New York Art, Antique & Jewelry Show (NYAAJ) welcomes contemporary art to its inaugural CONTEMPORARY SPOTLIGHT, a special section within the fair, opening at the fair's new venue, Pier 94 (711 12th Ave, New York City), on Wednesday, November 9th.

The CONTEMPORARY SPOTLIGHT section is set within the eclectic cross-collecting fair, surrounded by historical materials ranging from Impressionist paintings, 18th century antiques, Picasso Ceramics and Art Nouveau jewelry. “It's a mini contemporary fair inside a traditional fair,” explains the fair's director Barbara Goodwin. “The section offers contemporary galleries a unique opportunity to contextualize the creations of their artists in the continuum of art history.”

Art Link International (Lake Worth, FL) presents works by French-born, Los Angeles-based artist Thierry Guetta, better known as the urban art phenomenon, “Mr. Brainwash,” alongside select modern and postwar Pop masterworks by Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, and Roy Lichtenstein. Working primarily with layers of screenprint and stenciled images, Mr. Brainwash fuses historic pop imagery and contemporary cultural iconography to create his version of a sly pop–graffiti art hybrid.

Recalling the richness of Dutch Golden Age still life paintings or perhaps a fantastical Ernst landscape, Corvengi Mikaelian’s oil on canvas at Villa del Arte (Barcelona, Spain)'s booth explores a lost paradise, an ancient and fantastic place inhabited by exotic flowers, wild animals and precious objects. A refined sense of sensuality and exuberance embraces the viewer and takes them to a compelling and imaginary territory. Master of figurative symbolism, Mikaelian brings opposite elements together creating new realities that are not subject to any logic inviting the viewer to get lost in them.

Works by Jeff Muhs represented by The McLoughlin Gallery (San Francisco) encapsulate the section's emphasis on materiality in contemporary art. Muhs' practice is conscientious of formal study, engagement with medium, and mastery of technique in its search for artistic truth. His paintings and sculptures bear the artist's unique aesthetic that is at once ethereal and concrete––bringing together unusual combinations of materials such as oil, encaustic, concrete, and fabrics. A Long Island native, Muhs is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York. Muhs is one of the top 300 most visited artists on Artnet, and his work is featured in numerous private, corporate, and institutional collections including Los Angeles County Museum in Los Angeles, California.

The inaugural CONTEMPORARY SPOTLIGHT features exhibitors from ten different cities around the world, including Buenos Aires (Argentina), Los Angeles (US), Bromont (Canada), and Seoul (Korea). The fair opens on Wednesday, November 9th with a by-invitation-only Opening Night Preview and Private Benefit Party hosted by Sharon and Lauren Bush for the FEED Foundation. The fair is open to the public for regular admission from Thursday, November 10th through Sunday, November 13th between 11am and 7pm.

-----

Links:

How CONTEMPORARY SPOTLIGHT was born: https://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/2430-palm-beach-show-group-unveils-contemporary-spotlight-at-pier-94-(

More highlights: https://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/4252-on-materiality-ceramics-glass-and-heavy-metal-in-contemporary-spo

Contact:
Young Jeon, SPARK+
200 Park Avenue Suite 1700, New York, NY 10166
Info@sparkplusart.com
+1.646.354.6519