Seattle Art Fair 2017: Much to See and Buy!

Kurt Cobain, Incesticide. Courtesy of UTA Artist Space.

The Seattle Art Fair (August 3-6) offers much to see and to buy. The whole idea is to offer in one space an opportunity for a varied audience to engage with some of the best contemporary art around the world. The 2017 edition features 99 galleries representing 30 cities globally, with 58 from the Pacific Rim alone, in addition to lectures and specially commissioned installations. UTA Artist Space, for example, brings the first-ever exhibition focusing on the visual art of Kurt Cobain to the Seattle Art Fair. It includes previously unseen notebooks as well as two original paintings by Cobain. An additional piece that Nirvana fans will undoubtedly recognize is this collaged cover of the band’s 1992 Incesticide compilation.

From Joshua Liner Gallery: Riusuke Fukahori’s
The Ark (Goldfish Salvation), 2015

If you are in the Seattle area, you can still catch the final day of Seattle Art Fair this Sunday. And, if you should not be able to make it, be sure to visit the Seattle Art Fair website for details on all the participating galleries. The following is my recap of my visit on Saturday. There are a number of ways to take it the show with countless observations to make and insights to gain. Here are a few of mine.

Sean Townley’s 7 Diadems, 2016.

Be sure to look twice. While many of us believe we’ve seen it all, there is a part of us ready to be astonished. But you need to really look. Take, for instance, a row of what appear to be pods floating along a strip of the showroom floor. Upon a closer look, they appear to be heads reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty. Are they emerging with the truth and rising to the top? Read more regarding Townley’s work at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts right here.

C24 Gallery: Carole Feuerman’s City Slicker

The art is alive. Engage with it as it is already engaging with you or so it certainly seems. Carole Feuerman’s City Slicker was a crowd favorite. Represented by C24 Gallery.

Forum Gallery: Bo Bartlett’s Object Lesson, 2017

The art is there to provoke. Welcome a new conversation as art provokes new thoughts and renewed debate, like Bo Bartlett’s Object Lesson, represented by Forum Gallery.

Forum Gallery: Xenia Hausner’s Gone Girl, 2014

Lose yourself. Art can certainly be as fun as it is intense. Consider Xenia Hausner’s Gone Girl, represented by Forum Gallery.

Winchester Galleries: Joe Fafard’s Lucien Freud, 2014

Art will shock. Art takes seriously its option to shock. It can be intense or it can be more of a whimsical nudge like, Joe Fafard’s 2014 tribute in bronze to painter Lucien Freud. Fafard is represented by Winchester Galleries.

Shift Gallery Seattle: Eric Day Chamberlain’s Red Plate Yellow Background, 2016

Art will soothe. Art also prides itself in its ability to calm. Consider Eric Day Chamberlain’s Red Plate Yellow Background, 2016. Chamberlain is represented by Shift Gallery Seattle.

David Zwirner Gallery: Andy Warhol’s Astronauts, 1963

Pay respect. You are among some of the best art galleries in the world, like David Zwirner Gallery. You will be treated to some of the biggest names in art and perhaps in a whole new light, like the above Andy Warhol’s Astronauts, 1963.

Backslash gallery: American artist Fahamu Pecou

Art keeps you strong. Especially during these very troubled times. Backslash gallery is pleased to present a solo show with works especially realized for the fair by American artist Fahamu Pecou whose large painting Daedalus Upliftment was acquired by the Seattle Art Museum last year.

KRUPIC KERSTING II KUK: Tracey Snelling’s Lost City

Discover. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open. You will be rewarded by something fresh and new, like Tracey Snelling’s Lost City, represented by KRUPIC KERSTING II KUK.

A Seattle Art Fair video recap:

Keep up with Seattle Art Fair right here.