The contemporary art world is seeking a southern reprieve this winter as ArtPalmBeach sets up shop at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, January 21-25. Marking its eighteenth year, more than 85 international galleries will be exhibiting the latest forward-thinking and groundbreaking artists in all contemporary art media, including painting, sculpture, design (graphic and otherwise), photography, fine art glass, installation and video. In addition to the art on display, a series of lectures, panel discussions and performances will add to the cultural offerings, making ArtPalmBeach one of the most “influential art fairs to come to the Gold Coast.” To celebrate 18 years, we have selected 18 artists to scope-out this year.
- Hours: January 22-24, 12-7 p.m.; January 25, 12-6 p.m.
- On Wednesday, January 21, the “First Vew and Collectors’ Invitational” will run from 6-10 p.m.
- Admission: One day passes cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door; multi-day passes cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
- For more information, visit artpalmbeach.com.
Alexi Torres | Evan Lurie Gallery
Frida Sun and Moon
Cuban artist Alexi Torres taps into his personal heritage when creating his paintings. The son of a basket weaver, Torres creates an individual weave pattern for each subject he paints. In the painting Frida Sun and Moon, an intricate “sun and moon” pattern can be seen in the face of Frida Kahlo.
Neil Folberg | Vision Neil Folberg Gallery
History Lesson
In Neil Folberg’s large-format photograph, History Lesson, school children diligently work on their lesson as battle and ballet erupts throughout, as if the students’ imagination bounded to reality. Folberg’s photography, which has ranged from dessert landscapes to the surreal History Lesson, often catch much more than meets the eye.
Hunt Slonem | Galerie de Bellefeuille
Movers and Shakers, 2012
The American painter Hunt Slonem is best known for his Neo-Expressionist paintings of butterflies, rabbits and tropical birds, the latter of stemming from his personal, extensive collection in his New York City aviary. Bright, bold and whimsical, Slonem’s works are the perfect fit for the contemporary Palm Beach lifestyle.
Michael Behrens | Habatat Gallery
Sea Forms, 2013
German glass artist Michael Behrens finds his inspiration in the delicate and odd life at sea. Using a large-scale kiln, his glass sculptures have a highly polished finish, giving the bright and colorful pieces a look as if they have just been plucked from the abyss.
Karen Bystedt & Peter Tunney | Evan Lurie Gallery
Untitled
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One of the last photographers to photograph Andy Warhol, Karen Bystedt had him pose as if he were model for a magazine, complete with all the canned poses one would expect in a profile piece. Bystedt collaborated with mixed media artist Peter Tunney to create these layered works, giving each a new dimension; all the while Warhol gives that startling glare.
Carolina Sardi | Leila Mordoch Gallery
Falling Gold, Copper & Chrome, 2011
Argentine sculptor by way of Miami, Carolina Sardi finds less is more in her minimalist steel creations. Plated in gold, copper, silver and more, Sardi’s wall compositions are spaced from the wall when mounted, giving it a floating effect, while shadows and space are incorporated into the overall aesthetic. As Sardi puts it in her artist’s statement:
“The reference to geometry, natural shapes and the use of positive and negative spaces are a response to the search of a balance between opposites.”
Dinh Thi Tham Poong | Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art
Two Women, 2006
Born in Vietnam’s Lai Chau Province, a remote mountainous region on the border with China, Dinh Thi Tham Poong’s work reflects her upbringing, where a deep connection between people and nature permeates their lives. Working with watercolor on handmade paper, her paintings depict details of daily life of men and women, dressed in distinctive and colorful clothing, against imaginary landscapes that often drift into the surreal.
Georg Küttinger | Vision Neil Folberg Gallery
Kreta, 2013 and Bollenstreek, 2013
Kreta
Bollenstreek
The sweeping landscapes created by Munich-based artist Georg Küttinger are as if but a dream. Made by piecing together and repeating portions of several photographs, all taken at the same location, the faux landscapes seem to capture a sense of space even while dabbling in the surreal.
