~DAN ASHER . . MARTOS GALLERY, FRIEZE ART FAIR
whereas paintings dominated NADA NEW YORK,
DRAWINGS . . seem to be dominating the buzz – this week around FRIEZE !!
DAN ASHER . . is certainly a good part of that conversation.
if not, the much honored grand-daddy / the OG heart & soul. . of works on paper.
my one & only TOP PICK . . .
for the recent Armory art fair week, was DANNY FERRELL.
his dreamy realist portraits were so fresh, and so finely painted . . they were the most perfect, subtle poetic radiant surfaces seen in a long time / with a palette of tones . . akin to the pearly insides of sea shells . . meets sunset, is the best way I can put it.
so full of ‘new’ / ‘constructed’ . . light & so, a part of the immediate cutting edge dialog – in all ways.
concept, plasticity & subject matter.
I found them at Paris-based GALERIE PACT . . at NADA. I kind of just backed into them / and lo and behold, he seems to be doing pretty good / in fact . . Danny’s on quite a roll !!
the very latest news is that Bill Power’s EXHIBTION A – has just today, released a limited edition multiple for Danny Ferrell, titled, ‘Chris’, 2018 – in an ‘archival pigment print’ format, sized 18 x 13 in. / & in a limited edition of 50.
so . . .
my one & only TOP PICK for the FRIEZE ART FAIR, this week, would have to be DAN ASHER . .
a quite beautiful selection of whose works, is being shown at the MARTOS GALLERY booth, at the FRIEZE ART FAIR.
look for them: Focus Booth A8.
it really shocks me, deeply . . when so-called ‘people in the art scene’ don’t get Dan’s work.
for me, that’s a real clue as to the limits of this person’s insight – once you catch onto the deep personal ‘radiance’ of Dan’s art – there is no going back.
you are captivated and you are addicted. maybe some people, just don’t know how to let go, and let the art take over ?
if you are from out of town, let me tell you a little dark secret about the NYC art world: almost every serious collector, and curator in town, from MATTHEW HIGGS at White Columns, to the late JACK TILTON, has work by Dan, and in the plurals, as in many pieces, . . stored away for when the big numbers, and the real recognition finally break-through.
even GAVIN BROWN was a big fan, giving Dan’s incredible iceberg, and his later, super intense, & very raw American backyard wrestling photos – a beautiful solo show, some years back when he, Gavin . . was ‘Passerby’, downtown on 13th St.
even the big uptown blue chip art ‘advisor’ & gallerist, KATZUHITO YOSHII, owns quite a number of Dan’s works on paper / possibly even more than 20. I know this first-hand, because Yoshii bought them off my art partner/husband, now RIP, SIMON CERIGO . . who was Dan’s first gallerist in the East Village – in the early 80s, and who remained a life-long friend, promoter and collector of Dan’s work, himself.
to my mind – the one glaring flaw that presaged the ultimate demise in the reputation, of the so-called ‘cutting-edge’ Broad Collection, was its lack of even one Dan Asher.
how can anyone call himself a ‘visionary’ collector ??
when the astute, passionate, and timeless ‘siren’ call of Dan’s work – goes right over their heads /
this is the live wire – of the week.
this is – the single most beating heart – of the entire spectacle.
currently on show,
among many others / equally brilliant & sensual – at the Martos Gallery, Focus Booth A8, at Frieze:
DAN ASHER, ‘Untitled’, 2000.
tempera on paper. 17 x 12 in.
($7,500.)
DAN ASHER, ‘Untitled’, 1994.
Clay. 8 x 5 x 4 in.
($4,000.)
IMAGES COURTESY: MARTOS GALLERY