Lest you thought London and Paris had the final word on the fall art season, the Art Dealers Association of America returns to New York’s Park Avenue Armory this week for its annual ADAA Art Show.
It’s the 36th edition of the fair, and first under new executive director Kinsey Robb, bringing together 73 of ADAA’s member galleries, with 43 single artist presentations. As always, there was a compelling mix of cutting-edge contemporary art and more historic work, including moments of rediscovery.
Booths can sometimes feel like mini museum retrospectives, like New York’s Galerie Lelong, spotlighting 91-year-old Land artist Michelle Stuart, who was holding court in next to her sculptures and works on paper throughout the evening.
Abraham Lincoln Walker (1921–1993)
Andrew Edlin Gallery
By no means is Abraham Lincoln Walker a known entity in the art world, but that will surely change after this week’s ADAA. The fair is serving as the East Saint Louis, Illinois housepainter’s big league debut. He never showed his work beyond small-scale local endeavors during his lifetime and his paintings have been in storage since his death more than 30 years ago.
At first glance, his electrifying, surreal canvases look like abstractions, but they’re steeped with African American narratives and figuration buried beneath the turgid and sensuous brushstrokes.
“East St. Louis is an historic and culturally rich Black city that has since fallen on hard times,” said Andrew Edlin, who also owns the Outsider Art Fair. “Miles Davis lived down the street from this artist and we’re learning more and more about him. But it’s baffling work. In some ways, it looks like Max Ernst, sometimes, it looks like Ivan Albright, and sometimes it looks just like Art Brut. But people are really smitten with it.” On opening day, Edlin sold eight out of 10 paintings with prices ranging from $10,000 to $40,000. Eldin plans to bring some of the estimated 600 to 700 Walker paintings to Art Basel Miami Beach followed by a solo exhibition in February 2025.
— William Van Meter