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Nada: emerging artists pay homage to the masters, The Art Newspaper, December 5, 2007

FAIRS
Nada: Emerging Artists Pay Homage to the Masters
By: Charmaine Picard

The opening of the New Art Dealers Alliance (Nada) art fair on Tuesday evening attracted collectors such as Jean Pigozzi, Don and Mera Rubell, Beth Rudin DeWoody and David Tieger. Setting itself apart from the blue chip affair that opens today in the convention centre, the Nada show was filled with work by emerging artists represented by young galleries. Dealers including Jay Jopling, Marianne Boesky and Kurt Marcus were also on hand to survey the wares. Ms. Boesky purchased a painting by Melissa Gordon from London gallery Ancient & Modern (B3) for $9,250. Also in the booth was hedge fund manager Adam Sender who was seen discussing the purchase of another Gordon painting with art advisor Todd Levin.

A noticeable trend at the fair was the reproduction of art historical works in different media. Dutch artist Marc Bijl’s homeage to Mondrian using a sencil and industrial spray paint sold to a MoMA trustee for $22,144 at Upstream Gallery (C1). An updated version of Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde by Andrew Hahn sold to a London collector for $3,500 at Atelier Cardenas Bellanger (F7) pf Paris, while three graphite drawings reproducing famous photographic portraits of Frank Stella, Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp by artist Dan Fischer sold from $12,000 to $15,000 each at the Derek Eller Gallery (B6). Jay Jopling and Don and Mera Rubell showed keen interest in a series of small-format paintings by Chris Lipomi recreating Michel Basquiat works of 1984. Mera Rubell was particularly interested in a series of ten paintings by Lipomi which were selling $18,000 at Renwick Gallery (A11).

Sculpture using recycled objects seemed to be everywhere, while photography and video were noticeably absent. James Fuentes LLC (A5) was showing mixed-media assemblages by Agathe Snow and William Stone. Constructed from found and mass-produced materials. David Ellis and Robert Langue’s lowtechsculpture The Message at Roebling Hall (F13) incorporates an old typewriter that mechanically prints out lyrics by scratch DJ Grand Master Flash. The piece sold to a New York area collector for $22,000.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, in baseball cap and flip-flop sandals, purchased a light-box installation from the Mexican gallery Myto (E10) for $21,000. The triptych by Cuban artist Fabian Peña was made using cockroach wings cut into tesserae creating a mosaic pattern in the form of a skull.