There was glitter, there was nudity, and yes, there was plenty of art at the 10th annual Spring/Break Art Show, which opened yesterday as the unofficial kickoff to Armory Week 2022.
The sprawling fair, which invited curators to present projects on the Renaissance-inspired theme “Naked Lunch,” presented all manner of painting, sculpture, and immersive installations inside cubicles and corner offices across the tenth and 11th floors of the former Ralph Lauren offices on Madison Avenue.
“The theme is fun—we’re like, ‘let’s get some skin out there!’” Ambre Kelly, who cofounded and directs the fair with husband Andrew Gori, told Artnet News.
Over the past decade, the two have made an art form out of staging large-scale art events in unconventional venues, starting with the old St. Patrick’s School in Soho and since taking over sites including the Farley Post Office, Condé Nast building, and U.N. Plaza building.
Fair founders Ambre Kelly and Andrew Gori at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“This is our 11th [New York] show in ten years. It feels like yesterday we were in the school and we were just a bunch of kids,” Kelly said. “But so many of the people who worked with us in the beginning are still here!”
Indeed, there’s a healthy mix of new faces and repeat artists and curators, including some who are pulling double—or triple—duty.
Returning artist and curator Kat Ryals, for instance, teamed up with Cara Sheffler to curate “Power Lunch,” with futuristic architectural renderings by Johannah Herr displayed in a retro-style office harkening back to Madison Avenue’s advertising agency heyday. Ryals was also showing her own large-scale photographs, printed on velvety tapestries, in “For Your Pleasure,” curated by Lauren Hirshfield.
Paradice Palase cofounders Kat Ryals and Lauren Hirshfield at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Hirshfield curated this display of Ryals’s work titled “For Your Pleasure.” Photo by Sarah Cascone.
And Kathleen Vance of New York’s Front Room Gallery curated not one but two projects with gallery founder Daniel Aycock, while also showing her own dreamy sculptures of tiny landscapes—complete with running water—packed away inside vintage suitcases, curated by Michele Jaslow. (The pieces start at $2,400, but can be purchased as a full installation for $81,500.)
On the curatorial side, Vance and Aycock are presenting portraits by Amy Hill, which borrow the visual language of 15th century Flemish paintings, as well as a mirrored cyclorama titled from Spencer Tunick and Phil Buehler.
The exterior reflects the black and white checked floor, and contains a massive photo of one of Tunick’s nude gatherings, documented in the forest by Buehler.
Kathleen Vance with her sculptures in a booth curated by Michele Jaslow at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Tunick was one of a few more well-known names in a sea of emerging artists that even included a robotic dog—Spot, of Boston Dynamic fame, was reenacting her artistic process with artist Agnieszka Pilat in a booth curated by New York’s Filo Sofi Arts.
“All this work is created by her. She’s very versatile—she uses both her hands and feet to paint,” Pilat, who also works with Agility Robotics and SpaceX, told Artnet News, pulling up an augmented-reality app to show Spot using an oil stick to make markings on one of the $30,000 canvases on offer.
Agnieszka Pilat and Boston Dynamic robot dog Spot at “Data Rex Machina” curated by Filo Sofi Arts at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
The amount of work on view is, as always, overwhelming, with walls, floors, and even ceilings decorated to add to the display.
“I’d never really thought about it, but now I love murals,” Jessica Wee, who painted colorful surroundings for her paintings in “The Shape of Self” curated by Lingfei Ren, told Artnet News. For the artist, who grew up in France, the works are inspired by getting in touch with her Korean identity as an adult thanks to her roommate.
The delightfully chaotic SPRING/BREAK aesthetic can make it possible to overlook quieter gems like the work of Chambliss Giobbi, who recreates art-historical masterpieces in miniature using melted crayon wax, priced between $900 and $8,000.
Chambliss Giobbi with his melted crayon art historical miniatures, curated by Laine Valentino, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Despite the diminutive scale, his presentation “Breaking News,” curated by Laine Valentino, had already made a sale to New York collector Sue Stoffel on day one.
And some of the fair’s most coveted works were the small, Seussian ceramics from Megan Bogonovich shown by Kishka Gallery and Library of White River Junction, Vermont. Curator Ben Finer brought 100 pieces, each priced at $700 to $1,200, and sold 33 on day one.
Ceramics by Megan Bogonovich shown by Kishka Gallery and Library of White River junction, Vermont, sold like hot cakes at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Other flashier spectacles included a fluffy, rainbow-colored, mustache sculpture, by Pearl Renken.
Meanwhile, curator Katrina Majkut is selling tickets for a photo op with Pearl Renken‘s fluffy, rainbow-colored, mustache sculpture—although she let burgeoning art influencer Odette the Pom snap a shot for free while Artnet News visited the booth, which is both a critique and celebration of bachelorette party culture.
