BY Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, May 5, 2022
NADA entrance
SHANTI ESCALANTE/ARTNEWS
The 2022 edition of New Art Dealers Alliance marks the first time since 2018 that the fair has held an edition in New York. The fair is now back at Pier 36, the venue it once held before moving to its location on New York’s West Side. (It later lost that venue to Google, which bought it in 2018.) “Even securing this space was tough,” said Heather Hubbs, NADA director, during today’s opening.
Despite the four-year absence, the 120 exhibitors participating this year showed up in full force. Alongside their offerings, NADA has brought on rising curator and gallerist Kendra Jayne Patrick to organize a small section that includes five solo presentations: Joeun Kim Aatchim at Harper’s, Teresa Baker at de boer, Elliot Reed at anonymous gallery, Elif Saydam at Franz Kaka, and Quay Quinn Wolf at Jack Barrett.
“The curated selection gives people something to focus on,” said Hubbs, “and as we continue doing this, I imagine it’ll be something galleries consider as they put together their applications.”
Patrick’s section is but one highlight in a fair with much to see. To showcase the finest offerings at this year’s NADA New York, ARTnews has put together a list of the five best booths.
Denny Dimin Gallery has found an innovative way to sell the work of new media artist Jeremy Couillard, whose video game Fuzz Dungeon is on view at the booth. The 15-level game, which is typically streamed 24/7 on the gaming platform Twitch, is a chaotic mash-up of songs and dialogue that mirrors the never-ending stream of content that we experience on a near constant basis. These days, you may expect works like this one to be sold as NFTs. Instead, the galley has opted to sell the work by offering a computer on which the game is downloaded. “I’m into objects,” Robert Dimin, a partner at the gallery, explained, adding, “Fuck NFTs.”Two prints by Couillard, as well as works by Sheida Soleimani and Stephen Thrope, flank the game.