Summer is well on its way out and fall is nigh but Spring Break Art Fair is in full bloom. Ironically the Spring Break Art Show gives us all that nostalgic back to school feel. Everyone is bright-eyed and bushy tailed, fresh off vacation and ready to get back into the swing of things. Spring Break is one of the most anticipated fairs of the year with artists and curators from various walks of life coming together under one conceptual roof. The year’s theme was “naked lunch” and the venue was bustling with fully clothed attendees who were hungry for scantily clad artwork. It truly is a collective celebration of the human form and the constructs that surround it.
We were on site for the inaugural night and not only did we get a chance to see every inches of the entire fair, we also got to speak to some of the curators and its artists. Now, without any further ado, we at Quiet Lunch would like to take time out to list the standout booths that you must see at the 2022 edition of the Spring Break Art Show!
Booth #1029 | “Love Junk” Featuring Edie Nadelhaft, Michelle Doll and Cobi Moules. | Curated by Jason Patrick Voegele.
Perhaps the best executed booth at Spring Break, Love Junk is more than just a pretty face. This list isn’t made in hierarchy but curator Jason Patrick Voegele made a remarkable effort in transforming the space and addressing an oft trodden upon subject in a very unique way. Love Junk is charming, painfully aware and masterfully mindful.
“In a greedy and violent world that seems to be increasingly at risk of collapsing all around us, “Love Junk”, is an exhibition booth of figurative work that celebrates the inextinguishably sublime, the sensual, the altruistic and the unselfish counterbalancing forces we sometimes call hope and sometimes call love.”
– Jason Patrick Voegele.
Booth #1167 | “Nipple Gaze” featuring Faustine Badrichani, Annique Delphine, Alexandria Deters, Camille de Galbert, Buket Savci, Alexandra Smith and Marguerite Wibaux. | Curated by Marguerite Wibaux and The Locker Room.
Confronting the male gaze, “Nipple Gaze” delightfully turns the tables with an inviting but challenging installation. This is one of the most immersive booths at the fair and its message is exceptionally noteworthy and very on-brand for The Locker Room which is a burgeoning femme-owned gallery and creative house based in Brooklyn, New York. This booth brilliant straddles the line between brusque and conscientious. It also features a few interactive components that we cannot afford to spoil. Meaning, you would have to see and feel them for yourself!
“The show is an immersive installation in the world of the ‘breast’ that allows us to witness its multiple dimensions at once. Hence, it approaches the totality of feminine representation and experience—especially as it relates to motherhood, sexuality, breast cancer, male gaze, and self love.”
Marguerite Wibaux.
Booth #1004 | “Weightless” featuring DeepPond Kim. | Curated by David Mr. StarCity White and Duo Lin.
“Weightless” is a graceful display that provides somewhat of a respite from the rest of the fair. There is a patience in the work that allows you to breathe and cleanse your palette while also committing itself to your memories. It is easy to get lost in the expertly blended tones and fall into this intimate pit of long-lasting love. Curated by fellow artist David “Mr. StarCity” White and Duo Lin, “Weightless” goes against the grain with lethally level-headed approach that makes this booth an automatic favorite.
“Dayeon Kim blurs fiction and reality through a selection of sculptures and paintings. “Weightless”… This Body provokes a new sense of awareness and questions authenticity and the limitations of established social structures. Dayeon uses distortion to express her innermost thoughts and values and through her work, defy social norms and re-build an environment which references her own character.”
– David “StarCity” White
Booth #1001 | “Massive” featuring Brian Finke, Aaron Krach, Wednesday Kim and Elliott Purse. | Curated by Dan Halm.
“Massive” is an exhibition of raw power. It is hands down one of the most memorable booths at Spring Break. It has an arrogant, unapologetic air that ironically addresses some pertinent issues in regards to ritualism, pageantry, our intricate obsession with the human body and the beauty standards that seem to always follow closely behind. In all, it is this duality that makes “Massive” a must-see.
“Bodybuilders are a different beast to the common man. The countless hours in the gym – rep after rep, the supplements and enhancements and the dedication to a strict diet to achieve maximum muscular definition and vascularity. Constantly pushing for more mass, more muscle, more refinement. I like to think of them like sculptors working towards the ultimate perfection. There is plenty of beauty to be found in the sinew, brawn, might and muscle of these beasts forged from their iron castles.”
