SEOUL, Sept 6 (Reuters) – The Frieze Art Fair returned to South Korea for a second year on Wednesday, with dealers hoping the event would provide a boost for the burgeoning local art market, after economic woes triggered a slump in sales this year.

Art buyers flocked to Seoul’s COEX convention centre to see cutting-edge works by emerging artists, antiquity art through the 20th century, and offerings from established galleries, such as Gallery Hyundai, Kukje and Gana.

The fair, run by Endeavor Group-owned (EDR.N) Frieze, made its Asia debut in South Korea last year, drawing over 70,000 visitors.

South Korea’s art market reached 1 trillion won ($750.85 million) in revenue for the first time in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

However, the market shrank in the first half of this year, with the volume of art sales by major South Korean auction houses dropping 44.8% from a year ago, according to the Korea Arts Management Service.

Despite this backdrop, the South Korean and the Asian art market remain resilient, Patrick Lee, Director of Frieze Seoul, told Reuters.

“I think it is sort of a natural evolution as collectors get a little more sophisticated and discerning.”

With COVID travel restrictions gone, Lee is optimistic about hosting more international visitors during this year’s four-day fair.

Over 120 galleries from 30 countries are taking part, with more than half of them operating spaces in Asia, the organisers have said.

“We have a great contingent of visitors from China coming, Japan, all throughout the region. We’ve done a lot of outreach,” Lee said.

Seungjin Chung, founder and director of G Gallery, said South Korea’s art market has enjoyed growth in recent years led in part by Millennial and Gen Z collectors.

“From around three years ago, young collectors started to show interest in the market. Celebrities and influential people also began collecting (artwork), which I think has had an impact.”

Some South Korean celebrities, such as RM, a member of K-pop group BTS, have shown off their art collection and shared images of them visiting art galleries on social media, fuelling an interest in art among young people.

Jungmin Cho who directs Seoul-based White Noise said taking part in Frieze Seoul has been a new experience as her gallery has been more of an “independent, project space” instead of actively pursuing buyers.

“It is a great opportunity to promote the artists we support internationally and build relationships,” she said.

($1 = 1,331.8200 won)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

In watercolor and gouache, a world of wonder unfolds in surreal paintings by Graham Franciose (previously). In his current exhibition What Is Inside the Tree Is Inside of You, It’s Inside of Me at Gallery Ergo in Seattle, the artist considers the climate of the Pacific Northwest, where he’s lived since 2017 and regularly hikes through the region’s temperate rainforests. “The life-to-death-to-life cycle has never been more apparent and obvious to me as it is illustrated by the numerous ‘nurse logs’ you will encounter on most trails up here,” Franciose says in a statement. He continues:

A (nurse log is a) fallen tree, or stump of a giant logged tree that has, in its decomposition, nurtured new life into existence. A new sapling sprouts from the remains, and eventually its roots will reach the ground, and it will continue to grow up and around the deteriorating lump of organic matter that helped bring it into existence.

Franciose’s fascination with the circle of growth, decay, and regrowth led to a series of works that focus on the inherent symbiosis between humans and the rest of the natural world. Figures sit on enormous logs, sprout botanicals from their bodies, and reach out to commune with glowing annual growth rings in enigmatic, metaphysical narratives. He says, “The pieces in the collection of work are not really essays about this subject but more visual poems, with the underlying thread rooted in the connection we have with plants and animals and the natural world as a whole.”

More pieces from What Is Inside the Tree Is Inside of You, It’s Inside of Me can be viewed on the gallery’s website, and you can discover more work by Franciose on Instagram.

“A Dream of a New”

“Humble Seed to Last Leaf”

Left: “Bloom Together.” Right: “I Will Hold Space for Your Tender Heart to Bloom”

“The Arrival of the Sun”

“What Could Be”

“What Was and What Will Be”

“Something Unexpected Emerged”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Graham Franciose’s Otherworldly Watercolors Revel in Misty Forests and the Symbiosis of Nature appeared first on Colossal.

Reports of a dip in the South Korean art market cast a shadow on the run up to Seoul Art Week, which sees the second edition of Frieze Seoul and the 22nd edition of the Korea International Art Fair (Kiaf) take place concurrently on different floors of the Coex convention centre in Gangnam (6-9 September).

Nonetheless, crowds thronged and their impulse to spend money on art appeared mostly undeterred. Multiple gallerists at both fairs report better VIP day sales this year than last.

