For Its 2020 New York Edition, SPRING/BREAK Will Take Over Ralph Lauren’s Former HQ With an Ode to Excess

The roving SPRING/BREAK Art Show is
on the move yet again. For the ninth edition of the beloved,
curator-focused fair, artists will present their works within the
former Madison Avenue offices of classic American fashion brand
Ralph Lauren.

Fair founders and directors Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly pounced
on the space—provided courtesy of Atlantic Production Center, a new
facility supporting art and cultural events at 625 Madison
Avenue—because it seemed perfectly suited for this year’s
consumerist-driven theme, “IN EXCESS.”

“The seed of American advertising was engendered on Madison
Avenue,” Gori told Artnet News. “No better fit for our theme
existed.”

That theme, of course, is both weighty and topical. “All of
us are deeply entrenched in dread about the future of the political
landscape—anyone who is following the election cycle is considering
the potential of two billionaires [Donald Trump and Michael
Bloomberg] facing off in the presidential race,” added Gori. “And
then there’s the realization that excess and commodities are
resulting in climate change.”

The husband-and-wife duo came up with the idea over the summer,
appreciating that it was a concept that could be expressed both
visually—with heavily embellished works in hyper-saturated, almost
garish colors—and thematically, with artworks that express nuanced
concerns about consumerism and other cultural excesses.

The concept got a test drive this past weekend at the fair’s
sophomore outing in Los Angeles, which featured 50 curatorial
projects staged within a former textile manufacturing space in the
old LA Terminal Market, now called ROW DTLA.

There was Benjamin Cabral’s neon- and sequin-accented display of
hand-beaded paintings and sculptures, curated by Lauren Powell—the
figures’ wonky faces belying the work’s seemingly cheerful
aesthetic, and speaking to the challenges of growing up with a
mother undergoing years of cancer treatment.

Assaf Shaham’s “Taste of the Wild,” curated by Seymour Polatin,
paired the artist’s mannequin sculptures with a year’s worth of
processed foodstuffs—each bearing an expiration date for a
consecutive day in 2019, highlighting the flagrant wastefulness of
the food industry.

A different sort of excess was present in Marina Heintze’s “Kama
Shooter,” created by collaging the circular forms of shooting
targets onto images of couples caught in various erotic poses.
Curated by Leila Jarman, the works simultaneously glorify and
critique sex and violence.

But perhaps most on the nose was the IV Gallery’s sold-out
presentation of paintings by David “Mr Starcity” White. Titled
“After Party,” it consisted of a series of portraits, each one
memorializing a friend of the artist’s who was lost to drug or
alcohol abuse.

Hung on bright blue walls, the installation was enlivened by
empty liquor bottles and a mirrored table with a massive pile of
what appears to be cocaine, a stark warning about the dark side of
Hollywood’s seemingly glamorous nightlife.

In New York, Gori is particularly looking forward to a booth
curated by painter Julie Curtiss of surrealist work by Margaux
Valengin that explores historic themes.

“Julie showed at SPRING/BREAK 2017 and has had a monumental ascent in the
art world since then,” said Gori. “We really love it when
artists put forward another artist—it was the sculptor Hein Coh who
curated Julie’s work and helped her cement her own name with her
own work. It’s inspiring that Julie is now doing the same
thing.”

It should be intriguing to see how the SPRING/BREAK’s newest
site will affect the look and feel of the fair itself. The nomadic
event has staged previous editions in a series of unconventional
venues, including St. Patrick’s Old School in Soho; the
decommissioned post office on West 34th Street; the old Condé Nast
offices at 4 Times Square; and 866 UN Plaza, the former home
of the Finnish and Liberian Embassies.

See the list of the curators for SPRING/BREAK’s 2019 New
York edition below.

532 Gallery
550 Gallery
Abigail Ogilvy Gallery
Abshalom lahav + Eli Bronner
Alessandra De Benedetti
Ali Seradge
Andrew Cole + Grace Lerner
Andrew Sendor
Anna Cone
Anna Kustera
Anna Zorina Gallery
Anthony Haden-Guest + Jicky Schnee + Nin Brudermann
a-s-t-r-a
Beacon Gallery
Ben Tollefson
BRIC Arts Center
Brigitte Mulholland
Cade Tompkins Projects
Cami Ledy + Tyler C. Reese
Carlos Rosales
Casey Droege + Corey Escoto
Chashama
Ché Morales
Chris Bors
Christine O’Donnell
Christine Park Gallery
CB Gallery
Clare Kambhu + Kyle Utter
Corey Carrington
Courtney Childress + Eliot Greenwald
Dan Halm
Daniel Morowitz
Daniel Sinclair
Danielle Sweet
Danni O’Brien + Kenzie Wells
Dave Schnell + Tahl Mayer
Dawne Langford
The Directed Art Modern
Dominic Terlizzi + Christine Stiver + Thomas Dalberg
Dustin Yellin
Efrem Zelony-Mindell
Elisabeth Ivers + Ann Toebbe
Elizabeth Ferrer
Elizabeth Grady
Elliott De Cesare
Emily McElwreath + Evan Pepper
Emily Reynolds
Equity Gallery
Greg Brown
Galerie Urbane
Guttenberg Arts
Hannah Antalek
Howl Happening | Imlay Gallery
In LIquid
Integrated Arts
Jacob Rhodes + Rachel Frank + Kristen Racaniello
Jane Harris + Liz Collins
Jenny Mushkin Goldman + Monica King
John Cheim + Stephen Truax
John Ros
Jordan Segal
Judy Brodsky
Julie Curtiss
Kathy Imlay
Kari Adelaide + Vanessa Albury + John Brooks
Kate Bae + Rachel Sydlowski + Kirstin Lamb
Katie Hubbell
Karolina Ziulkoski
Kaveri Raina
Koki Arts
Langer Over Dickie
Lauren Hirshfield
Lauren Powell
Lauren Wolchik
Leigh Ruby
Liu Kincheloe
Lizzie Renfrew Vogt
Madeleine Bialke + Ali Rossi
Marie Salomé Peyronnel | Marina Gluckman
Marisa Newman Projects
Mary Gagler
Megan Maguire Steele
Milly Cai
Mindy Solomon Gallery
Michelle Tillou
Min Sun Jeon
Monica King Contemporary
Nadia Tahoun
New Art Projects
Nicole Nadeau
Nina Horisaki-Christens
Queenie Wong
River House Arts
Renée Riccardo
Robin Kang
Sabine Russ
Tali Hinkis
Sara Driver
Sarah Darro
Sarah Fuhrman + Chris D’Acunto
Sarah Han
Sarah Nam
Sophia Ma
SFA Projects
Tansy Xiao
Tess Schwab
Theodore Kerr
Trale Tevis
Untitled Space
Valerie Amend
Valery Estabrook
Vanessa Albury
Yen Yen + Rachel Gisela Cohen
Yve Yang Gallery

The SPRING/BREAK Art Show NYC will be on view at 625
Madison Avenue, New York, March 4–9. 

The post For Its 2020 New York Edition, SPRING/BREAK Will
Take Over Ralph Lauren’s Former HQ With an Ode to Excess
appeared first on artnet News.