Women Artists Fluidly Flex Color, Genre, Narrative At ‘The Art Show’ Benefiting Henry Street Settlement

Lavish layering of fluid, gestural brushstrokes executed in a variegated array of inimitable colors immediately captured and captivated my gaze. Looking closely at the elaborate large-scale Abstract Expressionist canvas, we encounter a singular re-imaging of a 17th century visual narrative.

Inspired by one of the most significant paintings in the Western canon, Bernice Bing (1936-1998) subverts the already-controversial Las Meninas (Spanish for The Ladies-in-waiting) by Spanish Baroque master Diego Velázquez, imparting her cultural and sexual identity as a Chinese-American lesbian.

Velasquez Family No. II (1961), from a series of paintings inspired by the 1656 painting, was an undisputed highlight of last night’s The Art Show Benefit Preview, presented by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) at the Park Avenue Armory. All ticket fees from the Benefit Preview and the duration of the 36th annual edition fair, which opened to the public today and is on view until Saturday, support Henry Street Settlement. Founded in 1893 under the name Nurses’ Settlement as one of the country’s oldest nonprofit organizations, Henry Street helps more than 50,000 New Yorkers through education, employment, shelter, health and wellness, and arts programs.

A museum-quality work, Velasquez Family No. II abstracts the mystifying composition that has for centuries sparked debate about reality and illusion and regarding the perplexing relationships among its subjects. I regret that I missed Bing’s first New York solo show, named for her nickname ”Bingo”, which closed on October 12 at Berry Campbell, but I am delighted that I was able to return to the gallery’s booth multiple times last night in awe of its peculiar resplendence. The belated celebration of Bing’s stunning oeuvre showcased work created between 1961 and 1996, drawing together her large-scale paintings and works on paper, many which have not been viewed for decades.

Spectacular color contrast once again caught my gaze at the Kasmin booth, this time in a cinematic photograph by Tina Barney of Two Sisters (2019), which compels us to wonder what the women are thinking as they strike deliberately serious poses. Both wearing formal dresses with wide flat-laid collars, one in dark purple and the other in pale pink, the sisters stand out from the pistachio walls. The figures exude contemporary confidence and high drama in the extravagant Rococo style setting.

The solo presentation showcases rarely and never-before-exhibited work by Barney (b. 1945) executed over nearly five decades, examining the theme of family and coinciding with Tina Barney: Family Ties, her upcoming retrospective at the Jeu de Paume in Paris. Take a close look at these nuanced interpersonal narratives, where technical perfection captures the slightest human imperfections in sensational monumental compositions where the quotidian cleverly collides with the curious.

Forty-three of the 75 ADAA member gallery booths at this year’s fair feature solo exhibitions.

Building on a fascination with color, we explore the austere elegance of Leslie Hewitt’s hybrid approach to photography and sculpture at the Perrotin booth. Still life is reborn as post-minimalism in her achromatic still-life collage series, Riffs on Real Time with Ground. Personal ephemera, such as a photograph, mingles with public ephemera such as a book, a magazine, or a doodle, layered onto a textured surface, such as a floor or a rug. Embark on this art historical journey into color theory and minimalism, through works composed in the dark room by exposing photo paper to light to evoke memory or emotion. Also on view is a dazzling bronze sculpture from a series of work Hewitt (b. 1977) created for Dia Bridgehampton.

“The intimate environment created by The Art Show in the Park Avenue Armory is unparalleled, as it offers a unique platform for dealers to take risks they might not consider at other fairs: presenting solo exhibitions by less established or under-known artists and thoughtfully curated group exhibitions that shed new light on a historical moment or artistic movement,” said Anthony Meier, President of the ADAA. “The richness of these presentations prompt prolonged observation and in-depth conversations with collectors that make The Art Show a special event in our member galleries’ programs each year.”