On the way

Sharktoof

Forgoing the Aqua Hotel Fair this year to focus their Wynwood location, I found the Aqua Fair to be the most manageable size, and this year curated very well. The general "theme" (if an art fair can posses such a thing) was very modern/pop-surrealist (i hate that term), character-based and illustrative work ( of course with exception).

One such booth was Montreal gallery Yves LaRoche and publisher Mark Murphy's giant shared booth. One personal favorite is artist Turf One. I love his signature usage of found doors and cabinets, painting across hinges, transforming his pieces from canvas into detailed characters which invade one's space. His Aqua piece was no exception, although I prefer the contrast of the detailed flesh when he uses more rough-hewn architectural salvage. The other star of the booth was the giant (and I'm guessing maybe 12-14 feet tall) wrestler, a collaboration by Toronto painters Jon Todd and Robin Red. I love Todd's Day of the Dead inspired skulls (I own a piece from his "Keep Calm Carry On" series) intermingled with Red's detailed patternwork.

Turf One

Jon Todd & Robin Red

Mike Shine's Karneval cabin at Shooting Gallery illustrated the artist's perfect mesh of driftwood, housepaint, 70s pop culture and woodworking skills. Shine himself lives in a cabin with his wife and children in Northern California, I can only dream it is as quirky as his artwork! Also present was an amazing Ron English piece, of his KISS series. English produces a lot of work, in varying styles (collage, cartoony, photorealistic, the list goes on) but I am always impressed with his alter art-historical pieces. Ron once told me he taught himself art history by repainting famous works, and has clearly mastered the skill. AJ Fosik's piece was as impressive as ever. Fosik just seems to get better and better, and he really seems to be coming into his own. His newer color pallets and increasing precision have turned out a more refined body of work, I am excited about what the future holds for him.

Mike Shine

Ron English

AJ Fosik

Still heavy on illustrative work was Harold Golen's New World Order themed booth. Two points for creativity with the theme, an extra points for the great Masonic themed stencil "wall paper".New comers Taylor & Mackenzie Gallery's vibrant booth drew me in with Brooklyn-based Laura Meyers' animal-headed portraiture. Noticeably a new mini-trend, Meyers breathes new life in this animal-headedness with her mixture of bold colors, discriminating figure studies and gold foiling. Tibi Tibi Neuspiel's Toast portraits at Toronto's Narwal Projects caused a giggle to come over me, as I thought about the fools who bid on the Virgin Mary toast on Ebay.

Harold Golen Gallery

Laura Meyers at Taylor & Mackenzie Gallery

Tibi Tibi Neuspiel at Narwhal Projects

Stepping away from the pop-surrealist, I was quite taken with what appeared to be a blue-wave sculpture by Steve Tobin at Philadelphia's Bridgette Mayer Gallery. I'm somewhat familiar with the artists often large-scale, organically themed sculptures. Upon closer inspection, I found the piece to be a wave of cast human skeletal parts, jaws, vertebrae, hip sockets and ribs, flowing into a blue arc, which seems fitting to the wave of Armageddon-themed movies and books that have been turning up as the fated 2012 approaches (which honestly are my favorite kinds of books!) And also reminds me of the actual bone artistry of the 11th and 12th centuries.

Steve Tobin at Bridgette Mayer Gallery

I am still perplexed on the method of painter Atsushi Takahashi (Edel Gallery). He has mastered the near-impossibility of controlling splatters/streams of paint. His densely-built up portraits look as if they are comprised of carefully placed colored strings. Inspired by emotion and the personal narrative of his subjects, Takahashi brings a warmth and aura to his subjects with his layering technique.

Atsushi Takahashi

I've been a vegetarian for 13 years, so generally taxidermy art pretty much disgusts me. But visiting brand new gallery Frosch & Portmann's booth kind of changed my mind with artist Iris Schieferstein's piece. A pistol and rifle, covered in the bodies of two snakes and entitled "Friends" completely drew me in. "Eat or be eaten" is what I thought immediately, and I realized that this piece would not be as effective to me had it been a drawing or painting. To me, I find many works that include taxidermy to be unnecessary, meaning that using a fake dead animal would achieve the same effect, a great example being the artificial and realistic wolves in Cai Guo Qiang's "Head On." Shieferstein was the first artist I Googled after leaving the fairs, and I found her body of work to be compelling, and understand her re-appropriation of actual animals to communicate her message of bringing new life to death. I particularly loved the piece included in Aqua, and her quote I found on her site, "The earlier you die, the longer you are dead".

Iris Schieferstein

Leaving the fair, I parted with Bold Hype's haunting sculptures by Jinyoung Yu. The delicate PVC sculptures of a "Family in Disguise" series are most effective when displayed as they were intended, in front of a floral patterned background which represents wallpaper of a home. The family's face portray sorrow or emotion, while transparency of their bodies blend in and adapt to their surroundings, masking these emotions, much as many of our own families do. A sullen, and truthful piece to leave the fair with.

Jinyoung Yu