MoCCA Fest '12: The Best and Brightest of Indie Comics

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Parent Category: Other Festivals

Category: Art/Antiques

Published on Monday, 09 April 2012 17:41

Written by Renzo Adler

What started as a chaotic confederacy of artists at the Puck Building in 2002, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) Festival (April 28-29 at the Lexington Ave Armory) is now one of the best gatherings of independent comic authors in the country.

Punk style zines, former Marvel and DC artists breaking out on their own, young webcomic authors, and more all converge for the 10th year of this landmark event in indie comics.

MoCCA’s Guest of Honor is artist P. Craig Russell. Russell, who has been working in comics since the 70’s, and gained notereity for his art in the story “Ramadan” in the 50th issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman in 1993. His line work is evocative of Aubrey Beardsley, which is no coincidence since he has adapted several operas and plays into comic form, including Oscar Wilde’s Salome, while Russell’s sense of visual narrative and rich illustrations recall the cream of the crop from Jim Shooter era Marvel. His latest book is The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince, from NBM Publishing.

Read more: MoCCA Fest '12: The Best and...

Armory Arts Week 2012

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Parent Category: Other Festivals

Category: Art/Antiques

Published on Wednesday, 07 March 2012 23:09

Written by Renzo Adler

This week New York is being laid siege to by a wave of art-fairs, like a colossal phalanx of Picassos riding on Duchamp chocolate grinders, while a television set built by Nam Jun Pak plays "Ride of the Valkyries." Spanning mediums, disciplines, styles, and countries, the many art fairs emerging for Amory Arts Week (March 7-11, 2012) takes place in conjunction with the New York Amory Show (Piers 92-94, March 8-11).

This succession of various art fairs highlights a neighborhood or borough’s art scene each night with events. Past events have included special receptions, open studios, art tours, museum discounts, performances, panels, artist discussions and parties in

• The Bronx
• Soho
• Long Island City
• Chelsea
• Brooklyn
• Lower East Side

This includes special tours, discounted admission to certain museums, and a plethora of different happenings.

You can learn more at: http://www.armoryartsweek.com/

The Fountain Art Fair (March 9-11, 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue) touts itself as the more rebellious art fair happening this week.

Fountain has a strong emphasis on street art and features “18 of today’s most infamous street artsts- over half of them female”, touts Fountain representatives. Spectacle and use of space is a large part of the show as the show will include a 200-foot installation b

Many of the galleries and artists featured at Fountain hail from Brooklyn but it also includes 10 international galleries from Korea, Japan, Germany, France, and Canada. And when art fair fatigue sets in, you can seek respite at the LOOSEWORLD Lounge, where Pernod Absinthe will be providing specialty cocktails while LOOSEWORLD, a multi-media creative agency, sets the scene with special video projects.oth inside and outside the 69th St. Armory along with Abraham Lubelski’s large-scale installation 250,000 Works on Paper and Ryan Cronin’s 35-foot inflatable pink bunny which hovers over the fair.

For more information, go to: http://www.fountainartfair.com

Taking a cool minimalist aesthetic and combining it with a wide net of mediums is Scope New York, which returns to New York for its 11th year.

Happening across from the Armory Show at the Scope Pavilion (57th St & 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10019), Scope New York, features over 50 international galleries and museum-quality programming that will highlight groundbreaking, emerging work in contemporary art and beyond. Scope will also support the not-for-profit art organization, Chashama, by featuring Chashama studio artists.

The Scope Pavilion will also be home to the newly launched SCOPE Foundation Series, showcasing a variety of projects, events and performances across multiple creative genres, including art, design, film and fashion. Proceeds from this series will benefit The SCOPE Foundation, creating continued opportunities for emerging artists and galleries worldwide. Scope spokespeople have stated that “Scope has solidified its position as the premier showcase for international emerging contemporary art and multi-disciplinary creative programming.”

You can learn more at http://www.scope-art.com/

VOLTA NY (7 West 34th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenue, 11th floor) is an invitational show of solo artists’ projects and is the American incarnation of the successful young fair founded in Basel in 2005.

VOLTA NY was conceived by art critic and fair director Amanda Coulson to create a show with a strong boutique feeling and creating a more intimate environment and a place where new talent can be discovered, regardless of the artist or gallery’s age. The focus on solo projects “promotes a deep exploration of the work of its selected projects, an opportunity for discoveries that move beyond those afforded by a traditional art fair, “says their mission statement.

To learn more, go to http://ny.voltashow.com/

The Art Show (Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street), organized by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) to benefit the Henry Street Settlement, covers a range of works from the 19^th century to today, presented exhibitions by the nation's leading art dealers and galleries. The show features 72 ADAA members presenting, including:

• DC Moore Gallery
• The Pace Gallery
• Locks Gallery
• Betty Cuningham Gallery

The third edition of Independent (548 W 22nd Street, March 8-11), is taking place at the former Dia Center for the Arts and features 43 participants and takes place in a specially customized space, designed by architect Christian Wassmann, to optimize public viewing.

Wassmann also designed the 29º Observatory, roof installation, which along with the spatial configuration of the building layout is based around the concept of aligning with the true North-South axis of the earth. Could Independent be the true center of the world? Independent was conceived by Elizabeth Dee and Darren Flook and developed in conjunction with creative advisor Matthew Higgs and Co-Directors Jayne Drost Johnson and Laura Mitterrand.

