Marjorie Strider – A Time for Reflection (2012)

The fourth annual Palm Springs Fine Art Fair is now underway and coincides with the Palm Springs Modernism Week at the height of the Coachella Valley’s season. The art fair and modernism week turn the desert into a cultural hub for art over the weekend attracting over 14,000 acquisition oriented art lovers to the fair in 2014. An area, which was once the playground of movie stars, captains of industry and world leaders, Palm Springs has evolved into an art oasis in the Southern California desert with a vibrant cultural scene devoted to the visual arts. We have picked our favourite works on display at the art fair with some background on the galleries and the artists themselves.

Marjorie Strider – A Time for Reflection, 2012

Featured as our cover image on this post, Marjorie Virginia Strider was born on January 26 1931, in Guthrie, OK, and attended the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri and Oklahoma State University. Strider was quoted as saying “I never wanted to be anything but an artist” during an interview in 2010. She was often known for her bold figural work, and expressed a dislike for creating work that was visually flat, having been known to add things like cardboard and wood to the surface of her work to make them more sculptural. This work in particular is featured in the JoAnne Artman gallery at Palm Springs, which is known for presenting vibrant and electric exhibitions. Her roster of artists is rooted in her obvious passion for the individual voice of the artist and mastery of technique.

American Martin -Woman and Plant

America Martin is an internationally represented Colombian-American fine artist based in Los Angeles, known as a painter and sculptor. Martin’s work often features indigenous subject matter, and looks to take inspiration from the stylistic lessons of classics, while redefining what it is to combine abstract and indigenous motifs. Within the vibrant displays of colour, texture, line and shape there is always Martin’s signature expression. This painting is also taken from the JoAnne Artman Gallery booth, which looks to bring the abstract and figurative together while showcasing the artistic influences of pop culture.

Chul Hyun Ahn – Untitled 617, 2014

A Korean artist that creates sculpture utilizing light, colour and illusion as physical representations of his investigation of infinite space. Visible within his work is the allusion to the gap between the conscious and subconscious, creating illusionistic environments and providing the viewer space for contemplation. Ahn uses Zen practices of meditation and translates them into geometric painting. The work is featured in the C. Grimaldis Gallery, which has established itself as Baltimore’s oldest contemporary art gallery, specialising in post WWII American and European art with emphasis on contemporary sculpture.

Adam Mars – Not Built for All This Bullshit

Gusford, Los Angeles, is pleased to present the latest body of work by LA based artist Adam Mars. For his second exhibition at the gallery, Mars has created a series of archetypal text-based brick paintings, veiled in candy sprinkles, which address the contemporary social experience. The certainly thought provoking images look to capture the cultural shift in relationships between people, technology and images.

Raymond Jonson – Oil No. 21, 1957

Raymond Johnson spent most of his career in search of pure abstraction. He studied art in Chicago at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Institute, where he first encountered non-representational painting. Johnson was known to be an admirer of Wassily Kandinsky and was taken with the artist’s spiritual approach. Later in his life he moved to New Mexico, where he was an important advocate of modern art, painting six WPA murals at the university of New Mexico, where he was a professor for 20 years.

Allen Jones – The Tree, 1988

A controversial painter and sculptor best known for the depiction of women within his work that has made him an enemy to feminists. Jones’ style reflects a desire to explore the representation of ‘the figure’ in the context of 1960’s minimalism and the decline of figural representation within art. His works attempt to personify the human condition, as he has often expressed his fascination with people’s desire to present their figure in a fake light. The work is part of a number that we have featured from the Ikon Ltd. contemporary art gallery, which specialises in works on paper from modern and contemporary masters.

Jean-Michel Basquiat – Untitled (Rinso), 1982

A poet, musician and graffiti prodigy in late 1970’s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat is widely known for his painting style which features obsessive scribbling, elusive symbols and diagrams, often featuring mask and skull imagery. His subjects often revolve around a Caribbean, African-American, African and Aztec cultural histories, mixed with classical themes and contemporary heroes like athletes and musicians. The painting is also featured in the Ikon Ltd gallery booth which has a strong showing at this years fair.

Anthony Hunter – Big Blue Sky Square with Dark Red Texture Circle in Top Right Hand Corner Painting

Born in Lancashire, England, 1987, Anthony Hunter graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2009 from the ‘Contemporary Art Course’. After his graduation, Hunter worked with Damien Hirst at the exhibition ‘POP LIFE’ at Tate Modern, London, and after becoming his painting assistant is now painting his own works. Hunter’s recent abstract paintings are born from simply wanting to paint with freedom and fun. Also featured in the JoAnne Artman gallery which is one of our favourites.

Robert Longo – Angel’s Wing, 2005

Robert Longo is known for bursting onto the New York art scene, with his iconic “Men in the Cities”, as a brash 25 year old. His work is often defined by the use of Charcoal, working and re-working it into thick textured surfaces. This can be seen to give his drawings a deep feel, with blackened expanses sharply contrasting whites. Having known to be fascinated with popular culture, his works feature various subjects, with this piece in particular depicting ocean waves, but varying to burkas, nuclear explosions and zoo animals in cages. Again featured by Ikon Ltd. this piece demonstrates their presentation of the modern contemporary.

Robert Indiana – Chosen Love (blue red black), 1995

Known to be a central figure of the Pop Art movement, Robert Indiana takes inspiration from commercial signs, claiming “there are more signs than trees in America…so I think of myself as a painter of American landscape”. Therefore his paintings and sculpture often mimic and re-arrange the words and numbers from signs in America and all around the world. The picture featured here is probably what he is most famous for. His ‘Love’ paintings and sculptures, first produced in the 1960’s, can be seen in public places worldwide, effectively enters his own sign into the mix. Another feature of the Ikon Ltd gallery.

Max Steven Grossman – SuperHeroes

Born in Colombia in 1971, Max Steven Grossman originally studied engineering and graduated from the University of Philadelphia in 1994. Soon after however, he discovered his passion for photography and in 2000, he graduated from New York University with a Master of Arts. The diverse subjects of photography and engineering mould his work into a study of reality and imagination. This image features a photo compilation of 50-70 images digitally composed to create a dream bookscape. Featured in the Axiom Contemporary gallery, who specialise in pop, abstract, neo-street and contemporary art from emerging and mid-career artists.

The Palm Spring Fine Arts Fair is currently underway and will run until sunday, you can check out more info on the fair itself

HEG – Hamptons Expo Group

223 Hampton Road

Southampton, NY 11968