These Are the Buzziest Artists Discovered at New York Art Week

Independent 20^th Century

Returning for its third edition in New York and online, Independent 20th Century presented a select group of invited galleries championing artists from the international avant-garde movements between 1900 and 2000. Located in the historic Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan, this year’s fair highlighted women artists, Black, and Indigenous artists from the Americas and beyond, and work from the 1990s. Standout presentations included Susana Wald’s surreal portraits of women turned into objects related to their male partner’s trades at the shared booth of Galerie Michael Janssen and Marisa Newman Projects; Almine Rech’s solo showcase of paintings and works on paper by CoBrA cofounder Karel Appel; figurative works by self-taught Ukrainian artist Janet Sobel paired with Sol LeWitt’s conceptual abstractions at James Barron Art; and Zero Group cofounder Heinz Mack’s rarely exhibited ceramics at Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art’s collaboration with the Mack Foundation.

NADA House

Back on Governors Island for its sixth edition, NADA House is a collaborative exhibition that brings together 17 exhibitors presenting 21 artists, with participants engaging the unique character of a 19^th-century former military residence and delivering work in a diverse range of mediums. On view through October 27 in Nolan Park, highlights include Sebastien Leon Agneessens’ sound sculpture and works on paper generated through an automatic drawing process made famous by the Paris Surrealists presented by Bienvenu Steinberg & C; Kumkum Fernando’s futuristic figures charting an intergalactic journey to reach a loved one exhibited by Jonathan LeVine Projects; and Massey Klein Gallery’s survey of sculptures by Canadian artist Jude Griebel exploring concerns of planetary collapse.

Art on Paper

Returning to Lower Manhattan’s Pier 36 for its 10th edition, Art on Paper featured galleries showcasing modern and contemporary paper-based art, alongside installations and events highlighting the creative potential of paper, curated by Nato Thompson. Standout presentations at this year’s fair were Spanierman Modern’s vintage photographs by Surrealist master Man Ray; CHIAOZZA’s playful paper pulp paintings and sculptures at VSOP Projects; and Tomato Mouse’s solo exhibition of carved paper-works of interiors from Renaissance masterpieces by Anna Gregor. In its second year, the Artist Book Fair—a fair within a fair—featured institutions showcasing works of art that utilized the book as a form.

SPRING/BREAK Art Show

In a new location, the lucky 13^th NYC edition of SPRING/BREAK Art Show featured more than 100 curatorial exhibitions, special projects, and a new section Artist Spotlight section in the former offices of a book-binding business in Lower Manhattan. Highlights included Mary Lai’s graphic paintings of dreamlike scenarios, curated by Nina Kong-Surtees; Rachel Gisela Cohen’s shapely paintings layered with sparkly cutout fabrics in an immersive three-person show organized by Cohen and Abby Cheney; Peter Gynd’s beautifully brushed still lives and landscape paintings, presented by Jody MacDonald; along with Erik Hanson’s room full of action paintings of Popeye and Bluto battling it out on canvas and Amy Hill’s Old Master-style portraits of birds dressed in classical attire, with both exhibitions curated by SPRING/BREAK founders Ambre Kelly + Andrew Gori as part of the Artist Spotlight series.

VOLTA

The 16th edition of VOLTA New York at Chelsea Industrial, featuring 45 exhibitors from 18 countries, included a platform for underrepresented voices in the market and a Ukrainian Pavilion with artworks presented by galleries from Kyiv, Lyiv, and New York. Paintings of religious icons rendered on discarded wooden ammunition boxes by Sofia Atlantova were presented by Black & White Project Space, while Dymchuk Gallery offered images of people escaping into the wild by the artist duo Synchrodogs. Megan Bogonovich’s surreal ceramic sculptures, paired with self-taught artist June Gutman’s psychological studies at Kishka Gallery and Library, and Adam Sorensen’s visionary landscapes at PDX Contemporary Art, were amongst our favorite works of the week.