“It’s more packed than last year, and with more Americans”, says Andrew Hamilton, a director of the Modern Institute in Glasgow, one of the 121 galleries to take part in the fair (around the same number as the first edition). Indeed, a date clash with the Armory Show in New York—which was recently acquired by Frieze—raised doubt as to whether collectors from the US would attend. But these were quelled by the presence of around ten US museum groups, including those from The Bass, Perez Art Museum, Lacma, Aspen Art Museum and Dia Art Foundation, as well as private American collectors. Prominent European collectors in attendance included Maja Hoffman of Luma Arles in southern France. Almost 40 museum groups came in total, including the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the Auckland Art Gallery.

Perhaps an even bigger shift from 2022 is the return of Chinese collectors, who could not attend Frieze and Kiaf last year due to Covid travel restrictions; both South Korea and China have lifted virtually all Covid precautions and face masks are a rare sight at the fair. Chinese institutions in attendance include Hong Kong’s M+ and the Pingshan Art Museum, in Shenzhen.

Mandarin can be heard at many booths, and while ethnic Chinese people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are also part of the mix, the mainland art contingent is attending in force. “This is the first time since China reopened [after zero Covid] so curiosity is high,” says Lucien Y. Tso, the founder of Shanghai-based Gallery Vacancy. He reports a sell-out booth of works by the Belgian artist Pieter Jennes, with bright paintings priced around $30,000 and tactile soft sculptures of black cats selling for $1,500 per feline. Both darkly reference a 1932 Antwerp circus fire. Tso posits that the date conflict with Armory has had little impact as both it and Frieze Seoul are so regional in nature, he says, adding that today he has encountered a mix of collectors from Taiwan, Korea, mainland China, Thailand and Canada.

This mirrors the geographical makeup of collectors at another sell-out booth—London’s Josh Lilley gallery, which has placed all 15 paintings by Tom Anholt, to buyers from Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. The gallery prioritised offers from Asia “as we don’t come to Frieze Seoul to sell to Brits,” says its director, Joseph Harrison Davies. Josh Lilley also took part in the inaugural Art SG in Singapore this January. Davies says sales in Seoul have far eclipsed those of Singapore, with a “greater urgency” felt in Korea.

At the top end of sales today at Frieze Seoul, Hauser & Wirth have placed a 2023 Rashid Johnson painting with a “private Asian collection” for $975,000. Lisson Gallery have sold a 2004 Stanley Whitney painting for $550,000 and a work by Ryan Gander composed of an antique mirror and marble resin sold for £75,000. Thaddaeus Ropac, which this month doubled the size of its Seoul gallery, sold a 2023 Lee Bul mother-of-pearl work to a private Japanese collector for $190,000 as well as two Daniel Richter paintings for €375,000, one to a Chinese collector and the other to a Korean.

No works in the seven figures were reported to have sold by the end of VIP day, although last year a small handful of galleries made sales of works for more than $1m on the second day of the fair. Works in that price range this year include a Calder mobile at Pace, valued “in the millions”, and a towering Jeff Koons Gazing Mirror Ball sculpture from 2004 at Robilant + Voena for $3.6m. This is perhaps to be expected, as last year at Frieze Seoul many gallerists reported a sweet selling spot of between $100,000 to $200,000, while struggling to place anything above $500,000.

And at certain stands, signs of a downturn in sales could be gleaned. “People are certainly talking of a slower market,” says Salomé Zelic, a director at Galeria Continua. As of 7pm Korea time on preview day the gallery had not yet sold any works. “Usually our clients are at the upper end of net worth so things like this don’t bother them, so it’s interesting that this dip seems to be affecting people,” she says.

Downstairs at Kiaf, sales and crowds appeared more sedate, although Jaesok Kim, a director at Gallery Hyundai in Seoul, says this year demonstrated an upswing in sales activity compared with last year. The standard in quality also appears to have been somewhat raised—gone, for example, were signs of galleries placing stickers on their stand walls to mark the sale of a work, as happened at times last year. “Booth presentations were more varied and a higher calibre,” Kim says. Among the works sold by Hyundai at Kiaf was a 1966 painting by the South Korean artist Seundja Rhee for $210,000.

This year, Kiaf has significantly increased the number of galleries taking part, by around 33%, with more than 240 exhibitors. It is made up mostly of Korean galleries, including some of its largest, such as Kukje, which was responsible for a number of the most expensive reported VIP day sales, including sculptures by Ugo Rondinone for between $50,000 and $90,000.

