Dispatch: Raven Editions visits Art on Paper NYC
Raven Editions had the opportunity to travel to New York City for this year's Art on Paper fair, presented by Art Market Productions. We have chosen to highlight a selection of works exhibited at the fair that caught our eye. In this edition of Art on Paper, we found contemporary pieces that were driven by the medium and highlighted paper's visual and experimental aspects. Weaving in and out of booths offered a special insight into the artists represented by each gallery or publisher, featuring works by their most innovative and provocative artists from across the globe and covering a broad range of themes. The impressive curation of artists featured pieces that challenged preconceived conceptions of paper-based art. Collectors and art enthusiasts alike found themselves surrounded by unique, bold, and vibrant works that encouraged viewer engagement with their unexpectedly immersive constructions and interactive presentations. The medium-focused fair emphasized our favorite thing about paper, its accessibility, and affordability, with tangible and approachable presentations of the medium.
Check out the narrative paintings of Chen Dongfan, the asymmetrical representations of complex Buddhist meditations from Vietnamese artist Trinh Quoc Chien, and the 10-foot installations by Leah Hewson, among other found gems.
Galen Gibson-Cornell’s visual practice combines urban exploration, repurposing found materials, and the principles of détournement. Gibson-Cornell often finds himself exploring a city’s “urban skin” as he travels, seeing the posters, flyers, and paper advertisements as extensions of the city itself. When he returns to his studio in Philadelphia, he deconstructs these collected materials and experiences into methodical and meditative artworks. Gibson-Cornell received a M.F.A degree from the University of Wisconsin. His work is represented by Bertrand Productions (Philadelphia, PA).
Chen Dongfan is known for his vibrant, gestural, abstract paintings. Describing his work as "not about dreams, but rather a kind of reality, a kind of memory, a mental world, the intersection between sensation and illusion, which requires time to find a way in," this solo project recreates a simulated studio environment. The project encompasses his works across various themes, forms, and concepts, evoking emotion through bright colors and layers of paint. The works speak to the artist’s feelings of confinement during the pandemic, often depicting distorted figures that accentuate the state of confusion, suffering, trauma, and inner struggle created by fragility and insecurity. Dongfan obtained his B.F.A. in Experimental Art from the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou in 2008. His work is represented by Inna Art Space (New York, NY).
Leah Hewson uses color and material exploration to create an abstract sensory vocabulary. Through her work, Hewson searches for ways to access and explore the unconscious mind, “ultimately seeking connectivity with the viewer through our collective unconscious.” Her larger-than-life installations, constructed through mathematical formulas, result in optical illusions of pattern, dimension, and light. Hewson received a B.A(Hons) in Fine Art, and Visual Arts Practice from the Dun Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology (DLIADT) in 2010. Her work is represented by Stoney Road Press (Dublin, Ireland).
Trinh Quoc Chien creates multidimensional works with lacquer, creating raised surfaces and inclusions that depict asymmetrical representations of complex Buddhist meditations. Chien’s works include silver powder and gold leaf, sea and eggshell, pebbles, mica, cloth, and handmade bead underlay, as well as hardened pigmented lacquer. Each piece contains multiple panels, each representing a unique perspective and a fragment of the decoded puzzle associated with the main theme of the work. Chien graduated from the Hanoi Fine Art Institute in 1993. His work is represented by Judith Hughes Day - Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art.
Stacey Lee Webber is a multifaceted artist, incorporating a wide range of techniques, including coin cutting, embroidery, metal fabrication, weaving, and resin. Through material, Webber challenges our preconceived notions of the objects that surround us, distorting narratives yet emphasizing their history. This piece is a part of her new series entitled “We The People,” - portraying working-class narratives taking over iconic fiat portraiture. This collection of United States currency, overlaid with subversive stitches, is rife with the anger and turmoil felt by many during this unnerving political climate. She received an MFA from the University of Wisconsin in 2008. Webber is represented by Bertrand Productions (Philadelphia, PA).
Nicolas V. Sanchez explores the nuances of longing for family, land, culture, place, and time that is intimately familiar to so many. His works evoke his upbringing in the Midwest, coupled with his experience as a child of Mexican immigrants. The childhood memories feature hyper-realistic compositions that emphasize the familiar dream-like fog associated with recollection. His work fixates on textures pulling viewers through layers of watercolor, charcoal, and oil as you explore the familial, cultural, ancestral, and geographic experiences it represents. Sanchez received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2013. He is represented by SugarLift Gallery (New York, NY).