As we gear up for the Miami art fairs just weeks away, we ask Esther McGowan, executive director of Visual AIDS to write about her favorite works from Untitled Art, Miami Beach's online preview, hosted exclusively on Artspace. Visual AIDS supports, promotes, and honors the work of artists with HIV/ AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement. Check out McGowan's picks below, and head over to the online preview to pick your own favorites .
LILIANA PORTER
Tejedora (Blue) / Weaver (blue)
, 2018
Espacio Minimo
Liliana Porter has been one of my favorite artists since I first discovered her work in the 1990s. Editions of her work were some of the first pieces I bought when I began collecting art many years ago, and they still hold pride of place in my living room. The way that she imbues toys and objects with emotion and personality is sublime, and I’m always particularly drawn to her work with tiny 3D figures in sculptures or attached directly to the paper or canvas. Her work also invokes my own tendencies to collect and love objects, and to create stories around them.
MARK WAGNER
Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!
, 2018
Pavel Zoubok Fine Art
I’ve been familiar with Mark Wagner’s work since I first saw it in an exhibition at Pavel Zoubok Gallery. The work operates on so many levels—what it says symbolically about money and the art world, specifically the idea of valuation, but then also the technical brilliance in the way he cuts and reforms elements of paper currency into these incredibly intricate collages. As you look at the work, you become fascinated by his vision, but you also can’t stop thinking about the action of cutting up dollar bills and what that means.
BRYSON RAND
Succulent (Los Angeles)
, 2015
ACRIA Artists Ending AIDS Fund
$400
Bryson Rand is an incredibly talented emerging artist, and I’m always thrilled to see his photographs. This edition is particularly meaningful because it was created as a benefit print for ACRIA, our sister HIV/AIDS organization.
LISA HOKE
Tear Here
, 2018
Pavel Zoubok Fine Art
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Lisa Hoke’s use of found and everyday materials reminds me of the work of one of my favorite artists, Tony Feher (1956-2016). Using ubiquitous items like scraps of felt, cardboard packaging and candy wrappers, she creates incredibly vibrant, colorful and powerful sculptures. Her work, like the work of Tony Feher, makes us realize the formal, visual and tactile qualities in what we would usually see as garbage if we weren’t being shown it in the context of art. The viewer must think about rampant consumerism and waste—what we choose to keep and what we throw away—but the work is also unapologetically energetic and beautiful.
WURA-NATASHA OGUNJI
Days of being free
, 2018
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50 Golborne
In the work of Wura-Natasha Ogunji, I’m fascinated by the way the ephemeral materials create an evocative statement about identity and femininity. I also love the use of thread as a drawing medium, and the artist’s continued exploration of multiple mediums, seeing how they can combine and work together.
ENRIQUE CHAGOYA
Illegal Alien's Guide to the Theory of Surplus Value
, 2010
Anglim Gilbert Gallery
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I’ve loved Enrique Chagoya’s work for many years, and it seems especially timely and important now. His way of introducing complex topics like colonialism and oppressive government policies through seemingly simple iconographies is always powerful and effective.