Returning for the second year to Kiaf is the German gallery Isabelle Lesmeister from Regensburg. Its eponymous director says she sold just one work today, a sculpture of a piece of wood ash, twisted like a bow, by the artist Jeremy Holmes for $15,000. Lesmeister is confident at placing more works as “this isn’t the quickest fair at which to sell” she says, adding that Seoul is a “boomtown” for art. Asked about the downturn in the Korean market she acknowledges there have been fewer sales to local collectors than last year but this is true the world over. “Everywhere people are buying less art. In Europe, I have collectors who are worried about rising energy costs because of the war in Ukraine, it’s not a localised thing.”

“We’re entering into the second phase of the Korean art market now,” says the Seoul-based dealer Jason Haam, whose eponymous gallery is taking part in Frieze. Last year Haam was one of a handful of Korean galleries to take part in both Kiaf and Frieze. This year he has elected to do only Frieze as he found the prospect of doing two fairs and staging an exhibition in his gallery “too exhausting”.

While Hamm acknowledges there was a dip in sales earlier this year, he says this “cleared up by July” and that, at least for his collectors, it was largely down to a “psychological fear” rather than a “real decline in wealth”. Economics aside, he adds that what is most promising is not a “substantial material increase in the market”, but an increase in the level of quality. “Dozen of galleries are opening up in the city and they’re all professionalising. Commercial spaces now stage important shows throughout the year rather than just once. It’s very reassuring.”

During the pandemic lockdown, School of Visual Arts faculty member, Peter Hristoff, taught an online drawing class.

As students drew a model holding tulips to his mouth very much like a trumpet or a bugle, he was doing the same. That drawing was the inspiration for Hristoff’s subway poster.

“I think that there is something that the poster implies that is kind of heralding something good, good news, something better to come,” said Hristoff.

Hristoff’s poster is one of more than 200 from the college’s subway posters collection, which have been covering station walls around the five boroughs for 75 years.

It’s all part of an exhibition at SVA’s Chelsea Gallery called “Underground Images: A History.”

SVA, then known as Cartoonists and Illustrators School, commissioned the posters from some of its most esteemed faculty members as a marketing campaign with an extra artistic flair.

“They grab you by the lapels and shake you up, and make you look, and so it’s been a very successful campaign that way,” said Francis Di Tommaso, director of SVA Galleries.

The exhibition brings together the complete series of works from 93 artists including Milton Glaser, who created the “I Love New York” logo and the post 9/11 follow-up on one of the posters which says, “I Love NY More Than Ever” with a stain covering part of the familiar heart logo.

Hristoff was born in Turkey and raised in Queens and has been affiliated with SVA for almost all of the past 47 years. He said creating one of the posters was something he hoped to do when he first walked into the school as a student in the mid-1970s.

“They function certainly in a way as public art in the subways, but also for the community, for the students, they are actually something that we look up to to a kind of possibility in the art world, whether you are a designer, an illustrator, a fine artist or photographer,” said Hristoff.

Visitors can check out every one of them at the gallery through Oct. 14, and admission is free.

Plan your visit at sva.edu/about/exhibitions.

The Beehive is an up-and-coming craft store and event space as well as the brainchild of Emilie Vest and Caitlin Shoemaker.

Vest currently works remotely in the medical field and volunteers to organize the Magnolia Farmer’s Market and Third Thursday.

Shoemaker started The Bobbin Weave in 2018 where she makes custom items including backpacks, bags and notepad covers and sells them at conventions.

“Caitlin was one of my vendors at the farmers market. We’ve known each other since we’re in high school and she was talking about opening a yarn store. I said, ‘I really want to open a craft store. Why don’t we merge the ideas?’ We sat on it for a couple of weeks and decided to do it,” said Vest.

Despite only signing the lease for their storefront around two weeks ago, the renovation has begun and at least 16 events not including the ribbon cutting and grand opening will take place in October.

Vest said that they have goals to work with local artists and the local art scene including the Magnolia Art Center by adding gallery space, selling local art and bringing in local artists to teach craft courses.

They hired local artist Jaci Tucker to paint the store windows in a bee hive theme.

“I want all kinds of stuff here. If somebody makes crochet plushies I think that’s that’s a version of art. I really respect quilting as an art form,” said Vest.

The shop will have gallery space for artists to show and sell their art Vest said.

Vest said they also plan to have areas for customers to test products like pens, stationery and journals to help discover what they love.

“We’re going to be a little slow on the inventory initially, but we will eventually have inventory for crafts and high-end art supplies. Also, we’ll have a tool rental area where people can use them when they come in during workshop hours, in addition to the craft classes and then the art classes,” said Vest.