Sam Tufnell | Castle Fitzjohns
Piss Gnome, 2013
The first line of artist Sam Tufnell’s artist’s statement says it all:
“Part of my creative desire is to find new ways to convey traditional subject matter as well as my own childish motives to move against the art establishment.”
Using the same tools and materials found on the construction site, Tufnell’s Gnome series takes the omnipresent lawn ornament and gives it a cheeky dose of pop art.
For more artists on display at ArtPalmBeach, head to page two.
Manit Sriwanichpoom | Adler Subhashok Gallery
Detail of Pink Man, Icon of Consumerism
Well-known for his Pink Man series of photographs and sculptures, Thai artist Manit Sriwanichpoom is bringing this scathing critique of consumerism to Palm Beach. As a symbol for the eternally unsatisfied, self-centered consumer, the Pink Man, complete with his slight paunch and matching pink shopping cart makes for an interesting visual, especially in the setting of an event like ArtPalmBeach, largely a consumer-driven art fair.
Fletcher Benton | Samuel Lynn Gallery
Folded Square Numerical 8
A pioneer of the kinetic sculpture movement of the 1960s, Fletcher Benton first began his artistic career with the Beatniks in San Francisco in the 1950s and 60s. He has since shifted from kinetic art, now focusing on the nature of language and numbers with his Folded Square Alphabet and Numerical series, where two-dimensional sheet metal is folded, cut and painted to form three-dimensional form.
Bill Beckley | Rosenbaum Contemporary
Sup? White, 2014
Bill Beckley’s early work merged fictionalized text with images, creating an engaging story, small tidbits formalized in photos. His recent work lets form tell the story, letting the viewer decide on interpretation in these minimalist photographs.
Agnieszka Sosnowska | Vision Neil Folberg Gallery
Self Portrait. Mjóifjörður, Iceland, 2013
Polish photographer Agnieszka Sosnowska’s work is raw, provocative and intimate. In this self-portrait, captured on a muddy road cut through a glacial plane in Iceland, it’s hard to keep your imagination still – this is a story rife with emotion set in landscape.
Jorge Santos | Evan Lurie Gallery
Tracks
Surrealism meets mannerism in Jorge Santos’ imaginative paintings. The intense realism of his work, as exemplified in Tracks, gives the scenes a startling, eccentric vibe where allegory meets adventure, with plenty of mixed imagery to throw the viewer for loops.
Park, Tae Hoo | Nine Gallery
Into the Nature, 2013
South Korean artist Park, Tae-Hoo visualizes nature with a contemporary edge. Using Korean paper and Korean ink, his paintings work in a certain harmony, where his use of space mixed with the minimalist, almost abstract expressionist subject, has the eye wandering the paper in search of hidden clues.
Nathalie Boissonnault | Artêria Gallery
The Long Way Home, 2014
Canadian mix-media artist Nathalie Boissonnault’s work invokes a sense of the fantastic with one foot grounded in reality. The figure, when accompanied by an often-geometric animal and/or object, gives an unusual balance where nature, function and form converge on the imagination, not just of the artist, but of the viewer—you can’t help but plot out your own story when catching a glimpse of Boissonnault’s work.
Wilfredo Lam | Latin Art Core
Pajaro, 1972
Famed Cuban artist Wilfredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla, aka Wilfredo Lam, was known for his unique style of Afro-Cuban surrealist art. Growing up with people of African decent, and studing under Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor y Zaragoza in Madrid (Salvador Dalí’s teacher), Lam’s work reflects these traditions while merging them his Caribbean roots and modern styles.
Akiko Sugiyama | Contemporary Artifact
Untitled
Florida mixed-media artist Akiko Sugiyama forms scores of hand-colored and hand-cut paper pieces into subtle designs that are meant to convey the more enduring human aspects of life. Born and raised in Japan, Suguyama’s works include children’s stories and folk tales, heard in her early years, diffused in larger works that reflect personal experiences and views of our contemporary society.
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