ADAA’s The Art Show Returns With Highly Curated Booths But Slow Sales

ADAA’s The Art Show opened last night (October 30) in the Park Avenue Armory, with the usual benefit gala to support Henry Street Settlement, one of the nation’s oldest social services organizations. The 36th edition of one of the oldest fairs in the city has work brought by seventy-five ADAA member galleries, many of which are presenting highly curated solo booths that put very focused spotlights on each artist’s practice and narrative. This curatorial attention, coupled with the already present elegance of the well-dimensioned interiors of the Armory and the high-profile crowd, gave the fair a boutique feel.

Despite this, sales and negotiations unfolded slowly in the early hours, reflecting a current trend: collectors are increasingly contemplative and deliberate, requiring extended conversations and negotiations before finalizing deals even as prices at most booths seemed more reasonable than in previous editions. The abundant selection of hors d’oeuvres and drinks may not have helped, as much of the crowd’s attention gravitated towards refreshments, diverting the focus away from art purchases.

Newly appointed ADAA executive director Kinsey Robb, however, expressed satisfaction with the first night’s turnout, telling Observer that the benefit preview exceeded his expectations. “There was a stellar turnout and palpable excitement in the air for our exhibitors’ presentations, many of whom debuted new works and artists for the first time,” he said. “It was a joy to come together as a community, share in one another’s work and celebrate our longstanding partnership with Henry Street, for whom we raised over $1 million last night.”

At the entrance, Pace Gallery mounted a solo booth featuring unique monotypes by in-demand artist Chase Hall, with prices set between $50,000 and $55,000. Just ahead, Kasmin presented a series of rarely exhibited works by influential American photographer Tina Barney, all focused on the theme of family.

One booth of particular note was that of Luxembourg + Co., with theatrical assemblages by Japanese artist Katsumi Nakai. Nakai, who relocated to Italy in the 1960s, became deeply immersed in the Italian art scene, working with the historic Galleria Il Naviglio in Milan. His practice, rich with influences from Lucio Fontana’s Teatrini and the shaped, altered canvases of Enrico Castellani and Agostino Bonalumi, also retains a link to Japanese origami traditions. These pieces literally unfold in the booth, shifting from monochromatic designs to vibrant, multicolored structures that evoke playful, almost biological forms. Priced between $14,000 and $50,000, Nakai’s work is part of an ongoing rediscovery effort following his showcase at Frieze Masters in London and a solo exhibition in London last year. This effort coincides with a newly opened show at Luxembourg + Co.’s New York location, featuring Nakai’s work in dialogue with that of Isamu Noguchi.

Down the left aisle, Eric Firestone Gallery presents a captivating dialogue between Thomas Sills and Jeanne Reynal, two artists who were life partners and deeply influenced one another’s intricate, compelling art. Their works reflect a shared inspiration from their travels, particularly in the Mediterranean and South America. Reynal, trained in Paris as a mosaicist, developed an innovative abstract approach to this traditional medium upon her return to the U.S., cutting and intuitively assembling tesserae mixed with Venetian glass, semi-precious stones and shell fragments. The result is sculptural columns that evoke ancient Greek archeological ruins but at the same time appear extremely organic, like underwater corals or limestone formations, while her works on canvas take a more informal approach to the material, with a magmatic quality that recalls the experimental textures of Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet. Meanwhile, Sills (1914-2000), a self-taught Black artist from the South, began painting in his 30s, inspired by Reynal’s work and encouraged by Willem de Kooning. Known for his mastery of color, Sills applied paint with cloths and rags, creating a distinctive softness and an inner luminosity in his pieces. Reynal’s works in this presentation are offered in the $150,000-$200,000 range.

Speaking of light emanating from canvas, Tibor De Nagy is showcasing Icelandic landscapes by Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson that pulse with vibrant colors and gradients, capturing the unique natural forces and atmospheric frequencies of her homeland. These works are priced between $15,000 and $18,000.

At Peg Alston’s booth, standout pieces by Sam Gilliam and Frank Bowling, including a Bowling work inspired by Cézanne and priced at $200,000, drew notable attention. Louis Armstrong’s music played in the background, creating an ambiance reminiscent of the era in which many of these works were conceived.

Toward the back, Lehmann Maupin presented intricate collages by Malawian artist Billie Zangewa, hand-stitched from raw silk fragments. Her works, exploring themes of motherhood and life in Johannesburg, are on display at SITE SANTA FE through February and will later travel to the Frost Museum. Pieces at The Art Show were priced between $18,000 and $20,000.

Nearby, James Fuentes highlighted the lyrical abstraction of Japanese artist Kikuo Saito alongside two lyrical paintings by Trinidad-born polymath Geoffrey Holder, whose estate the gallery represents. Holder’s Woman in Orange, sold on the first night for $150,000. Following a summer show at Victoria Miro with his brother, Boscoe Holder, Geoffrey Holder’s diverse body of work has attracted renewed interest, especially since Fuentes hosted his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles at the beginning of the year.

Among the fair’s notable discoveries this year are the darkly surreal work of self-taught artist Abraham Lincoln Walker (1921-1993), originally from Kentucky and based in Saint Louis. Recently discovered and presented for the first time by Andrew Edlin Gallery, Walker’s art nearly sold out in the early hours, with pieces priced between $10,000 and $40,000. His deeply dystopian works from the late 1960s to early 1970s depict elongated, masked figures and disjointed human forms, intertwining and hovering in ambiguous relationships in desolate, dark-toned landscapes.

For those interested in emerging talents, a visit to the booth of Houston-based Josh Pazda Hiram Butler Gallery is worthwhile. Here, one finds the intricate, multilayered abstract paintings of Ana Villagomez, who recently enjoyed a sold-out show at Nino Mier Gallery in New York. All works are uniform in size and priced at $18,000, reflecting her growing appeal among collectors.

Josh Pazda Hiram Butler is not the only Houston gallery represented this year: ADAA has launched an exciting new initiative, “Spotlight On…,” designed to showcase the art scenes of cities beyond major art hubs. The inaugural edition celebrates the vibrancy of Houston’s fine art community, featuring presentations by Houston-based ADAA members with panels and institutional engagement.

Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino is presenting a solo exhibition by artist Reynier Leyva Novo with works from his ongoing series, Mnemosyne’s Whisper. This series debuted earlier this year in Novo’s solo exhibition “Former Present Today” at the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston. Novo’s body of work explores historical memory, questioning how it is shaped and manipulated through monuments and other symbolic representations. The booth has acrylic paintings and canvas drawings that reflect on the removal of Confederate monuments in the U.S. following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. One side of the exhibit features an abstract blue block created by amplifying a single pixel of the sky that once framed these monuments, effectively erasing their image. The contrasting side showcases a drawing that uses infrared light to reveal traces beneath the erased documentation of the historical moment.

ADAA’s The Art Show continues at Armory Park Avenue through Saturday, November 2.