Shoemaker said, ” I think the events are going to be my favorite since they will be laid back and creative. I think the classes are gonna be fun.”

Vest agreed saying that they hope to have skilled artisans and craftspeople to teach classes.

“We’re really hoping there’s a bladesmith who can come and do a knife workshop,” said Vest. “I think that being able to give people the skills that a lot of us don’t learn anymore is really cool.

The ribbon cutting for The Beehive will be on Oct. 13 with the grand opening on Oct. 14.

Vest said they plan to have a bookstore pop-up shop by women-run store Paper Hearts during the grand opening event.

“I’m hoping we have like an adult scholastic book, fair vibe,” said Vest.

The Beehive’s Facebook page has a full list of events along with the links to sign up.

Vest said that any artists and artisans who would like to take advantage of the available gallery space or teach a class can contact her through The Beehive’s Facebook page.

The second edition of Independent 20th Century will open at Cipriani South Street on 7 September with 33 international galleries exhibiting art made between 1900 and the early 2000s. “The more you search, the more you find,” Elizabeth Dee, the fair’s founder and CEO, told The Art Newspaper. “There is an endless broadening of understanding of this time period—it just feels vast.”

A large portion of the material on view was overlooked at the time of its making due to social and political prejudices. “With more investigation, the associations between artists become clearer,” Dee says, and keeping track of work created after 1970 has been easier, “but discovering how work by women, Black and queer artists from the 1910s and 20s was preserved by people who valued them is a gift”.

The fair was launched last year, after Dee noticed a shift in how people view the last century’s art and the growing number of museums attempting to correct and reorganise their collections to make room for previously unrecognised artists and their works. While the institutions have a mountainous amount of work ahead of them, the market interest for works by historically marginalized artists has experienced a significant rise.

A striking case in the fair’s attempt to posthumously expand the reach of overlooked artists is Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel’s solo stand for the Brazilian artist Wanda Pimentel (1943-2019), who never had a solo exhibition in the US in her lifetime. The meticulous presentation of Pimentel’s paintings of geometric precision and Pop Art exuberance (“a larger version of this booth could easily be shown at an institution like the Guggenheim”, Dee says) is the result of two years of research and preservation.

Another research-heavy participant is Hauser & Wirth Institute, whose two-person stand shows archives of the Pakistani artist Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941-1999) and the American artist Mary Dill Henry (1913-2009). The entirely non-commercial presentation of the Swiss blue-chip’s recently established non-profit leg stems from collaborations with Asia Art Archive and Paul V. Galvin Library’s University Archives and Special Collections at Illinois Institute of Technology.

“We were drawn to Independent 20th Century’s focus on reassessing the canon to make it more inclusive and representative,” says Lisa Darms, Hauser & Wirth Institute’s executive director. “With the direct engagement with the public that the fair enables, and the opportunity for people to see selections from archives in person, we’re expecting to have some great conversations with fairgoers about the potential and importance of archives.”

Archives will also be a part of Donald Ellis Gallery’s stand, dedicated to baskets by the Washoe weaver Louisa Keyser, also known as Dat So La Lee (1829-1925). The Annabelle Selldorf-designed presentation will include vitrines with ephemera about the artist’s early market presence in Nevada during the heyday of the Arts and Crafts movement, in addition to displaying five of her rare baskets.

Meanwhile, Salon 94 Design’s stand will be a solo presentation of busts by the Baltimore-based ceramicist Myrtle Williams (born 1938), whose subjects include Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, as well as everyday women. The gallery’s owner, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, explains: “In 1984, Williams found her hand in the ceramic studio of Montgomery County Community College where, until 2019, she envisioned, threw, coiled, carved, adorned, painted, glazed and fired some 300 ceramic Black female busts.” The design gallery’s participation for the second time speaks to the thinning hierarchies between not only histories but also creative practices.

Neatness has always been a part of the Independent brand, but this sophomore edition particularly stands out with its intimate scale and inclusion of galleries lesser-known to American collectors. “We try to get galleries you don’t see everywhere or those that don’t do fairs; otherwise, the whole affair gets boring,” Dee says, and rotating 20% of the gallery list every year helps diversify the list and avoid filling stands with the usual suspects. “Showing the latest Damien Hirst in green isn’t going to excite our well-informed audience,” says Dee. “If we are going to look at the past, let’s do so maybe by talking about Coenties Slip and how, for example, gentrification changed the face of New York City.” (Coenties Slip is a piece of land in Manhattan’s Financial District that, in the 1950s and 60s, was home to artists like Agnes Martin, Robert Indiana and Ellsworth Kelly. Today, fittingly, it is a short walk from the Independent 20th Century’s Cipriani South Street venue.)

