Clio Art Fair: Where Art World Outsiders and Insiders Unite
Merging the past and present, the expected and unexpected, Clio Art Fair stands out amongst the madness of Armory Week. Housed on two floors of the Wolf Building in Chelsea, the fair is a curated international group show displayed in a typical white walled space.
Clio Art Fair installation view - photo by Stephen Smith/ guest of a guest
CLIO ART FAIR is the main Art Fair for Independent Artists in NYC. The Fair exhibits work by artists without exclusive New York City gallery representation. Upon entrance, visitors are herded into the elevator to reach their destination on the fifth floor and ninth floor.
photos by Stephen Smith/ guest of a guest
The clustering of work, constant murmur, and gallery opening feel create a vibrancy and warmth that some other fairs lack. There is variety of medium, style, and subject matter, yet subtle comments on the chaotic state of today’s world can be seen throughout. Some of the most pervasive themes include transformation of materials, as well as the duality of the traditional and the unanticipated.
Allegorized Lunch by Anna Paola Pizzocaro, artwork at Clio Art Fair - photo by Stephen Smith/ guest of a guest
Allegorized Lunch, by Anna Paola Pizzocaro uses traditional elements of art with a twist. Pizzocaro’s still life is reminiscent of a Cézanne, yet front and center is a tragic female figure. The classical woman is disproportionately small, creating chaos in the rigidly formal world of traditional still lifes. The painting evokes the increasing anxieties felt by many in today’s world.
Marianic Parra, artwork at Clio Art Fair
Marianic Parra’s mixed media work Time stopped appears to be a glass mosaic from far away. As the viewer gets closer, they begin to see the cloudy shine of their reflection in plexiglass. The piece elicits an entirely different feel when viewed at varying distances, fusing tradition and modernity.
Wavering Flowers by Ko-Hey! Arikawa, artwork at Clio Art Fair
Ko-Hey! Arikawa’s Wavering Flowers, also deceives the eye and fluctuates as the viewer’s distance from the work changes. One is sure there are pressed flowers wedged in between wood panel and a layer of plastic, until they realize the delicate flowers are painted. The luxurious pattern they create is mesmerizing. At a cursory glance both works are misleading in their presentation; mirroring the real world, nothing is as it seems and suspicions arise immediately.
works by Rachel Goldsmith, artworks at Clio Art Fair
Rachel Goldsmith's unique process and use of unconventional materials makes her work stand out. In Crystals from MoMA, the repetitive motions of her hand recorded by a 3d printing pen are memorialized in brightly colored plastic shapes that have an organic yet rigid feel. The piece is static yet explosive, the layering giving it depth and dimension. Goldsmith shapes the dreary humdrum of everyday life into a tangible and unique object.
clio art fair installation view -photo by Stephen Smith/ guest of a guest
Clio Art Fair delivers on its promise of an anti-art fair experience through an intimate space flooded with work by artists outside of the organized system.
Kimberly Zeluck, artwork at Clio Art Fair
The work, in all its variety, expresses the duality that contemporary art tackles. The subtleties hinting at our increasing apprehensions in the year 2017 as well as the importance of outsiders bonding together were highlighted, second in priority only to the physicality of engaging and inspiring artwork.
clio art fair installation view