Carolyn Ramo on Her Favorite Artworks from Week 4 of FAIR

For the fourth and final week of FAIR, Carolyn Ramo, Executive Director of Artadia, shares a selection of her favorite artworks and gallery presentations.

“NADA fairs have always been an important place of discovery and support. I consistently encounter a compelling display of interesting work, reflective of a rigorous national and international discourse. NADA is not only a most valuable resource for small and mid size art galleries and spaces, its mission extends to the larger art community. I know when purchasing a work I love at the fair, I am also supporting a vital small business as well as the artist’s practice. Here are a few works that caught my attention that suggest the body, both literally and subtly, and elements of the natural world.”

Carolyn Ramo is the Executive Director of Artadia, a national non-profit organization that supports artists directly through its unrestricted Artadia Award grant program. Founded in 1999, Artadia has provided over 350 Awards and over $5 million in support of artists in Artadia’s programcities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. In spring 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Artadia worked with six fellow grant organizations to launch the nation’s first largest individual artist fund, Artist Relief, dedicated to providing emergency grants to artists working and living in the US, who experienced financial hardship.

“What Pipeline as a space / conversation was selected as the NADA Artadia Awardee in 2014 and its program is an important part of the Detroit art community. This Nolan Simon piece is a surreal and beautiful depiction of a body part I dont usually gravitate towards.”

“This painting feels like an ideal representation of my current longing for a connection to nature and trees.”

“Shara is not only a master colorist, she creates vivid scenes in many forms, including this work on paper. She is also a generous support of her fellow artists and has contributed work to benefit an Artadia Award in her native Atlanta, to create a larger impact with her practice.”

Laleh Khorramian, *The Keeper (Guard of the Inner Sanctum)*, 2017

“As a fellow Hudson Valley resident, I have been lucky to do a studio visit with Laleh and to witness her collaborative and layered practice. This work is part sculpture/part garment.”

Martin Soto Clement, *Gossips (Smoke Sun)*, 2020

“Lulu is a unique and smartly curated space that shows fresh artworks by artists consistently new to me in a somewhat domestic setting. I’ve been following Martin’s work for a while and love these works that use a simple material, tights and hosiery, to create dynamic yet soft tension.”

“Everything I learned is from Nicole! She has the best eye in the business. Sheree’s work feels deeply personal to me, sometimes using her own body, to create somehow both lush and stark collaged pieces.”

“This work to me is immediately compelling, the two fetishized inflated forms capturing a vulnerable closeness and pronounced juxtaposition.”

Christine Frerichs, *Blood Red Geranium and Letter Opener*, 2020

“I gravitate to almost any artwork with striking flowers and plants in a domestic setting. This feels like a unique memory and personal moment worth savoring.”

Richard Tinkler, *Grass Like Uncut Hair*, 2018

“The color combinations are so rich and vivid and emotional. This is the kind of work you can catch in the corner of the room and it will affect you immediately.”

Justin Chance, *Megazord MM (Power Quilt for Good Vibes & Ultra Posterity)*, 2014

“The title alone makes me gravitate to this plush and delicately clothed object, a source for good vibes.”

Mari Eastman, *Blue Studio/Back Yard*, 2018

“I have been into Mari’s work for some time-- and I love her whimsical jovial painting that captures what it must feel to be a satisfied artist at work.”