Odette the Pom rides Pearl Renken’s mustache sculpture in a booth curated by Katrina Majkut at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Eschewing the traditional white cube display can lead to some unexpected moments at the fair.
“Do you think I need more confetti?” curator Daniela Mercuri, whose display recreated the confetti-strewn interiors photographed by Flavia Junqueira, wondered as opening day drew to a close. “People keep taking the balloons!”
See more photos of the fair below.
Flávia Junquiera, in a booth curated by Daniela Mercuri at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Flávia Junquiera, in a booth curated by Daniela Mercuri at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Curator and artist Katrina Majkut with her painting and clitoris sculptures by Sophia Wallace at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Sophia Wallace, , in “Feeling Your Oats” curated by Katrina Majkut at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Party Beach” curated by Elizabet Elliott with art by Colleen Terrell Comer at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Mingled Dwelling” curated by Casey Baden with art by Baden and Abby Cheney at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Work by Marilla Cubberley curated by Jess Bass at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Lisa Levy curated this booth featuring her own work as well as pieces by Skye Cleary and Sharilyn Neidhardt at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Symbolism and the Aesthetic Resistance Between Art and Ritual” curated by Rowynn Dumont with art by Xayvier Haughton at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Symbolism and the Aesthetic Resistance Between Art and Ritual” curated by Rowynn Dumont with art by Xayvier Haughton at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Dandelion Fork” curated by Olivia Swider featuring artists Delphine Hennelly, Cecile Chong, and Nicholas Cueva at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Julie Peppito with her sculptures in “Burrowed in the Garden,” curated by the Contemporary Art Modern Project (CAMP) at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Shiri Mordechay with her installation “Festuk Existentials” curated by Jennifer Larsen at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Ciara Newton, in “Odalisque” curated by Bruxas Bruxas at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Kristina Bivona, in “Odalisque” curated by Bruxas Bruxas at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Maya Mason with her presentation “Interlocuters,” curated by Amy Hughes at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Psychedelic Picnic” by Brooke McGowen curated by Heinz Patatzki at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Shamona Stokes and Deming Kat Harriman at Deep Space Gallery’s booth at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Spencer Tunick and Phil Buehler, , curated by Kathleen Vance and Daniel Aycock at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Work by Amy Hill curated by Kathleen Vance and Daniel Aycock at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Chambliss Giobbi’s melted crayon art historical miniatures, curated by Laine Valentino, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Curator Jason Patrick Voegele and artist Cobi Moules with their presentation “Love Junk,” also featuring Edie Nadelhaft and Michelle Doll, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Works by Michelle Doll curated by Jason Patrick Voegele in “Love Junk,” also featuring Edie Nadelhaft and Cobi Moules, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone. at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Naturkraft” curated by artists Anna Souvorov and Alexandra Evans at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Drawings by Audrey Bialke in “Illumination Station” curated by Elizabeth Reid at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Let’s Talk Menopause + F.Y. Eye commissioned artist Macon Reed to create this installation “The Pause Apothecary,” curated by Calder Zwicky, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Curator Maureen Sullivan with “Homosocializing and the Eternal Fem: Colin J. Radcliffe and Maureen Dougherty” at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Work by Colin J. Radcliffe in “Homosocializing and the Eternal Fem: Colin J. Radcliffe and Maureen Dougherty” curated by Maureen Sullivan at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Homosocializing and the Eternal Fem: Colin J. Radcliffe and Maureen Dougherty” curated by Maureen Sullivan at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Patty Horing with her “Invasion of Privacy” paintings curated by Anna Zorina at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Artist Lou Haney with curator Kristen Chiacchia in their booth “Deja Vu,” also featuring Sharon Shapiro, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Jessica Wee with her booth “The Shape of Self” curated by Lingfei Ren,at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Jessica Wee with her booth “The Shape of Self” curated by Lingfei Ren,at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Paintings by Jacob Hicks and ceramics by Andrew Cornell Robinson in “Allegory of Vanity,” curated by Anna Kustera, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Emily Furr and her work in “Flip the Boat” curated by Ariel Arakas at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Self Portrait as a Flat-Earther” featuring Sam Tufnell curated by IV Gallery at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Radhika Gupta-Buckley and her work, curated by IV Gallery, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Heterotopic Home: A Familiar Site of daily life,” curated by Milly Cai Gemma Cirignano and Madi Shenk, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Fay Ku and curator Kristen Racaniello of Field Projects with their booth “Axonometric Tongue” at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
A chair made of boobs by Annique Delphine in a booth curated by Marguerite Wibaux at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Artist Johannah Herr and curator Cara Sheffler with “Power Lunch” at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Work by Gal Cohen in “Reviving Venus” curated by Aga Goshen at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Ethan Minsker wears one of his sculptures in a booth curated by Ted Riederer at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
Lizzie Gill at her booth, curated by Emily McElreath, at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
A piece by Jake Scharbach curated by Jillian Mackintosh stands in the foreground at New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
