Materiality is also a prominent feature on the stand of Palo Gallery, from New York, which has paired intricate wood sculptures by the Mexico-born, New York-based artist Raul De Lara with architectural constructions of cinderblock, plaster and ceramics by the Brazilian artist Manoela Medeiros.
“Both these artists are making work about their heritage,” says Paul Henkel, Palo Gallery’s founder. “For Raul it’s about his experience as an immigrant, and a longing for the Mexico of his youth. For Manoela it’s about Brazilian Modernist architecture and design, and how we live with and adapt our build environments.” Works on the stand are priced between $6,000 and $25,000.
Henkel says that within the first hours of the fair he spoke with members of museum groups and curators from MoMA PS1 in New York, London’s Tate, SFMoMA in San Francisco and Museum Brandhorst in Munich, among others. A list of visiting museum groups compiled by the fair’s organisers stretches to more than 75, with an especially strong contingent of institutions from the US and Canada.