Chris Ritson
I'll be the first to admit art fairs make me a little itchy, those spectacles of art as pure commodity. Last year was the first time San Francisco attempted to compete with the glitzy destination affairs in Miami and New York by scheduling three events in one weekend, and I roundly avoided each one. However curiosity got the better of me this year when those same three fairs returned, and I made a quick pass through artMRKT and ArtPadSF in one afternoon (I couldn't face the Fine Art Fair). I'll cover highlights from ArtPad in a future post, but here are a few random notes from artMRKT, the more traditional of the pair:
- The blue chip galleries got spots on the main floor of the Concourse Exhibition Center with smaller and more alternative spaces and organizations tucked up on the side walkways. You can bet I spent most of my short time there in the side walkways.
- Very pleased to see a piece by Chris Fraser prominently displayed at Highlight Gallery's booth. They'll be doing a solo exhibition with him later this year, and I can't wait.
- Also wonderful to bump into friends from Martina }{ Johnston, especially when said friends pointed me to the Artcards booth where I got handed a free tote printed with the names of some of my favorite local galleries and filled with goodies from the likes of Little Paper Planes, Land and Sea, and Royal Nonesuch Gallery. Best swag bag ever.
- More friendly faces over at the NIAD booth, where some kids were having a lot of fun with the art on display because they were actually allowed to touch it.
- A personal wish list, if money were no object: a Chris Ritson crystal-encrusted sculpture at Ever Gold, the Youngsuk Suh wildfire photo at Kala, anything by Tauba Auerbach at Park Life.
