Spring/Break Art Show 2019 was a fun edition filled with surprises. Held for the first year at United Nations Plaza, booths were arranged in two distinct sections with exhibitors taking over office spaces. Curator's exhibiting in this year's theme were tasked to present a booth with the theme "Fact and Fiction."
There was plenty of interesting art to see and noteworthy booths that fully developed the theme. Following are 10 booths that were particularly enjoyable and stood out for the creative curating or the art itself.
1. Artist Cj Hendry- Curated by John Zinonos
Australian artist Cj Hendry created an interactive sculpture to challenge participates to capture fictional drug money blowing around inside. “Catch as much money as possible in thirty seconds” is written largely on its label as the prescription. It is prescribed as "Written by ‘Dr. Cj Hendry’ from High Street for Jane Doe from Cranktown, NY."
.
.
2. Artist Jennifer Dalton - Curated by Jennifer McCoy, Kevin McCoy and Jennifer Dalton
The team of Jennifer Dalton, Jennifer McCoy and Kevin McCoy curated the booth "TV GUIDE," which presented art related to television narratives. Wallpaper that recalled TV static unified the booth and tv remotes were scattered along the floor.
Drawing a crowd was “Hello I’m...” by Jennifer Dalton, 2015. Custom-printed stickers and sticker dispensers made up of 10 different sculptures branding titles that included “Alternating Between Depressed and Inspired," “Deeply Uncomfortable," “Enjoying Proximity to Wealth," "Feeling Pretty Good About This," "Hoping for the Best," "Not Sure Why I'm Here," "Stealing Your Ideas," "Wearing the Wrong Shoes” and “In my Element.” Each are 8 x 3.5 inches.
Visitors were encouraged to select one to show how they were feeling in that moment. At the end of each day, the curators would then check to see which sentiments were most popular.
.
.
.
3. Artist Melissa Maddonni Haims - Presented by InLiquid and Curated by Rachel Zimmerman
For Spring/Break Art Show, sculptor and fiber artist Melissa Maddonni Haims exhibited a series of trophies as way to celebrate the mediocre. According to the artist, she never won an award, so she decided to make some of her own using typical trophies as the base for her woven and fabric awards.
Trophies celebrate wins for "17th Place,” “Mediocre,” “Super Sunshiney/Most Miserable,” "Winner/Loser," and others. Click here to see the entire collection.
.
.
.
4. Artist Phaan Howng - Curated by Betsy Johnson
E.N.D.O (Eternal Navigators of Doom Organization), is a real estate office for the post-apocalypse. Impossible to miss in Day-Glo pinks and oranges presented in psychedelic patterns, one wall of the installation was lined with real estate postings. A live "real estate agent" was on site and ready to show you around your options after the world collapses.
The entrance and hallway into Spring/Break Art Show provided a teaser for the installation through a series of broker photos set on a trippy background. Both locations were curated by Betsy Johnson.
.
.
5. Artists Richard Pasquarelli and filmmaker team Elan + Jonathan Bogarín - Curated by Kelcey Edwards of Iron Gate East
The art in "The Hidden World of Objects" gave the answers to the questions: "What happens at home when I'm not around?" and "What kind of life experiences do objects have the last beyond a typical lifespan?" The booth installed photographs by Elan + Jonathan Bogarín with paintings by Richard Pasquarelli that connect the human experience to objects and possessions including furniture and a lifetime of possessions by a family members and those objects collected by hoarders and those with OCD. Both tell stories about their owners and conjure memories and associations by those viewing them.
“The artists featured in The Hidden World of Objects are conducting an investigation into the power of objects to connect us to our most deep-seated sense of personhood," Edwards wrote in her curator's statement. "The works of art in The Hidden World of Objects investigate this paradoxical power of objects to toggle between the symbolic and literal, the real and ideal by exploring the psychological, and thus unreliable and imperfect nature of memory and association.”
.
.
.
6. Artist Chris Cohen - Curated by John Ros
Chris Cohen recreates his childhood living room in the immersive installation "WHITE NOISE" as a way to reflect upon the facts and fiction about his own family as well as the silences that represent heightened xenophobia and racism in his parents’ generation, according to his artist statement.
.
.
.
.
7. Artist Shona McAndrew - Curated by Lauren Powell
Shona McAndrew's created her bedroom for her installation at Spring/Break Art Show 2019. The nude couple (the artist and her boyfriend) are made of papier-mâché as is every other object in the room. The details in the installation blew me away--every single object was made in papier-mâché, including the life-size couple, the bedding, magazines, plants, clothes sticking out from nearly closed dresser drawers, a bedtime snack and much more.
.
.
.
.
8. Artist Graham Wilson - Curated by Lux Yuting Bai
At first glance, “High Maintenance” by Graham Wilson, 2019, seems like one of those unusual installations we've come to expect to find at a Spring/Break Art Show. Made up of pink insulation, fans and balloons, it was a strange sight and I couldn't help but want to know more.
The artist explained "High Maintenance" is a representation of the brain just trying to hold it together...especially relevant for many people during the current political environment. The wind (generated by the fans) and the balloons are the brain battling the effects caused by the meeting of the neurological brain and the neurotic one.
.
.
9. Artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian - Curated by Jenny Mushkin Goldman and Jessica Davidson
“Tape Shut” by Rachel Lee Hovnanian, 2019, was a dramatic presentation and interesting use of material. The entire booth was lined with tape with a figurative bronze bust punctuating the entrance.
In the Artist Statement, Hovnanian explained, "The bust is illuminated by two works in neon that read 'what I couldn’t say' and 'what I didn’t day,' alluding to the ways in which censorship can result in emotional and psychological turmoil for its victims and witnesses."
"The floor is strewn with feather-coated tape stripes, representing the silencing power of institutional forces that prevent difficult truths from being dispensed," the artist continued. "Every breath is capable of dispersing the feathers - except when they are trapped in these tape nests.”
.
.
.
10. "EDEN" - An Immersive Space & Group Show - Curated by Indira Cesarine / The Untitled Space
Curator Indira Cesarine put together an intriguing installation that mixed a garden setting with work by 20 female artists who reacted to the history and symbolism of the Garden of Eden, the roles of Adam and Eve, the concept of original sin and sexual temptation and the religious belief that women, as a gender, must pay for Eve's sin for eternity.
Of her inspiration to create a contemporary Garden of Eden in response to the fair's "Fact and Fiction" theme, the curator wrote, "One could say the “Garden of Eden” is not only the questionable birthplace of humanity and original sin, but also the first “fake news” known to mankind. Is it fact or fiction? Incredibly thousands of years later, the existence of the Garden of Eden is still heavily debated.”
“…One could say the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the root of misogyny in patriarchal societies, and has resulted in women being subjected to discrimination and “justified” inequality for thousands of years. Equally the sexual liberation and beauty of the Garden of Eden has been romanticized throughout the canon of art history. I felt it was time to explore The Garden of Eden in context with feminist art today, including the stereotypes, symbolism and sexuality of Eden, and liberate Eve from being a woman condemned.”
.
.
.
.
______________________________
BASIC FACTS: Spring/Break Art Show was held March 5 to 11, 2019 at 866 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY.
______________________________
Copyright 2019 Hamptons Art Hub LLC. All rights reserved.