“The questions of ‘why this?’ ‘why now?’ really bring the fair forward,” says Dee, and within a commercial environment, she notes that “an intellectually generous approach” is still fundamental. “I am a big believer that no material should be dummied down,” she says, “and the original source should be brought forward as much as possible.”

The official start to the fall art season is upon us. Kids are back in school, the heat may soon abate, and the Ruinart is ready to be corked. That’s right, it’s Armory Art Week, whence a slew of fairs arrive in Manhattan, and galleries and museums across New York City celebrate the beginning of another action-packed year.

Below, enjoy our essential guide to the upcoming parade of art events.

The Armory Show

Photo: Vincent Tullo. Courtesy The Armory Show.

When: VIP preview: Thursday, September 7; Public hours: Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, September 10: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Where: Javits Center, Crystal Palace Entrance, 429 11th Avenue 

What to Know: Is it a regional fair or an international one? That is the question on many art world observers’ lips these days, and the 2023 instantiation of the Armory Show may help settle the matter. Although the Armory show was bought by growing art-fair conglomerate Frieze earlier this year in a deal announced in July, expectations are that this edition will be unchanged by the acquisition.  

It’s the fair’s third outing at the Javits Center, an enviable venue (and perhaps part of Frieze’s interest in buying the Armory Show). The event will host more than 225 galleries representing more than 35 countries and 800 artists.

This year also heralds the third edition of Armory Off-Site. The outdoor program will present three large-scale sculptures at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the U.S. Open, and present artworks in partnership with Times Square Arts at the organization’s Midnight Moment program.

Independent 20th Century 

Work by Lee Quiñones on view with Ross and Kramer Gallery, New York, at the Independent 20th Century fair at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo courtesy of Ross and Kramer Gallery, New York.

When: VIP preview: Thursday, September 7: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Public hours: Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, September 10: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Where: Battery Maritime Building at Cipriani South Street, 10 South Street 

What to Know: For the sophomore edition of Independent 20th Century, which focuses on the rich artistic movements and artists of the period between 1900 and 2000, more than 30 galleries and non-profit organizations will showcase works at the historic Battery Maritime Building at Cipriani South Street, with 12 exhibitors including Almine Rech, Van Doren Waxter, and the Hauser & Wirth Institute making their debut at the fair.

Female artists are at the forefront this year, with highlights including a solo presentation of French artist Marie Laurencin, presented by Nahmad Contemporary, and Galerie Lelong and Co.’s presentation of an unseen body of work by the late artist Mildred Thompson. 

Photofairs 

Work by Ole Marius Jorgensen, exhibited at Momentum Gallery.

When: Public hours: Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, September 10: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Where: Javits Center 

What to Know: The long-awaited debut of Asia’s largest photography fair in the U.S. is finally upon us, promising an exposition of 60 international galleries that will “bring a new energy to the fall season in New York.” A range of video, virtual-reality, and photographic works will be on display under the guidance of art world veteran Helen Toomer, director of the New York edition.

Exhibitors include For Freedoms (New York), ROLF ART (Buenos Aires), Luis de Jesus Los Angeles (Los Angeles), Momentum (Miami), and 193 Gallery (Paris). Special programming will be presented by partners including Fotografiska New York and Gagosian Quarterly.

Spring/Break 

Yasmine K. Kasem’s work, curated by Rokhsane Hovaida, at Spring/Break Art Show Los Angeles 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

When: First look: Wednesday, September 6: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; opening night: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Public hours: Thursday, September 7 to Monday, September 11: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Where: Old School, 32 Prince Street 

What to Know: This smaller fair, which often makes use of unconventional venues, has been called “scrappy,” “beloved,” and even “undoubtedly the best New York City fair at which to snap up emerging artists at reasonable price points”—and that’s just in Artnet News.  

Founded by Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly in 2009, Spring/Break has engendered a crowd of devout cheerleaders over the intervening years, climbing from a fringe fair to a staple—a beloved (yes, we’ll say it again) diversion from the commerce of Armory Week. This year, Spring/Break hosts more than 120 curatorial projects with work from more than 400 artists at the former headquarters of Ralph Lauren. 

Art on Paper 

A view of Art on Paper in New York City. Courtesy of Art on Paper.