– Dan Halm
Booth #1107 | “Only Just So Far” featuring Bianca Adbi-Boragi, Jamie Martinez, Carlo Franco, Robert Balun and Leila Seyedzadeh. | Curated by Bianca Adbi-Boragi and Jamie Martinez.
“Only Just So Far” is immaculately curated. Adbi-Boragi and Martinez worked hard to put these works together and it shows. This is the most harmonious booth at the fair and the curators are an absolute pleasure to interact with. We were absolutely taken aback by the selection and cohesiveness of “Only Just So Far.”
“Only Just So Far presents a group exhibition modeled after an open market, devoted to gathering, food, exchange, place, comfort, and memory, across cultures and media, through poetic and neo-classical imagery…”
– Bianca Adbi-Boragi
Booth #1053 | “Invasion of Privacy” featuring Patty Horing. | Curated by Anna Zorina Gallery.
Casually cutting to the chase, “Invasion of Privacy” is a subtly scathing critique of existential behavioral patterns. Artist Patty Horing and Anna Zorina Gallery always create magic together and this time is no different. This booth manages to fly under the radar while dropping truth bombs about social media, our autonomy and our ability to face ourselves.
“‘Invasion of Privacy’ grew out of my thinking about how privacy is starting to feel like a privilege for the few more than a right for all. I found this old quote from Princess Margaret in which she said ‘I have about as much privacy as a goldfish in a bowl’. The fishbowl became the decorative anchor for the installation, and the inspiration for these ‘portal’ paintings, which show women in private moments — but we are looking at them through framing shapes that act as a visual metaphor for voyeurism and for social media.”
– Patty Horing
Booth #1018 | Everything’s Great! featuring Jake Scharbach. | Curated by Jillian Mackintosh.
This booth has a signature sense of humor. Featuring Jake Scharbach and curated by Jillian Mackintosh of Brilliant Champions, Everything’s Great is blatantly tongue-in-cheek. It is brash yet skillful. Scharbach is known for his disruptive wit and this booth uses old world technique and new world iconography to express that wit with superb effectiveness and efficiency. Everything’s Great! is a hyperrealistic haven and if you have got time, we strongly suggest have you a sit and take a moment to unpack these strong, intentful works.
“Ruffles have ridges” – Denis Diderot
“Your way, right away” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“Say goodbye a little longer Make it last a little longer Give your breath long lasting freshness” – Thomas Hobbes
– Jake Scharbach
Booth #1057 | “Lured by Bacchus, Lost to Oblivion” featuring Christopher M. Tandy, Jacob Hicks, Kat Ryals, Michael Garrahan, Noelle Velez, Caitlin McCormack and Buket Savci. | Curated by Caitlin McCormack and Buket Savci.
Another well executed curation, “Lured by Bacchus, Lost to Oblivion” is very well nuanced. The booth included quite a few artists and to create the flow that they did is a feat worth commending. Every piece is allowed a moment shine which further allows “Lured by Bacchus…” to shine even brighter as a whole. There is a comforting call emanating from this booth and you will be wise to keep your ears open.
“We got Inspired by Dionysus/Bacchus, the liberator god, who embodied the freedom and carelessness; and Dionysian rituals focus on the eternal delight of existence, the grand delirium of joy, and its inclusiveness. Through these rituals the women of the classical times were able to get away from restrictions and be free. All together… all classes of society with creatures like satyrs… all together they were losing themselves in the ritual and danced to become one with each other and the nature. So we created the booth as a place that you can feel away from “real life,” restrictions… where you can be free, loved, non-judged and carefree.”
Booth #1123 | “Fantastic Realties” featuring Skye Cleary and Sharilyn Neidhardt. | Curated by Lisa Levy.
There is always a booth that has the “it” factor and “Fantastic Realities” has just that. It isn’t just a booth, it is an experience. “Fantastic Realties” provides a performance element that makes it standout amongst its peers and we can’t get enough of it. And we’re not just saying this to get into Skye Cleary’s good graces.
“Artist Skye Cleary is a dancing at Pumps to support her painting. She’s young woman owning her sexual currency.”
Lisa Levy
Spring Break Art Show is on display all weekend!
Stop by 625 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 and tell them Quiet Lunch sent you!
Quiet Lunch is a grassroot online publication that seeks to promote various aspects of life and culture with a loving, but brute, educational tinge. When we say, “Creative Sustenance Daily,” we mean it.