With each passing year, Superfine! – the contemporary art fair and cultural experience boasting the crème de la crème of established and emerging artists – boasts an increasingly impressive offering of social, artistic, and collecting opportunities for budding patrons and seasoned collectors alike. Inclusivity and diversity come naturally to the Miami-born fair, laying claim to a roster of 75 exhibitors from around the world that features 70% women artists and a whopping 59 solo artists, in addition to 14 gallery programs.
Returning to last year’s venue at 459 West 14th Street in New York’s Meatpacking District, Superfine! is debuting its second New York edition with an ambitious and thoughtful program of activities, including a Dim Sum Collectors’ Dinner and a special collaboration with Lower Eastside Girls Club benefitting local female-driven arts organizations.
Featuring an exhibitor list skillfully curated with variety of mediums, styles and price points, it’s pretty difficult to whittle down our top picks of artists, galleries and independent curators to just a handful. In a nutshell, here are our top picks to look forward to during this week’s Superfine! festivities, broken down according to the fair’s three categories of established, peak, and emerging
1. Establish: “A hand-picked selection of unconventional art gallery programs and curated solo projects showing the crème de la crème in emerging new contemporary art from around the world.”
Boxheart Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA) – This female owned-and-operated returning exhibitor will be featuring fantastic folded paper sculptures by Andrew Ooi amongst other works.
Clara Arts (Jersey City, NJ) – With a focus emerging and mid-career artists, this Jersey City-based gallery will present a group show including artists Olivia Descampe, Norman Lasca, Adele Renault, Kat Mecca & Tom Day.
2. Elevate: “Political, topical, gender-bending, and challenging, our Elevate artists are at the height of their careers, utilizing their space to show curated presentations of works that delight, disrupt, and distinguish themselves at the front lines of new contemporary art.”
Monica Delgado (New York, NY) – sculptural acrylic works so spectacular, the founders of Superfine! Installed her work in their DUMBO home for a collector’s dinner and never took them down.
Jessica Matier (Belford, NJ) – Matier’s abstract expressionist paintings explore the intrinsic relationship between humanity and nature through mixed media, presenting a spiritual and feminine reclamation of a traditionally masculine genre.
3. Emerge: “Clocking in at just 60 square feet of wall space, these carefully, concise presentations by the freshest faces in new contemporary pack a serious punch, hitting well above their weight and representing the urgent NOW factor of emerging art.”
John P. Dessereau (Brooklyn, NY) – Brooklyn natives may recognize Dessereau’s surreal and often whimsical works as seen in the Williamsburg Northside Festival, where he’s participated as a muralist for the past three years. Trés local!
Mauro Soggiu (Miami, FL) – Soggiu’s newest body of work finds the artist utilizing stickers to collage portraits, animals, and everyday objects.
Carmen Smith (Miami, FL) – Intensely bright colors applied to familiar architectural scenes, examine the body’s relation to spaces, translating through a prism of nostalgia.
With an approach to contemporary art viewing (and buying), Superfine! is one experience that continues to separate itself from the ever increasing number of art fairs around the world. Visit Superfine! In New York from May 2-6 in the Meatpacking District and stay tuned for their forthcoming Washington, DC debut later on this year in October.
Purchase tickets here.
top image // courtesy of Superfine!