To learn more, go to http://www.independentnewyork.com/

The Moving Image Contemporary Video Art Fair (Waterfront New York Tunnel, 11th Avenue between 27th Street and 28th Street, March 8-11) was conceived to create an exciting fair environment that focused on video art.

The newly formed Moving Image Curatorial Advisory Committee for New York 2012 has invited a selection of international commercial galleries and non-profit institutions to present single-channel videos, single-channel projections, video sculptures, and other larger video installations. Special events include panel discussions on the application of new technologies to video art, spotlight on director Lori Zippay, and discussion on purchasing video art.

To learn more, go to http://www.moving-image.info/

New City Art Fair (529 west 20th st. 2w), hosted by H.P. France, is “the first and only Japanese contemporary art fair in New York” and features 11 galleries from Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

The focus of the festival is to illustrate the change in perspective contemporary artists in Japan have had since last year’s earthquake and tsunami. Included is a special tour of the studios of participating artists on Friday, March 9, gallery talks, author Adrian Favell presenting his new book Before and After Superflat- A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art 1990-2011, and panel discussions.

To learn more, go to http://www.newcityartfair.com/

PooL Art Fair (Gershwin Hotel, 7 East 27th Street) is the premiere fair in the US dedicated to unrepresented artists. The first edition took place in 2000 under the title: New York Independent Art Fair.

The simple, modest approach of the PooL Art Fair offers an exciting alternative to the "Art Fair" experience, and instead has a style based on the French salons of the 19th century. Pool's main purpose is to create a meeting ground for outstanding unrepresented artists and the large public of contemporary art professionals. The three-day exhibition includes curated exhibitions, lectures addressing the challenges of the current art world along with special projects and events.

To learn more, go to http://www.poolartfair.com/

SPRING/BREAK Art Show (The Old School, 233 Mott Street, New York City 10012, March 8-11) features the projects of 23 curators, and will abandon the traditional focus on galleries, offering a “break” from the typical art fair model – and showcase a range of New York City’s curatorial voices.

The exhibition theme is Apocalist: A Brief History of The End, which Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly, the co-founders of The They Co. and SPRING/BREAK Art Show, claims ‘aims to elucidate the sense of direction, disorder, celebration, or disdain generated by real or invented global or personal assumptions of calamity.’ Displaying work from artists based in the Lower East Side, Williamsburg, Gowanus, and Bushwick. SPIRNG/BREAK creates a unique exhibition space by utilizing over 20 classrooms in an aged schoolhouse.

Artists include:

• Artliars
• Atelier VanLieshout
• Lisha Bai
• Thomas Beale
• Sarah Bereza
• Bigert & Bergström

To learn more, go to http://www.springbreakartshow.com/

Armory Show in New York

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Parent Category: Other Festivals

Category: Art/Antiques

Published on Tuesday, 06 March 2012 18:16

Written by Renzo Adler

Returning to New York for its 14th year this March, 2012, The Armory Show once again brings the newest and most captivating art to the city on Piers 92 and 94.  This year’s Armory Show is a massive exhibition of artists, galleries, special exhibitions, and works spanning many mediums, along with special exhibitions focusing on Nordic artists.

Galleries exhibiting at the Armory include:

• Gary Snyder Gallery
• David Nolan Gallery
• Nicole Klagsbrun
• Robert Klein Gallery

And many more

On March 7th, the Museum of Modern Art will hold a special Armory Show preview and party and will include performances from the band Neon Indian. Tickets to the Armory Show preview party benefits exhibition programming for The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1. 

The invitation-only portion of the show, Armory  Focus, is putting a special spot light on Nordic artists and Nordic countries, will be curated by esteemed Malmö Konsthall director Jacob Fabricius and feature select galleries from:

• Denmark
• Norway
• Sweden
• Finland
• Iceland

In conjunction with the focus on Nordic art, the Open Forum panel will feature discussions between New York and Nordic based artists, art historians, curators, critics, directors and dealers. The talks will draw on the distinctions and affinities between the socially engaged artistic, curatorial, writing and administrative practices of the two geographic regions.

The Armory Show – Modern is a section dedicated to international dealers specializing in historically significant modern and contemporary art. Anyone with a ticket of admission to the Armory Show can also attend this special exhibit.

For families, the Armory Show includes special family focused tours lead by curators of New York’s Children’s Museum of the Arts, along with hands-on workshops that draw on the themes and styles of contemporary art

The Armory Show is also incorporating video and experimental film works into the show by partnering with the Moving Image Fair to present the inaugural edition of Armory Film, a selection of leading contemporary video and experimental films featuring artists represented by Armory Show exhibitors. 

The Armor Film Exhibition includes works by:

• Rico Gaston
• Nancy Atakan
• Ho Tzu Nyen
• Liliana Porter

The Armory Show is one of the most comprehensive gatherings of new and daring works of art, along with a great tradition of revering artistic ingenuity from all walks and eras.  Whether you are a learned expert, or someone simply looking to get acquainted with the show’s vast offerings, The Armory Show is a great event to see.

To learn more, go to: http://www.thearmoryshow.com/

The Armory Show
12th Avenue & W 55th St
New York, NY 10019

Piers 92/04
711 12th Avenue
New York, NY 10019