85: What is Killing the New York Fairs, Part Two

In this second part of our two-part series on New York Art Fair Week, William Powhida and Paddy Johnson discuss the standout artworks from Independent, NADA, and Spring Break. Despite the thin crowds and economic challenges explored in Part 1, there were notable works worth celebrating. The conversation highlights vintage game boards at Independent, playful Nancy Drew-inspired paintings at Spring Break, and meticulously detailed highway landscapes at NADA.

Most significantly, we explore how the most politically relevant work happened outside the fairs, with an extended conversation of Mitchell Chan's "Insert Coins" – a deceptively simple video game installation that reveals itself as a devastating commentary on capitalism, cryptocurrency, and rigged systems. This piece, along with Open Collective's Ukrainian war karaoke installation, connected to the anxieties of the real world, in a way that seemed largely absent from the commercial fair venues.

Relevant Links:

Artists & Galleries Mentioned:

• Lisa Sanditz at Alexandre Gallery
• Ricco Maresca Gallery (vintage game boards)
• Eleanor Aldrich at Field Projects
• Eve Sussman and Simon Lee
• William Pope.L at Mitchell-Innes & Nash
• Namwon Choi at Pentimenti Gallery
• Megan Dominescu at Anca Poterasu Gallery
• Mitchell Chan's "Insert Coins" at Nguyen Wahed
• Guy Richard Smith at A Hug From The Art World
• Duke Riley & Jean Shin at In Praise of Shadows
• Lucia Hierro at Swivel
• David Molesky (banana paintings)
• Sophia  Lapres at Towards Gallery
• Ernesto Solana at NADA guadalajara90210
• Julia Garcia at Hair + Nails
• Lars Korff-Lofthus at Entree Gallery
• Bill Abdale
• Magda Sawon, Postmasters

Venues:

• Independent Art Fair
• NADA Fair (at Star-Lehigh Building)
• Spring Break Art Show
• 601 Artist Space (Open Collective exhibition)
• American Folk Art Museum