustav Cramer (1 set of 7)

Sprüth Magers (here): John Baldessari (1), David Lamelas (8), Cindy Sherman (5), Louise Lawler (1)

Goodman Gallery (here): Mikhael Subotzky (2), Alfredo Jaar (1), Hank Willis Thomas (1 set of 6), David Goldblatt (3)

Luciana Brito Galeria (here): Caio Reisewitz (1). Marina Abramović (2), Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich (1), Regina Silveira (1 installation). This is a new work by Marina Abramović; I liked the tiny cracks climbing up the expanse of green and the unsettling blackened finger ($90000).

Cardi Black Box (here): Shirana Shahbazi (4). These are new works by Shahbazi, more active and overlapped than other abstractions I have seen by her.

Corkin Gallery (here): arbara Astman (5), Thaddeus Holownia (1 set of 100), André Kertész (3), Constantin Brancusi (1), Marion Post Wolcott (1), Frank Mädler (1)

Tang Contemporary Art (here): Wang Gongxin (2 videos), Ji Zhou (1), Yang Yong (1 diptych)

Galerie EIGEN + ART (here): Ricarda Roggan (3)

PPOW (here): Adam Putman (10)

Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): Joel Meyerowitz (2), Gordon Parks (1), Edward Burtynsky (1 diptych, 2), Imogen Cunningham (1), William Klein (4), Bruce Davidson (2), Robert Frank (2), Vivian Maier (4), Saul Leiter (4), Ted Croner (1), Caleb Cain Marcus (2). This lively diamond mural abstraction isn't what you might expect from William Klein ($19000).

Angles Gallery (here): Ori Gersht (5, 1 lightbox, 1 diptych) Soo Kim (5). This handcut inkjet print by Soo Kim is elegantly interwoven and delicate ($10000). Another example of a contemporary photographer playing with the surface/physicality of the print.

Haines Gallery (here): David Maisel (1)

Galerie van Gelder (here): Steven Parrino (1)

Leila Heller Gallery (here): Reza Aramesh (1 triptych)

Hales Gallery (here): Sebastiaan Bremer (1)

Vistamare (here): Mimmo Jodice (1)

Pierogi (here): Nadia Bournonville (1), Kevin Cooley (2)

Susan Inglett Gallery (here): Sarah Charlesworth (2)

Yossi Milo Gallery (here): Alison Rossiter (3), Simen Johan (1), Myoung Ho Lee (3), Mark Ruwedel (1 set of 15), Matthew Brandt (3), Doug Rickard (1), JD Okhai Ojeikere (2), Julie Cockburn (3). This new Matthew Brandt is more swirly and abstract than other works from this same series ($19000); the underlying lake drenched image is hardly recognizable.

Ignacio Liprandi Arte Contemporaneo (here): Jorge Pedro Nuñez (4). Square format Artforum ads projected into Albers-like layers of color ($4000 each).

Loevenbruck (here): Morgane Tschiember (1 set of 6)

Jack Shainman Gallery (here): Richard Mosse (1), Hank Willis Thomas (1), Barkley Hendricks (1). I was blown away by the electric contrast between the blue and the red/pink in this new Richard Mosse ($24000).

Corvi-Mora (here): Anne Collier (2)

Kukje Gallery (here)/Tina Kim Gallery (here): Kimsooja (1), Haegue Yang (2 sets of 4, 1 set of 3, 1 set of 2), Candida Höfer (1), Jenny Holtzer (1)

Part 2 of this post can be found here.

Richard Mosse, Infra @Shainman

JTF (just the facts): A total of 26 large scale color photographs, framed in grey and unmatted, and hung in the entry area, the large back divided gallery, and two smaller side rooms. All of the works are digital c-prints, made in 2010 or 2011. Each image is generally available in a small and large size; smaller sizes include 20x24, 28x35, and 40x50 (or reverse), all in editions of 5+1, and larger sizes include 48x60, 72x90, and 72x106 (or reverse), in editions of 2+1. A monograph of this body of work is being published by Aperture (here). (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: Richard Mosse's new images of the conflict in the eastern Congo push the definitional edges of photojournalism in both clever and confrontational ways. His photographs simultaneously operate on intertwined levels of documentary truth and artistic interpretation, mixing a reporter's eye for the facts of the story and an artist's eye for the mood.

