Laura Aldridge, “Hand Extended,” detail, screen prints on Perspex, plaster, fabric, and paint (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
548 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
March 3-6, free
www.independentnewyork.com
Winner of the 2010 Rob Pruitt Award for Alternative Project of the Year, the Independent art fair is back in the old Dia space in Chelsea, with more than fifty galleries spread out over the second, third, and fourth floors. Founded by X Initiative’s Elizabeth Dee and Hotel’s Darren Flook, the Independent was a rousing success last year, and not just because it was free. It offered a wide range of multimedia, participatory installations in well-organized spaces, giving visitors the opportunity to play Ping-Pong on Rirkrit Tiravanija’s “The Future Will Be Chrome,” accept a torn page from Michael Dean’s “The Floor Is the Object,” take a seat in Ryan Trecartin’s caged-in “P.opular S.ky (section ish),” and create their own dialogue while investigating the artistic dialogues created by moss and Westreich-Wagner. The 2011 Independent is being developed with White Columns’ Matthew Higgs and codirectors Jayne Drost and Laura Mitterand and includes such artists and galleries as Dexter Sinister, Guyton/Walker, and Trisha Donnelly of Artists Space, Erica Baum of Bureau, Katinka Bock of Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Michel François of Bortolami, Josephine Meckseper of Elizabeth Dee, Walead Beshty of Wallspace, Reena Spaulings of Sutton Lane, Ryan Gander and Roman Ondák of gb agency, Michail Pirgelis of Sprüth Magers, Carol Bove of Hotel, Wolfgang Tillmans and Liam Gillick of Maureen Paley, Simon Fujiwara of Neue Alte Brücke and Gio Marconi, and Jonathan Monk of Meyer Riegger. Unfortunately, much of the work is not clearly labeled, so it is often difficult to know what you’re looking at. The fair is heavy on sculptural installation, with numerous floor pieces, so be careful where you walk, although you are encouraged to step on Eftihis Patsourakis’s “Skin,” composed of actual welcome mats from his native Athens, but stay away from Ryan Gander’s “Matthew Young falls from the 1985 into a white room (Maybe this is not that way it is supposed to happen)” [sic], made of broken stunt-safe sugar glass and wood. We got a kick out of Laura Aldridge’s “Hand Extended” screen prints on Perspex of cats holding on to a human’s arm, mixed in with her plaster, fabric, and paint wall pieces. With all the craziness and chaos going on, you’ll want to take a respite in front of Maureen Gallace’s small oil on panel “August, Beach Cottage (Pink Flowers),” another one of her gentle, memorable paintings. While there’s very little video, one of the better film installations is Rossella Biscotti’s “Yellow,” which uses an old-fashioned projector to relay a WWII-related psychiatric session. While not nearly as dazzling as last year’s inaugural fair, there’s still a lot to like about Independent, but you have to be willing to work for it.