We take care of our businesses first this time...
There’s a book club this Sunday in the Village. We’ll read:
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
Sunday, November 10th at 12:45 pm - 2:00 pm
@ All Things Project (269 Bleecker Street, NYC)
Please join us with a friend!
Contact us at 917.790.9965 if you’re late etc
* we’ll stroll over to the Columbia University MFA open studios after the event.
Another note: We’re curating a photo exhibition on the theme of persecuted Christians/Christian Churches in other countries now. Please let me know if your artist friends are working on this theme and would like a show in NYC. The book club meeting above takes place in the gallery if you’d like to see the space. Email me with sample photos in jpg at < [email protected] >.
Below, I’m reporting our visit to TEFAF Fall last month/this month.
November 1 - 5, 2019 with VIP Preview on October 31, 2019
Park Avenue Armory at East 67th Street, Manhattan
This past Spring, we reported on TEFAF for the first time because our friend Seth was doing his panel event. Now, they came back to NYC again for the same fair, but this time, they’re supposed to be focusing on ancient art.
I decided to conduct a further research on those people. Last time, they appeared a bit strange by hosting their contemporary art fair during the time when all European artists should be attending previews for the Venice Art Biennale in Venice, Italy (note: I couldn’t make it to the Venice previews at the time because my passport was expired...I thanked TEFAF for entertaining me).
Brief History of TEFAF since 1975 HERE.
TEFAF stands for “The European Fine Arts Fair” and they’re originally from Maastricht, the Netherlands. That sounds very familiar...? I just reported on a big time artist from the Netherlands. Sure, I love Dutch artists like Van Gogh who was the oldest son of a Dutch reformed pastor and once a pastor himself. He went too crazy at the end, though.
TEFAF seemed to have made lots of money this past March.
A couple of articles on TEFAF NY Fall 2019:
TEFAF New York Fall Is About to Take Over Your Instagram Feed by Architectural Digest
TEFAF New York Fall: Art, Jewels, Antiques And Opening Night Gala by Forbes (this article covers the Jewelry section that both Adam and I didn’t cover)
A mix of old and new brings fresh collectors to Tefaf New York Fall though sales remain slow by the Art Newspaper
One downside of the fair this time was that I had to go over to check things for press pass on the Halloween day.
(medical doctors’ fundraising event was in progress at the fair- saw that 10,000 USD per ticket entry price at 5:00 pm)
Let’s “discover art from antiquity to today” with us
(indeed this feels like “art from antiquity" mmm, TEFAF...?)
A Surrealist piece that I’ve never seen before.
Another Surrealist piece that I’ve never seen before and that can be the best of the entire fair. This is a kinetic standing sculpture composed of tiny moving parts.
Another example of the same artist above.
This stone would look great in someone’s bedroom with the blue doll in front.
A leftover white pumpkin seen on the pedestal (from last night)...
oooo hello mermaid-san again from the Halloween parade in the Village (from last night)
If you say TEFAF, we say Oysters!
Fresh Oysters from Greenpoint, Brooklyn
It appeared to me that TEFAF became famous by serving free oysters during previews.
One challenge you have with the Fifth Ave Armory building is that it’s already fully decorated, in all directions.
It’s like having an art studio in Rome, meaning that you’re instantly attracted to all details of the room itself, from ceiling to the floor, before you finally start to check out art fair objects.
I’m not sure how I feel about placing, for example, this Picasso piece in an overly decorated room.
Hallway photo show was “Artifully Dressed” Women in the Art World.”
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A post shared by BREAKFAST (@breakfastny) on Oct 31, 2019 at 5:00am PDT
I found a new gallery called BREAKFAST NY and they were exhibiting artwork related to Climate Change (note: the art fair’s originally from the Netherlands!).
Did I mention that the fair was supposed to focus on ancient art this time?
Ladies looking for ancient art
Contemporary Japanese art with an ancient Egyptian art
Last time, I was told that TEFAF’s speciality is selling contemporary art and ancient objects side by side. This time, I attempted to study how they display these different objects in the same space. In fact, they’re supposed to be a specialist on this.
Kosuth’s Code next to ancient “code” objects.
* the lamp above not for sale
(obviously, the ceiling might need lil’ work here and there was a solid reason why the room had to be so dark)
Some experimental sections did exist. An African mask with a piece of Korean contemporary art
Thank you TEFAF NY Fall 2019 for having us...bye for now!