When: VIP preview: Thursday, September 7: 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; opening night: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Public hours: Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, September 10: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Where: Pier 36, 299 South Street 

What to Know: The ninth edition of Art on Paper, which showcases… art on paper… returns to Manhattan’s Pier 36 during Armory Week with a robust 100-exhibitor lineup under the direction of Nato Thompson. Highlights include a dual presentation of Judy Pfaff and Barbara Zucker at Accola Griefen gallery, and ADLAR Studio will show prints by artists Kenny Scharf, Analia Saban, Shane Guffogg, Matthew Brandt, and the Haas Brothers.

Salon Zürcher 

Rupture (2022). Courtesy of Salon Zürcher.” width=”1024″ height=”431″ srcset=”https://www.mecreates.com/story/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MicrosoftTeams-image-20-1024×431.jpg 1024w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/08/MicrosoftTeams-image-20-300×126.jpg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/08/MicrosoftTeams-image-20-50×21.jpg 50w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/08/MicrosoftTeams-image-20.jpg 1031w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Colleen Herman, Rupture (2022). Courtesy of Salon Zürcher.

When: Monday, September 4: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, September 5 and Wednesday, September 6: 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday, September 7, Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, September 10: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Where: Zürcher Gallery, 33 Bleecker Street 

What to Know: This mini-fair, which has its other edition in Paris, bills itself as an alternative to “superstore-style fairs,” during Armory Week. The 29th edition of Salon Zurcher is titled “The 11 Women of Spirit, Part 8,” and features—you guessed it—work by women artists. Among the 11 Women showing work in Part 8 are Lauren Ball, Elizabeth Bisbing, and Agathe Bouton. 

Clio 

Visitors at Clio Art Fair. Courtesy of Clio.

When: VIP opening: Thursday, September 7: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Public hours: Friday, September 8: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 9: 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, September 10: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.  

Where: 550 West 29th Street 

What to Know: The biannual art fair named after the Greek Muse of history and poetry returns to New York for its 15th edition, continuing its mission to give a platform to artists without exclusive gallery representation.

The alternative model lends itself to a more creative fair-going experience, and in addition to the 70 participating independent artists, this year’s event boasts a series of performances titled “Confess Your Dreams” and a special section titled “Losing Track of the Lost” that explores homelessness and social justice. 

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The judges of the 2023 Bird Photographer of the Year competition (previously) sifted through more than 20,000 images submitted from photographers around the globe. With lenses trained on a variety of avians and their habitats, the makers of this year’s winning images highlight diverse behavior, sizes, colors, and environments, from enigmatic and elusive species to familiar backyard friends.

Jack Zhi’s grand prize-winning image catches the dramatic moment that a Peregrine Falcon attacks a Brown Pelican in mid-flight. “I love the eyes of the pelican in this image: surprised and scared,” Zhi says. “The action was fast and over in the blink of an eye.” Other category winners include striking portraits and rare observations, like Nicolas Reusens’ Glistening-green Tanager framed in a tropical leaf, Rafael Armada’s capture of a tiny Sword-billed Hummingbird, or Henley Spiers’ underwater sighting of a Blue-footed Booby with a freshly-caught meal.

The 2024 contest is now open for entries on the organization’s website, where you can also browse a gallery of this year’s winning photos. Follow BPOTY on Instagram for more updates.

Qiuqing Mu, “A Mother’s Love,” Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), Zhejiang, China. Bronze Award Winner: Bird Behavior

Rafael Armada, “Flying Sword,” Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), Bogotá, Colombia. Gold Award Winner: Birds in Flight

Cheng Kang, “Morning Serenity,” Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae), Northern Country, Victoria, Australia. Bronze Award Winner: Black-and-white

Mateusz Piesiak, “Sunflower Paradise,” Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), Lower Silesia, Poland. Gold Award Winner: Birds in the Environment

Paul Mckenzie, “Green Planet Flamingos,” Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), Lake Bogoria, Kenya. Silver Award Winner: Birds in Flight

Antonio Aguti, “No Way Out,” Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), Lake Chiusi, Italy. Gold Award Winner: Comedy Bird Photo

Arto Leppänen, “A Moment of Prayer,” Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), Helsinki, Finland. Gold Award Winner: Urban Birds

Jack Zhi, “Grab the Bull by the Horns.” Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Southern California, United States. Gold Award Winner: Bird Behavior

Henley Spiers, “Blue-Footed Fishing Dive,” Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii), Los Islotes, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Silver Award Winner: Bird Behavior

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 Highlights Avian Attitudes and Winged Wonders Around the World appeared first on Colossal.