ADAA's The Art Show Returns With Strongly Curated But Slow Selling Booths

The ADAA Art Show opened last night (October 30) at the Park Avenue Armory, with a regular benefit gala to support Henry Street Settlement, one of the oldest social service organizations in the country. The 36th edition of one of the oldest fairs in the city features work submitted by ADAA's seventy-five member galleries, many of which feature curated booths that spotlight each artist's work and narrative. This attention to detail, combined with the existing beauty of the Armory's well-proportioned interior and sophisticated crowd, gives the property a boutique feel.

Despite this, sales and negotiations take place gradually in the first hours, reflecting the current trend: collectors are increasingly thoughtful and deliberate, requiring extended discussions and negotiations before finalizing deals as the prices in many booths seem more reasonable than previous plans. The plentiful selection of hors d'oeuvres and drinks probably didn't help, as most of the crowd's attention was drawn to the drinking, taking the focus away from buying the art.

Newly hired ADAA director Kinsey Robb, however, expressed satisfaction with the turnout on the first night, telling the Observer that the benefit preview exceeded his expectations. “There was a large turnout and a lot of excitement in the air about the presentations of our audience, most of whom started for the first time to do new works with artists,” he said. “It was a pleasure to come together as a community, share in each other's work and celebrate our long-standing relationship with Henry Street, for whom we raised over $1 million last night.”

At the entrance, Pace Gallery has mounted a stand-alone booth featuring unique monotypes by sought-after artist Chase Hall, with prices set between $50,000 and $55,000. Earlier, Kasmin presented a series of rare works by the powerful American photographer Tina Barney, all centered on the theme of family.

One booth of particular note was Luxembourg + Co., which featured theatrical installations by Japanese artist Katsumi Nakai. Nakai, who moved to Italy in the 1960s, focused on the Italian art scene, working with the historic Galleria Il Naviglio in Milan. His performance, rich in influences from Lucio Fontana Teatrini and the static, modified canvases of Enrico Castellani and Agostino Bonalumi, which also maintain a link to Japanese origami traditions. These pieces literally unfold on the booth, from monochromatic designs to vibrant, multi-colored structures that evoke playful, almost biological forms. Priced between $14,000 and $50,000, Nakai's work is part of an ongoing recovery effort following his exhibition at Frieze Masters in London and a solo exhibition in London last year. The effort coincides with an exhibition that recently opened at Luxembourg + Co., New York, which features Nakai's work in conversation with that of Isamu Noguchi.

Bottom left, Eric Firestone Gallery presents a fascinating dialogue between Thomas Sills and Jeanne Reynal, two artists who were lifelong partners and deeply influenced each other's complex, compelling art. Their works reflect the shared inspiration of their travels, especially in the Mediterranean and South America. Reynal, who trained in Paris as a stonemason, developed a new way of thinking about this traditional method when he returned to the US, cutting and assembling with precision tesserae mixed with Venetian glass, semi-precious stones and pieces of shell. The result is carved columns that evoke the ancient ruins of Greek archeology but at the same time seem extremely alive, like underwater corals or limestone formations, while his works on fabric take an informal approach to information, with a wonderful quality that recalls experimental textures. by Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet. Meanwhile, Sills (1914-2000), a self-taught Black artist from the South, began painting in his 30s, inspired by the work of Reynal and encouraged by Willem de Kooning. Known for her skill with color, Sills applied paint to fabrics and rags, creating a unique softness and inner glow in her pieces. Reynal's works in this presentation are offered in the $150,000-$200,000 range.

Using light from the canvas, Tibor De Nagy depicts Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson's Icelandic landscapes in vibrant colors and gradients, capturing the unique natural forces and winds of his homeland. These jobs cost between $15,000 and $18,000.

In Peg Alston's booth, outstanding pieces by Sam Gilliam and Frank Bowling, including a Bowling work inspired by Cézanne and valued at $200,000, attracted significant attention. Louis Armstrong's music was played in the background, creating an ambiance reminiscent of the era in which most of these works were created.

In the background, Lehmann Maupin presented Malawian artist Billie Zangewa's intricate collages, hand-stitched from pieces of silk. Her works, which explore themes of motherhood and life in Johannesburg, are on display at SITE SANTA FE until February and will later move to the Frost Museum. Pieces in The Art Show were priced between $18,000 and $20,000.

Nearby, James Fuentes highlighted a rendition of a song by Japanese artist Kikuo Saito next to two word paintings by Trinidadian polymath Geoffrey Holder, whose gallery represents. The owner Woman in Orange, it sold on the first night for $150,000. Following a summer show at Victoria Miro with his brother, Boscoe Holder, Geoffrey Holder's diverse body of work has attracted renewed interest, especially since Fuentes held his first solo show in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Among the finds of this year's landmark exhibition is the work of self-taught artist Abraham Lincoln Walker (1921-1993), who was born in Kentucky and is based in Saint Louis. Recently acquired and presented for the first time by Andrew Edlin Gallery, Walker's art nearly sold out in the first hours, with pieces priced between $10,000 and $40,000. His deeply dystopian works from the late 1960s to early 1970s depict tall, masked figures and disjointed human figures, meeting and navigating ambiguous relationships in desolate, dark-toned spaces.

For those interested in emerging talent, a visit to the booth of Houston-based Josh Pazda Hiram Butler Gallery is a must. Here, one finds the complex, multi-layered paintings of Ana Villagomez, who recently enjoyed a sold-out exhibition at Nino Mier Gallery in New York. All works are similar in size and priced at $18,000, reflecting his growing appeal among collectors.

Josh Pazda Hiram Butler isn't the only Houston gallery represented this year: ADAA has launched an exciting new program, “Spotlight On…,” designed to showcase the city's art scenes beyond the big art scene. The inaugural program celebrates the vibrancy of Houston's fine arts community, featuring presentations by Houston-based ADAA members through panels and institutional interactions.

Card | Ayis | Bacino presents a solo exhibition of artist Reynier Leyva Novo with works from his ongoing series, Whispers of Mnemosyne. The series began earlier this year in Novo's “Former Present Today” solo exhibition at the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston. Novo's body of work examines historical memory, asking how it is formed and used through memorials and other symbolic representations. The booth features acrylic paintings and canvas paintings depicting the removal of Confederate monuments in the US following the killing of George Floyd in 2020. One side of the display shows an invisible blue block created by enlarging a single pixel of the sky that was once framed. these monuments, effectively erase their image. The opposite side shows a painting that uses infrared light to reveal traces beneath erased documents from the historical period.

ADAA's The Art Show continues at Armory Park Avenue through Saturday, November 2.