One fair looks to expand the modernist canon while another highlights the many voices working in contemporary art.
The art world and the NFL both kicked off their seasons on Thursday with more than a little in common. Eager crowds. Small fortunes trading hands. Hard-edge competition to acquire undervalued talent. But there are no scoreboards in the gallery world, so determining winners proves far trickier in that arena. Nevertheless, at Independent 20th Century and the Armory Show fans of various artistic stripes will find something to cheer for.
Bridget Mullen, Birthday #49, 2023. Flashe on linen, 12 x 9 in. Courtesy of the artist and Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles. Photo: Matt Grub.
As is usual at this massive showcase—this year Armory includes over 225 exhibitors from some 35 countries—the most engaging presentations foreground just one or two artists. In the Solo section, Bridget Mullen’s paintings at Shulamit Nazarian are tightly coiled psychedelic meditations. Though largely abstract, more figurative elements creep in—a limb, some plants—and combine in works of formal bliss.
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