Stripped of their color, Mosse's pictures would seem similar to images of war and rebellion that we see everyday: charismatic rebel leaders in fatigues surrounded by rag tag bunches of soldiers, the fight slipping in and out of the jungle, ravaging the countryside and then disappearing like a wisp of smoke. But the challenge is to get beyond these semi-posed units, the makeshift camps, and the military marches through the undergrowth to capture the disorienting, emotional landscape of the shifting alliances, the wins and losses, the destructive impact on the local people and the land itself, and the general inexplicable gruesomeness of it all. Like Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, Mosse's body of work takes the real and makes it exaggerated and surreal.

What is so obviously different and shockingly new here is Mosse' palette. Using discontinued Kodak Aerochrome infrared film, he has transformed dense pockets of jungle greenery and wide pastoral hillsides into a topsy-turvy Dr. Seuss world, where pink and red have become the dominant colors. River valleys, steep rock slides and undulating pastures are seemingly covered with bushes of cotton candy and hills of bubblegum. Soldiers wear pink berets and stand in towering undergrowth reminiscent of bright red Christmas pointsettas. The photographs are both joltingly wrong and quite beautiful, forcing the viewer to look again and again, trying to make sense of what is being presented. And this, of course, is the point; it's impossible to go down the rabbit hole of the Congo and have the situation seem normal or comprehensible. Even simple grazing cows look alien and out of place.
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While I admire the eye-popping, memorable distinctiveness of these images, I think Mosse's expansion of his photojournalistic boundaries is even more important. He has used unexpected color reversal as a metaphorical device, a method for providing a sense of the place that goes beyond the visual details caught on film. While his war-time compositions may look familiar, the entire aesthetic experience is unsettling and perplexing, undermining our ability to derive answers or draw conclusions. The wild palette tells us that we have entered an alternate reality of some kind, and that things are not what they seem. In the end, this inversion seems both highly appropriate and durably original, and I am confident that these images will continue to stand out for many years to come, instantly recognizable as the uncertainty of rebel warfare, stunningly turned on its head.
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Collector's POV: The prints in this show are priced based on size. Here's the breakdown: 20x24 - $5500, 28x35 - $6500, 40x50 - $9500, 48x60 - $16000, 72x90 - $20000, 72x106 - $25000. Mosse's work is not readily available in the secondary markets, so gallery retail is really the only option for interested collectors at this point.
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Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub:

• Artist site (here)
• Interview: Conscientious (here)
• Feature: Flavorwire (here)

Richard Mosse, Infra
Through December 23rd

Jack Shainman Gallery

513 West 20th Street

New York, NY 10011

Photography at the 2011 Armory, Part 3 of 4

Part 3 of our 2011 Armory summary covers the entire left side Pier 94, left from the entrance area. Part 1 of the review (which includes an explanation of the format) can be found here; Part 2 can be found here.

Lisson Gallery (here): Rodney Graham (1), Maria Abramovic (group of 20)

Victoria Miro (here): Idris Khan (1), Isaac Julien (1), Doug Aitken (group of 20). This striking purple and orange grid of Aitken images was on an outside wall of the booth; I didn't get a price.

Max Wigram Gallery (here): Slater Bradley (1), James White (1)

Museum 52 (here): Mariah Robertson (1)

Galeria Senda (here): Massimo Vitali (1), Ola Kolehmainen (1), Jordi Bernardo (2)

Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois (here): Alain Bublex (1)

Nicholas Robinson Gallery (here): Petros Christostoumou (1), Indre Serpytyte (1)

Sean Kelly Galley (here): James Casebere (2), Robert Mapplethorpe (2), Iran do Spirito Santo (4), Marina Abramovic (1), Frank Thiel (2). I liked the textured geometric uniformity of this monochrome Thiel. It was priced at 23000€.

Galerie Barbara Wien Wilma Lukatsch (here): Mariana Castillo Deball (4)

Carlier Gebauer (here): Jean-Luc Moulene (1)

Baronian_Francey (here): Florian Maier-Aichen (1)

Galerie Georg Kargl (here): Andreas Forarasi (1), David Maljkovic (1)

Yvon Lambert (here): David Claerbout (5+1 diptych)

Jack Shainman Gallery (here): Zwelethu Mthethwa (1), Hank Willis Thomas (1), Carrie Mae Weems (grid of 42), Richard Mosse (1). This was the first time I've seen one of Mosse's infrared images of the Congo in person. The pink tonality of the mountainous jungle is truly electric; I'm looking forward to seeing an entire show of this body of work at some point soon. The image was priced at $19000.

