From the Most Monumental to the Best Re-appraisal, a quintet of standouts not to be missed at the Art Dealers Association of America's annual fair
Chicago dealer Monique Meloche is presenting a solo stand of new works by Arvie Smith, marking the artist’s first exhibition in New York in more than three decades. (His most recent show in the city, at 55 Mercer in 1992, was curated by the post-war American abstractionist Grace Hartigan, Smith’s mentor). The 84-year-old artist uses colourful brushstrokes to tie together his experiences as a Black American with humorous takes on racial stereotypes, contemporary politics and references to the Italian Renaissance.
Meloche and her husband first encountered one of Smith's paintings in the collection of a Los Angeles-based client who had known the artist when they were both living in Baltimore, Maryland. “Our jaws dropped,” she says. “His work and story are so profound, and it was clear right away that he'd tried to get in contact with so many galleries over the years, to no avail.” The gallery staged Smith’s first commercial gallery show in Chicago last year, using work from his archive. The paintings on offer at the stand were priced from $25,000 to $50,000.
