Venue for this fair used to be the HQ of Ralph Lauren -- a glassy/marble-y building -- with solid/chic cubicles about - you can imagine them stacked with editorials & ads and the place humming with fashionistas back in the 80′s and 90′s ------ now, a spunky/kooky art fair has exhibitions crammed into it..
Stepping out of elevator, we stood in a longish line for two bartenders (parents of the event’s co-producer) who gave generous pours (mine was a ‘double white wine’) and a bag of seasoned popcorn..
Dove into fair and quickly encountered my fav exhibit of the show - bendy metal flowing this way and that via fans -- coupled with a batch of clip lights all shining in on themselves, creating a radiant glow..
Skipped most booths - but enjoyed the occasional eye-catcher (see pics) -
* second fav would be an installation of a desk-esque structure comprised of various objects..
As the fair was winding to an end for the evening, it was time to wrap with an experience in an isolation chamber. The bed (inside a cozy blue room full of tiny stars) was designed by Nasa to simulate ‘zero gravity’ -- the gallery assistant went in before our turn to clean potential coronavirus from the booth (they do this for every visitor). I found it very relaxing after all the walking around - and it opens questions re: your own bed i.e. how good is it and can it be better(?) at the end, we had to fill out two surveys - this survey was their art.
Onto the afterparty:: grabbed best booth in the place (dim n/ classy bar w/ bumpin’ music), sipped at a spiked fruity drink, snacked on hors d'oeuvres, and caught up with a photographer friend who popped up.. Eventually made way down to the basement, where music was much louder - blasting from a DJ on a stage - revelers were dancing like crazy but, with work on the horizon for the encroaching AM, we took off for the A train..
epitome of a fashion hub back when:
one cup of white went a long way
and yummy popcorn - i recommend trying:
art historic image cast on wall via an overhead projector:
detail of a room where gaze lingered:
painting of a painting within a painting:
neat drawing - A for effort:
points scored on this one (’don’t see this every day’ / ‘what were they thinkin’)
was that microwave left behind from the ‘hayday’ -- does it work?
so many questions...
