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Photos, Video: Select Art Fair's Brash Installations Take Over Chelsea
By
Scott Lynch
Published May 17, 2015
Modified May 17, 2015
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Scott Lynch / Gothamist
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By
Scott Lynch
Published May 17, 2015
Modified May 17, 2015
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In the mood for lots of contemporary art, but can't make it over to Randall's Island for Frieze? Check out Select Fair in Chelsea, a brash newcomer to the big-money art fair scene with an emphasis on special projects—both performance pieces and installations—as well as music ("New York City's weirdest rap clique" Zulu P is playing today, for example) and oddball, early-career artists both local and global.
Select is founded by Brian Andrew Whiteley, who you may know as the guy behind the Prospect Park Big Foot prank (he's also the Green-wood Cemetery Scary Clown) and who can be found on-site lounging in his Big Foot Sanctuary installation. And while this is only its second year in NYC, Select is impressive in its scope, filling three floors and the always-pleasant roof at Center 548 (the former DIA space) on far West 22nd Street.
There's tons to look at and have fun with at Select. Highlights during my visit yesterday included:
* Ishara Jayakody's crazy Bagel Suit and snazzy Bagel Vest, which I got to wear and, though a bit crumbly—because, you know, it's made of BAGELS—had a certain badass Viking look to it
* Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow's Color Chameleon performance on the roof, a piece about the young women made pregnant via rape by their Boko Harum captors
* The raw and compelling family portraits by Blaine Capone of New Orleans, executed to varying degrees of, uh, grotesquery
* The artists of Sylvia Dean and Me, who elegantly twirled in milk-carton gowns or, alternatively, rubbed milk (and latex?) over their naked bodies
* The pop-art-ish paintings of Michael Alig, the former Club Kid and convicted murderer, who served 17 years in prison and is now selling his stuff at galleries and art fairs.
Select Fair 2015 will be at 548 West 22nd Street today from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm. Admission is $22.
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Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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