BlainSouthern (here): Mat Collinshaw (13)

Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie (here): Hrafnkell Sigurdsson (1)

Buchmann Galerie (here): Bettina Pousttchi (2)

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

Kavi Gupta Gallery (here): Curtis Mann (2). I continue to be impressed by these bleached images by Mann. I like the yellowed surface distortions and the glimpses of narrative underneath. This grid was $22000, and there were others to look at in a binder.

Workplace Gallery (here): Marcus Coates (1), Matt Stokes (1), Jo Coupe (1)

Parkett Publishers (here): Paul McCarthy (1), Annette Kelm (1)

Bugada & Cargnel (here): Cyprien Gaillard (4)

Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska (here): Josef Hoeflehner (2), Giovanni Castell (2), Olaf Otto Becker (2), Axel Hutte (1)

Ingleby Gallery (here): Garry Fabian Miller (7), Peter Liversidge (2), Susan Derges (1 diptych). I've always been a fan of Derges' work, especially the River Taw series of photograms. These images of water over sand have an amazing sparkle up close. Unfortunately, I didn't get a price.


Galeria Enrique Guerrero (here): Olga Adelantado (2). Pablo Helguera (6+slides on lightbox)

Faria Fabregas Galeria (here): Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck (1)

Ignacio Liprandi Arte Contemporaneo (here): Adriana Bustos (2)

Galeria Nara Roesler (here): Paolo Bruscky (2)

Lucia de la Puente (here): Edi Hirose (9)

Galeria Isabel Aninat (here): Denise Lira-Ratinoff, Collectivo Aninat & Swinburn (4)

Part 4 of the Armory review can be found here.

Richard Mosse, The Fall @Shainman

JTF (just the facts): A total of 12 photographs and 1 video, hung in the entry area, large back gallery, and two smaller side rooms. The 10 color images are all digital c-prints face mounted to plexi, framed in thin silver with no mat. The prints come in two general sizes; a large print approximately 72x90 or reverse (with some variation in dimensions from image to image) and a smaller print approximately 40x50 or reverse (again with some small variations); these prints come in editions of 2+1 and 5+1 respectively. The two black and white images are digital silver prints with selenium toning, framed in thicker white frames with no mats. Again, these prints come in large and small sizes, although the specific dimensions are different (one is 50x62 or 29x36, the other 50x85 or 40x50); these are also made in editions of 2+1 and 5+1 based on size. All of the images were taken in 2009. The video is approximately 4 minutes long and is shown in its own darkened room. It has been produced in an edition of 5+1. (Installation shots at right.)
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Comments/Context: Richard Mosse's new body of work is aptly called The Fall, as it centers on the quiet aftermath of conflict and the abandoned remnants of battle, specifically in Iraq. In these pictures, memories and symbols mix in unusual ways to commemorate the war-torn past.
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The best of the images in this show depict anonymous bullet ridden and pock marked cars, stripped of their tires and anything else of value, the sheet metal shredded and twisted in sharp angles. Sitting alone in the thick smoky dust, they are slowly being eaten away by the sand, shadowy sculptural monuments to roadside bombs, gun battles, or innocents caught in the crossfire. The video on view in a side gallery continues this theme: large scraps of unidentifiable metal are circled by the camera, with the endless names of the cities and towns of Iraq recited in alphabetical order in a deadpan voice over; strewn in the desert, they become deformed shrines and markers for events now forgotten.
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A second group of pictures depicts grounded fighter planes and passenger jets, shot down, partially destroyed, or just left to rot, their tails and empty cockpits jutting up like obelisks, rusting amid weeds, forests, and blankets of snow.
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And while much has been made of the grandeur of Saddam Hussein's many palaces in Iraq, Mosse's images of Uday's palace show the ironic reality of these over-the-top royal mansions: the turquoise-tiled swimming pool is dry and full of rubble, the ornate columns are smashed and falling down, and soldiers in full battle dress are lounging on the terrace with their machine guns, the vast empty desertscape in the background.

Mosse's images are a reminder that the most poignant relics of war may not be the heroic statues or elegant tombstones; they may be the discarded fragments of the destruction, neglected and left behind, but evidence just the same.
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Collector's POV: The prints in this show are priced based on size. Regardless of the printing process or the exact dimensions of the works, the "large" images are $18000 each and the "small" ones are $9500 each; the video is $6000. Mosse's work is not readily available in the secondary markets, so interested collectors will need to follow up at retail.
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Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Artist site (here)
• Interview: BLDGBLOG (here)
• Feature: Lens (here)

Richard Mosse, The Fall
Through December 23rd

Jack Shainman Gallery
513 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011