From the category archives:

We Went To…

We Went to the LES: Solo Shows of Chris Burden and Patricia Treib

by Michael Anthony Farley and Patricia Margarita Hernandez on May 12, 2017
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Michael: In the belly of the beast that was Frieze Week, I met up with Patricia Margarita Hernandez, Gallery Director/Assistant Curator of P! to check out some openings in the gallery’s neighborhood. We ended up at two solo shows: Chris Burden at Shin Gallery and Patricia Treib at Bureau.

I liked both of them a lot more than she did. Below, we talk nerdy masculinity, whether abstract paintings have content beyond “decor”, weird curating, and bad lighting.

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We Went to Frieze, Part Two: Pussy Hat Show Flops, Anti-War Hard On Holds Up

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on May 5, 2017
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Yesterday we discussed the overall look and feel of Frieze and concluded that this iteration of the fair is far superior to previous years. Lots of lively inventive work and short on the kind of soulless work in a frame that can make these events so tedious. Today we take a deep dive into a lot of the art we saw. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

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Who’s Wearing the Pants at Frieze Week?

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on May 5, 2017
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In which Michael Anthony Farley and Paddy Johnson nerd out and discuss Frieze and NADA and the changing art fair landscape.

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We Went to Frieze, Part One: Seagull Poop, People Poop, and Demon Poop

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on May 4, 2017
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Every year Frieze installs a massive tent on Randall’s Island and lures jetsetters from across the globe to its contemporary art fair. This year, the fair expanded its usual roster of contemporary art galleries to include a few secondary market stalwarts as well. Newcomers to the fair included Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Castelli Gallery, and Axel Vervoordt and Eykyn Maclean.

That’s not a huge change in the landscape of the fair, but notably the fair’s director, Victoria Siddall, told the Art Newspaper recently that there was a significant uptick in applications from galleries in this market. Is Frieze grooming the New York market for an edition of their London-based Frieze Masters (a fair focused on secondary market art works)? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Frieze New York is much better than usual. Art fair standards that drag these events down—geometric abstraction, process based abstraction, and assembly line art works by A-list artists—were few and far between. Overall, the work on view seemed unusually fresh and thoughtful. Neither are words we normally use to describe art fair art, let alone that at Frieze.

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We Went to Gabriel Orozco’s OXXO

by Michael Anthony Farley Whitney Kimball on March 15, 2017
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Gabriel Orozco has built a fully-functional Mexican convenience store chain inside the gallery Kurimanzutto. Almost everything is free.

Whitney: This triggered a Supermarket Sweep fantasy I didn’t realize I have been actively repressing every time I go shopping.

Michael: …with the aspect of monetary value removed, yet another set of limitations imposed, an almost-mania set in as we tried to adjust to a new value system.

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We Went To SPRING/BREAK: Who Let the Dogs Out?

by Harrison Curley and Molly Rhinestones on March 2, 2017
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The curator-centric fair fair SPRING/BREAK is back. This time, they’ve moved to a Times Square office building with the theme “Black Mirror.”
That translates to plenty of identity-centric work. Molly Rhinestones and Harrison Curley went to check it out:

Harrison: This booth is an immersion to your favorite dreamgirl room from your favorite princess fantasy…

Molly: There is always a booth I walk in and think “I have a crush on this artist” and Ben Sisto’s was it this year…

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We Went to Mexico: General Idea at Museo Jumex Restored Our Faith in Art For Fuck’s Sake

by Michael Anthony Farley and Molly Rhinestones on February 8, 2017
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What’s On View: A retrospective of the Canadian Collective, General Idea (comprised of artists AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal.) A collection of works spanning two floors of the museum arranged semi-chronologically from their 25-year-long career in a vast array of formats including installations, video art, painting, publications, and performance.
Molly:I feel like I hit every point on my emotional spectrum walking through the retrospective…
Michael:this is the exhibition so many artists in our generation need to see right now. Over the past few months, there’s been all this self-doubt about the role of artists in times of crisis and whether or not an “art practice” is worthwhile…

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We Went to Protests: Scenes of Inauguration Resistance in Three Cities

by Michael Farley Whitney Kimball Corinna Kirsch on January 25, 2017
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MEXICO CITY, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON—Over inauguration weekend, three members of the AFC fam found themselves in different cities, united by pissed-off-edness at Trump and the rise of the Right-wing. On inauguration day, Whitney Kimball navigated the surreal belly of the beast: Washington, DC. Meanwhile in Mexico, D.F. Michael Anthony Farley joined in a #J20 solidarity strike, protest, and march from the U.S. Embassy. The next day, Corinna Kirsch was among the hundreds of thousands participating in the New York City chapter of the Women’s March on Washington.

Whitney: DC was a weird labyrinth of barricades populated by me and untold thousands of zombie people with stupid red hats trying to find a gap into the National Mall and failed. Everything blew.
Corinna: I wish the “caring-yet-silly” aura of the marches were mentioned more frequently.
Michael: To be perfectly honest, if I had been in the United States I would’ve totally been one of the fire-setting, window-smashing kids in black. That’s part of why I am in Mexico instead. But I do kinda want a tattoo of that limousine in flames with the anarchy sign…

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We Went to Mexico: Barbara Kruger and Juan Pablo de la Vega Take the Subway

by Michael Anthony Farley and Molly Rhinestones on January 19, 2017
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We went to two metro-related art shows in Mexico City. Both left us considering presentation issues.

Molly: The GIFS are dizzying but accurately reproduce my experience descending into the Barbara Kruger tunnel….
Michael: I really love each of Juan Pablo de la Vega’s photos, but as an exhibition I found myself wanting more. Perhaps it’s an issue of scale…

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We Went to Bushwig 2016, Tits Out

by Michael Anthony Farley Whitney Kimball on September 15, 2016
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Bushwig returned bigger and better for its fifth edition. At its new home in The Knockdown Center, the drag festival had even more room to get freaky.

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