POPE.L
Effigy
2004-05
Stuffed sports bear dipped in paint, ed. of 15
POPE.L
Black Urine
2000
Mixed media on paper, framed
15 by 12 1/4 in. 38.1 by 31.1 cm.
GCC
Gestures VI
2017
Thermoformed styrene with flocking ed. 3/3 plus 2 AP
41 by 65 in. 104.1 by 165.1 cm.
Mitchell-Innes & Nash will feature a tightly curated presentation of three gallery artists for Independent 2017: GCC, Leigh Ledare and Pope.L. Each artist uses a multidisciplinary practice to investigate the notion of identity and to challenge commonly held social constructs. We will debut a sculptural relief by the collective GCC from its latest body of work "Gestures," early mixed media wall works by Pope.L from 2001-2006, and new collages by Leigh Ledare.
Certain large-scale pieces seem unlikely to find a home except with the most daring collectors, or at least the ones that don’t have kids. At Mitchell-Innes & Nash, a multimedia triptych by Leigh Ledare (Stalemate, 2017), culls found imagery from Russian fashion magazines, advertising, pornography, and other sources, along with material sure to delight any future conservator (cleaning fluid, foie gras, and human excrement). The gallery director Bridget Finn explained that Ledare views it as “a montage, a map to the current social and political climate,” which seems about right. The three-part work, which costs in the range of $40,000, is an oblique companion piece to a film shot in a Moscow train station that Ledare will unveil at this year’s Whitney Biennial.
Dealers this afternoon, a few hours into the opening, reported that the collectors who come to Independent New York are often looking to snap up quite specific objects—and that makes it easy to choose what you bring.
“This is a pretty low-stress fair,” said Mitchell-Innes & Nash director Bridget Finn. “We’ve done well enough that if it ended now, we’d be satisfied.”
The gallery had off-loaded several works by Pope.L, including nearly ten small sculptures priced at $10,000 each.
This year’s installment of the Independent art fair opened today, with a preview this afternoon and a public opening Friday, March 3. In Spring Studios in Tribeca for a second year, the fair gathers 52 exhibitors from 20 cities, with 15 presenting booths for the first time. Below, have a look around the fair.
With NADA splitting some of the exhibitors from past years between fairs, this year’s edition seemed to tend slightly closer to the higher end of the market, as galleries frequently associated with Armory skipped that fair in favor of Independent, or doubled down on both exhibitions. Mitchell-Innes & Nash, for instance, had focused in on a booth at Independent skipping its usual place at The Armory Show and ADAA Art Show in favor of a booth here, showing works by GCC and Leigh Ledare, among others.
