It's Art Fair Week here in NYC, with at least 10 different fairs running from right now through Sunday. Most are hovering around the mammoth Armory Show at Pier 90 and 92, with a chunk down in Chelsea as well. Basically, tens of thousands of contemporary art dealers, art buyers, and art fans from all over the world have converged for an enormous love-and-money fest, putting up an astonishing amount of work—more art, really, than you could possibly even see in five days—and pretty much making a spectacle of themselves.
There's a ton of glitz and glamour and MONEY at most of these art fairs, which certainly can be entertaining in and of itself. But if you're looking for something with a bit more of a homegrown feel to it, where people don't take themselves so seriously, where you can run around and laugh, chat with a bunch of artists, and see lots of cool stuff, the two big "anti-art fair art fairs," Spring/Break and (un)Scene, opened last night in new locations, and both are a total blast.
At Spring/Break (Scott Lynch / Gothamist)
Curators and artists have turned (un)Scene Art Show, situated in an abandoned space on West 52nd Street, into a big party. The environment is pretty raw—much of the floor, for example, was dirt up until last week until they poured concrete and lay down cheap carpeting—and, in fact, they were far from finished setting up when I arrived yesterday for the press preview, with most of the lighting, and much of the art, still to be hung.
But don't worry! Team (un)Scene was totally on the case, and the art that I saw—installations, sculptural works, paintings, photographs (including a piece by frequent Gothamist contributor Tod Seelie), balloons, along with promises of performance pieces and illuminations—made it clear that this would once again be well worth the trip to Hell's Kitchen.
At Spring/Break (Scott Lynch / Gothamist)
Meanwhile, the curator-driven Spring/Break, which for several years set up shop at that old school building on Prince and Mott, has taken over a huge space at Skylight at Moynihan Station, two floors worth of old offices and storage closets and who-knows-what-else in the James A. Farley Post Office. Part of the fun of Spring/Break in the old venue was always the surprise element—it was such a warren of classrooms and such—and, thankfully, that sense of serendipity has been retained here.
And Spring/Break has gotten so big! I spent almost two hours wandering in and out of the rooms and then realized there was an entire other corridor I hadn't yet seen. Still, though, this remains a scrappy show, filled with attention-getting works from artists you've never heard of (and some you probably have, like Dustin Yellin, JR, and the Bruce High Quality crew) with lots of interactive installations and weirdo performances to keep things lively. Plus, even though there are lots of big, beautiful old windows and interesting architectural details, the place itself is all kind of falling apart.
The (un)Scene Show is at 549 West 52nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues, a couple of blocks from the Armory Show. (un)Scene runs from Wednesday through Sunday, from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily. Admission is free.
Spring/Break is at Skylight at Moynihan Station, entrance on 31st Street just off west of 8th Avenue. The show runs from Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 8:00 p.m. each day (except on Sunday when it closes at 6:00), and costs $10.
