NEW YORK, NY.- Independent Projects, a new initiative from New York’s Independent, is taking place at Center548, the iconic galleries of the former DIA building in the heart of New York’s Chelsea district, November 6 – 15, 2014. Opened concurrently with the previews for New York Contemporary Art Auction and Modern Sales, Independent Projects features monographic exhibitions by an international group of 40 participants. The exhibition spaces have been shaped around the artistic vision of exhibiting artists, providing an opportunity to explore each artist’s project in depth.
The list of participants and solo artist projects includes emerging artists from South America, Europe, and America who are exhibiting new work made especially for the fair. Marina Rheingantz, from São Paulo, is showing a group of “deconstructed” paintings with Galeria Fortes Vilaça in her first New York exhibition. Marcius Galan, also from São Paulo, who explores the metaphorical capacities of space and our relation to it, presents a site specific installation with Galeria Luisa Strina. Nicolas Deshayes, from London, exhibits large-scale wall pieces for his solo debut with Jonathan Viner. Graham Collins shows new work from an ongoing series that combines glass vitrines and car window tints with The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn.
Independent Projects brings together an exciting selection of participants who have not previously participated in the March edition, including Gladstone Gallery, who presents Allora & Calzadilla watercolors from their “Watercooler” series; Dominique Lévy presents historical works and special performances by Yves Klein; Lisson Gallery presents an acoustic and sculptural installation by Haroon Mirza; Venus Over Manhattan presents one of David Medalla’s seminal works from the 1960s: an interactive bubble machine; and Per Skarstedt presents felt banners from Mike Kelley’s expansive “Half a Man” project from 1987.
Independent Projects also features revelatory aspects of historically significant artists, represented and newly positioned by Independent’s invited participants, yielding a relevant context to issues emerging today. Several participating galleries present many works that have never been seen before, or not for several years or decades. On view at Kerry Schuss are Robert Moskowitz window shade paintings from 1961-62, first exhibited at Leo Castelli Gallery in a 1962 solo exhibition. Massimo De Carlo presents a mixed media installation as part of a 50 year survey by Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello. Karma, New York, presents a major historic social tableaux in the form of a large scale sculptural installation by Duane Hanson. John Tweddle’s paintings and drawings referencing his own biography of the American South, made between 1967 and 1973, are being presented by Kayne Griffin Corcoran, the first presentation of the artist’s work in New York since his exhibition at MoMA PS1 in 1999. Andrew Edlin is presenting large-scale sculpture and mixed media works from the 90s by African American pioneering artist, Thornton Dial. Kavi Gupta is showing recent work by influential Chicago artist McArthur Binion alongside some specially chosen, rarely exhibited pieces from the 1970s.
A number of idiosyncratic presentations also are being presented for the first time at Independent Projects. UK- based artist, June Hamper, the mother of the artist-musician Billy Childish, shows ceramic works, typically in the form of animals that operate as functional “planters,” as well as existing sculptural objects in their own right with the non-profit space White Columns. Martos Gallery hosts a presentation by Aura Rosenberg who has adapted imagery compiled from pornographic magazines and newspapers from the late 60s to the 80s.
Independent Projects will be of an unexpected duration, transforming after the initial weekend from an art fair with exhibitors onsite, to a group exhibition where visitors can walk through at their ease, aided by student and volunteer docents to explain each artist’s solo body of work, as if in a museum or gallery.
