"Can you shape the narrative of art history — which is what museums generally do — at an art fair? And do we need any more of these pop-up enterprises in our lives? Haven’t we had enough of art fairs?
The Independent 20th Century, held at Battery Maritime Building at South Ferry, with its hulking steel and iron Beaux-Arts facade, makes a pretty good case on both counts. In its fourth edition, and the New York fair that focuses on 20th-century art, the usual modern-art stars turn up here and there (hello, Picasso), but I made several thrilling discoveries among the 53 artists presented by 31 exhibitors. I’m inclined to think you’ll find some new favorites too...
Leonor Fini at Weinstein Gallery
Female Surrealists are one of the ascendant narratives in 20th-century art and Leonor Fini, on view at San Francisco’s Weinstein Gallery, is a fine example. Painting sinuous women and otherworldly creatures, Fini’s work is seductive and curiously uncanny. Mythical creatures and characters like witches and werewolves appear and there is always a theatrical quality — hence the elaborate masks she made as part of her practice, several of which are on view here."
