In its 37th year, The AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers) Photography Show is one of New York’s most anticipated photography events. This year the show has relocated from the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side to Pier 94 in Chelsea. While some fair-goers have expressed disappointment about the new venue, the additional space allows the fair to accommodate 100 galleries (14 more than last year) and a section for 25 publishers and bookstores. The show is divided into four sections: Salon, Gallery, Positions, and Discovery. American galleries account for 60% of exhibitors, but Europe, Asian, and South America are represented as well. This year’s change in programming has also expanded the show’s inclusiveness, allowing for several non-AIPAD members exhibition space. I have featured a few of these newcomers and their works that I found particularly inspiring.
Untitled from the series Neighbours, Martina Lindqvist, 2013, Archival pigment print, 12 x 19.5 inches (works on the right side). On view at Booth 801.
Martina Lindqvist
The Photographers’ Gallery in London crossed the pond as first-time AIPAD exhibitors, bringing a variety of work from established and emerging artists. On the booth’s outside wall, Finnish artist Martina Lindqvist’s photographs from her series “Neighbours” are stark and attention-grabbing. The simple homes surrounded by empty fields of snow are inspired by the remote places in Finland where her family is from. To heighten the feeling of isolation caused by so many of rural Finland’s inhabitants relocating to larger cities, Lindqvist digitally manipulates the space around the houses to remove other signs of life.
Mountain XIX, Christopher Russell, 2017, Pigment print scratched with razor, 36 x 24 inches. On view at Booth 319.
Christopher Russell
For their inaugural AIPAD exhibition, Portland, Oregon gallery UPFOR Gallery chose to show only one artist, Christopher Russell. Russell’s colorful pigment prints are hand-scratched with a razorblade to create intricate and delicate patterns over washes of pastel colors. Beginning with landscape photographs made with a veil over his lens, Russell then creates textures reminiscent of lace with a razor, making each work unique.
Morehouse Comet, 1908, Linda Connor, 1996, Gold toned printing out paper from original glass plate negative, 12.5 x 10.5 inches. On view at Booth 444.
Linda Connor
I was pleased to see Richmond, Virginia represented by Candela Gallery. Among the great works on display, Linda Connor’s gold toned photographs particularly stood out, despite their small size. The photographs are printed from glass plate negatives from the archive of the Lick Observatory in California. The plates were made between 1890 and 1920 and Connor began printing these plates in 1995 when she was given the keys to the archive. Using the sun to expose the printing out paper, Connor’s prints are magical—blending what astronomers might have seen over a century ago and how Connor sees through their lens today.
Stream #2, Jonathan Smith, 2013, Chromogenic print, 30 x 37.5 inches. On view at Booth 442.
Jonathan Smith
Morgan Lehman Gallery has been established in New York City for some time, but this year is their first as participants in the photography show. The large-scale c-prints from Jonathan Smith’s series “Streams” are simple yet striking images of dark blue streams flowing through ice. Graphically arresting, the work walks the line between abstraction and landscape, revealing its subject matter only after a closer look.
Capturing Light: A History of Photographers, Charlotte Potter, 2017, Hand engraved glass, silver, tin, stainless steel, 3 x 3 inches each cameo, 13 feet long installation. On view at Booth 503.
Charlotte Potter
Charlotte Potter’s installation “Capturing Light: A History of Photographers” takes up an entire wall of Lisa Sette Gallery’s booth. Using photographs of famous photographers, Potter translates their image onto cameo-sized pieces of colored glass. Arranged in a linear timeline, the portraits begin with history’s first photographers Louis-Jacques Daguerre, William Henry Fox Talbot, and end with contemporary photography icons including Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, and Stephen Shore. Though Lisa Sette Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona has been a member of AIPAD for years, dedicating their both to photography-inspired glass work is a first.
Capturing Light: A History of Photographers (detail), Charlotte Potter, 2017, Hand engraved glass, silver, tin, stainless steel, 3 x 3 inches each cameo, 13 feet long installation.
The AIPAD Show runs through Sunday, April 2, at Pier 92, New York, NY.
Kat Kiernan is the Editor-in-Chief of Don’t Take Pictures.