Spring Break is finally here. Capitalizing on the phrase we all couldn’t wait to say in our school days, newcomer SPRING/BREAK Art Show, less fair and more collaged exhibition, previewed last night to a line of people around the block. Overwhelming enthusiasm and fresh DIY energy abounded in the hallways of the Old School, a landmarked, repurposed former school building in Nolita, whose owners gave fair organizers Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly of the They Co. nearly carte blanche to do what they wanted for the Armory Week event. In what felt like an open house school night for adults, it was hard not to trip over the artwork lining the narrow hallways, hanging on the bulletin boards, and tucked inside the cramped closets and cubbies of creaky classrooms. The event’s theme, “Apocalist: A Brief History of The End,” was the linchpin of many of the curatorial collaborations.
On the first floor, Panamanian artist Miky Fabrega’s fair-length participatory draw-a-thon was curated by Artlog’s Manish Vora. A perfect example of the collaborative spirit of the event, Fabrega, at the encouragement of the directors, embraced the schoolhouse setting and built the piece into an immersive experience that complimented both the venue and his practice. Inviting participants to draw him while he in turn created their likeness on a scrolling paper on the floor, Fabrega used a variety of media that were available in the cubbies at the far end of the room. “I think these guys are doing something that hasn’t been seen in Soho for a long time,” said Vora, referring to the efforts of Gori and Kelly. “It felt like something that we wanted to support – it almost feels like there is a revitalization of this neighborhood. I think these guys have the ability to play a major role in that revitalization and making Soho an art venue again,” he told ARTINFO.
Upstairs, inventor and artist Jamie O’Shea, curated by Gori and Kelly, presented “Immaculate Telegraphy” (2011), which included the documentation of his project to reinvent existing electronic communication technology from raw materials found in the wilderness, along with the resultant creation.
On the same floor, Desi Santiago’s “Desi Monster” (2010) – a larger-than-life inflatable standoff between a giant head and a monster – was presented in a red-carpeted classroom. The artist was curated by Jamie Sterns of Envoy Enterprises, who also brought Brad Troemel and David Alexander Flinn’s hanging punk homage – a large silver cloud of drift wood that visitors precariously walked under as they entered the school.
Sterns, who worked with the They Co. at the New Museum’s “Festival of Ideas” last May, said yes to the fair and brought artists whose work she felt fit the theme. While elaborating on how this year’s Armory Week will be interesting due to the imminent Frieze Art Fair shake up, Sterns said that “SPRING/BREAK definitely has a niche, for the people that are kind of off the beaten path a little bit. It’s experimental; you can do crazy strange things. This is obviously not for sales only. If there are sales, that’s great, but it’s definitely more for art and experiencing the space. I think it being in this old school lends a whole other thing to it. ”
Other highlights of the night included Joe Jagos and Chris Puidokas’s spacey room, curated by Tom Weinrich, alongside the installation of a time-out gone wrong by Real Quick For Fun & PPP, curated by Sean Kinney and PJ Monte – if students took over the school in a post-apocalyptic world, this is what it would look like. Anne-Lise Coste’s poetic mural, curated by Helen Toomer-Labzda, was read aloud during the preview. Hypnotic projections by Aurora Pellizzi vibrated on the wall because of the many feet hitting the wood floors, making the piece dizzyingly vivacious. A memorable film by Sirra Sigurdardottir, curated by Angela Conant, attempts to replicate the feeling of Iceland’s 2008 6.7 magnitude earthquake.
The fair’s success lies in its ability to create a compelling and rounded exhibition experience. While you can surely do some high-end shopping at the Armory Show uptown, you won’t get the authentically engaging scene that SPRING/BREAK has created downtown.
Click on the slide show for a tour of SPRING/BREAK.