Falls, Kahn, Smalley, Ancart: at the Armory 2014 a few minutes are enough

 

Collectors have been faster than ever this year at the Armory Show, especially with these guys. The three amazing Sam Falls’ at Eva Pressenhuber prove, once more, that the artist’s path is in a constant evolution. This new chapter of his art practice is based on an evident transparency of the canvas. It is a solution on which other artists are also working at the moment, such as Ayan Farha, Valerie Snowbeck, Aaron Bobrow, May Hands.

 

Hanging on the other side of the same wall at Eva Pressenhuber booth is a single piece by Wyatt Kahn. The artist is going to have a solo show at the gallery late in 2014, of which this work is a sort of premonition. It seems that Kahn is focusing his attention on the perimeter of the artwork, saying something like: could you imagine it in a monumental scale?

 

Monumentality is also the key element of the two artworks presented by Travess Smalley at Higher Picture’s booth. The only doubt is about the border, that is in continuity with the surface. It underlines the status of the picture, that is of being “printed”, and not painted. However it could also be regarded as an expressive element in itself, opening the work to a new range of interpretations. Effectively he will next appear in a group show at the International Center of Photography in New York.

 

Clearing is just beside Higher Picture. They only have four works by Harold Ancart but it is enough to call it a solo show, with the full range of the artist’s current production perfectly represented. The big canvas, the small one, the bench and the shelf. Probably Ancart’s godfather is Wade Guyton and Carol Bove his god mother. Even if his work is info-free.

 

July 18, 2015