Yesterday afternoon I decided, with my dear adventure friend Leslie, to hit the 6th Fresh Paint Art Fair, which is apparently an essential arty reunion in Israel. It was indeed quiet a trip for the two non-motorized girls that we are. The venue, the New Logistics Center in South Tel Aviv (let’s be honest here, it was more in Holon than in Tel Aviv, it was a bite like when Ryanair’s airline is telling you that you are going to land in Rome when you are more likely going to end up landing in an obscure town few kilometers away ), was barely accessible by public transports. You add to that the endless walking into the heat and I must say that I was everything but fresh when I finally arrived on the site.
The venue was spacious, modern and tractable. Each booth was following the usual concept of the white cube,so dear to contemporary art, bringing nothing new to the layout. As the Fresh Paint is not hosting foreign galleries like most of the international fair, it was the first time that I was at an art fair that have a “human dimension”, you actually have the time to see most of it, without getting lost in a maze of alleys and booths. However the Fair would gain in recognition if international galleries were presented, giving them an actual opportunity to show Israeli artists on an international level.
My favorite part of the fair was undoubtedly the Artists’s Greenhouse, which is presenting the works of about fifty Israeli promising and emerging artists selected by a fancy committee of curators, collector, gallery directors and critics. It was definitely refreshing to discover new talents, and see what’s the new “generation” has to offer. Painting and photography were more represented than other medium like sculpture or video, mixing styles and types of all sorts, not always harmonious, but still quiet innovative. I particularly like the pop colors and the surrealistic associations of Jennifer Abessira works (Elastique Project), the pastel nuances and collage effects of Tamar Hirschfeld, and the abstract pieces of Hila Laviv.
The established artists were of course also represented, spreading their pieces in the spaces put at their disposal by the galleries that represent them. Not much surprises on that side, but it is always a pleasure to see or see again pieces by artists that count like Gal Weinstein at the Gordon Gallery II booth, Jossef Krispel at the Noga Gallery booth or Guy Yanai at the Alon Segev Booth. I was surprise to notice that big galleries such as Dvir Gallery and Braverman Gallery were not there.
The Big expectation of this 6th Fresh Paint, was the launching of the first Fresh Design. I don’t say I was disappointed, they offered a large and versatile range of designs and designers bringing this discipline in the fine art dimension, but few things bothered me. First the disposal, it looked a bite like it was displaying like in a shop, when I would have prefer feeling like I was in an exhibition. Also the fact they they put side to side the Design’s Greenhouse with its emerging talents and the established designers was a bite confusing. However I assume the lake of room was the main reason that conduct to that choice. For a first try it was more a success than a fail for sure, and the selection was brilliant.
Despite some flats and obvious improvements to be made, it was overall a nice arty experience and without doubts one of the most important Israeli art event of the season.
The Bubblist 