Sculptures Take Center Stage at NADA New York Art Fair
Inside the 2024 NADA New York Art Fair: A Vibrant Showcase of Emerging Voices and Playful Provocations
By Hyperallergic Staff
Each year, the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) New York art fair emerges as a hotbed of discovery for discerning collectors, curious art lovers, and passionate gallerists. This year’s event, running through May 11, 2024, welcomed visitors into an airy, industrial setting on the third floor of Manhattan’s Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea—a locale notable both for its history and its sweeping views of the Hudson.
The fair brought together 120 exhibitors—an uptick from last year—making the most of its new, more condensed layout by ditching the previous edition’s dizzying four-floor configuration in favor of an expansive, navigable floor plan divided into alphabetized sections. Once inside, a feast of form and texture awaited: eccentric sculptures, globally rooted painting traditions, and an abundance of tactile, conceptual, and emotionally resonant work.
Whimsy Meets Warning: Rise of the Surreal and Ecological Installations
Two of the fair’s most memorable installations embraced a surreal twist on animal life. At Tatjana Pieters gallery, Belgian artist Charles Degeyter stopped passersby in their tracks with his display of taxidermied crustaceans erupting from uncanny sculptural objects: a daisy-shaped shell, a snarling dog’s head, a snake coiled in resin. These fantastical hybrids shimmered with both whimsy and nostalgia—an ode to Degeyter’s Southern French childhood—and offered a playful, if eerie, lens on natural history and memory.
Nearby, Massey Klein Gallery housed Canadian artist Jude Griebel’s ecosystem of oversized animal sculptures, including a worm waving a white flag and a tiered wilderness of upright fish, birds, and crustaceans. While visually engaging, these creations doubled as ecological warnings, serving to critique human impact on the environment—an implicit commentary echoed across many booths at this year’s fair.
Voices from Puerto Rico and Beyond
Two standout booths, Embajada and Hidrante, showcased dynamic contributions from Puerto Rico. At Embajada, a vibrant solo presentation by self-taught artist Joshua Nazario erupted in bold depictions of island athletes, sports cars, and dominoes, celebrating everyday life and masculinity through a stylized Pop vernacular. In contrast, Hidrante offered a reflective group exhibition, grappling with themes of island sovereignty, ancestral tradition, and the shifting tides of ecotourism.
This commitment to cultural specificity and intersectional themes extended across the fair, from Pauline Shaw’s dyed wool tapestries evoking historical memory at Naranjo 141, to installations exploring migration, materiality, and identity.
Sculptures Dominate, But With Tenderness
While painting maintained its timeless appeal (more on that below), sculpture reigned supreme this year, drawing focus through innovation and embedded narratives. Notable highlights included Santiago Licata’s eerie concrete pigeons at Pasto gallery. These birds, carved with disconcertingly human features and perched on coin stilts, reflected socioeconomic parody with an absurdist twist.
SarahNoa Mark’s clay tablets offered intricate carvings reminiscent of ancient artifacts at Goldfinch Gallery, while Anna Yamanishi’s deceptively delicate woodworks at Cohju Gallery mimicked flowing fabric despite their solid medium. Also turning heads were Ernesto Solana’s gleaming aluminum and bronze arrangements of flora and fauna, presented by Guadalajara90210.
Prices varied widely—often around the $3,000 to $6,000 range—making NADA a relatively accessible entry point for early collectors and a breeding ground for future blue-chip talent.
The Everlasting Appeal of the Canvas
Though 3D media trended high, paintings were far from forgotten. Liliana Zavaleta, an artist and longtime NADA attendee, was captivated by a moody abstraction from Jean-François Lauda at Montreal’s Eli Kerr gallery—proving that emotional resonance still trumps investment strategy for many buyers.
Other standout canvases included YaYa Yajie Liang’s fluid oil compositions presented by Cob Gallery and the haunting scenes of wildfires in Los Angeles by Salomón Huerta—offering commentary on urban chaos layered with painterly softness.
At Anca Poterașu Gallery, Megan Dominescu’s tufted textile works introduced humor and relevance through craft materials, offering another instance where traditional genres met timely themes.
Interactive and Immersive Moments
The fair provided moments of personal interaction and immersion. At the Morgan Lehman Gallery, fairgoers explored the vibrant constructions of Edra Soto through touch and movement, a rarity and a relief in the often “don’t touch” atmosphere of contemporary fairs.
Meanwhile, gallery staff, gallerists, and visitors alike created a lively atmosphere; elaborate fashion, statements of personal taste, and snappy conversations filled the air, culminating in a