Volta began in 2005 as a smaller fair that runs at the same time as Art Basel. The fair has a strong focus on solo exhibitions, occasionally working thematically also to bring together the work of multiple artists. This year the fair includes galleries from 33 cities and is open for its final day today.
Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles
Of course we were going to be fans of Richard Heller’s booth, it features the work of Issue 27 interviewee Devin Troy Strother. Strother’s vivacious mixed media and acrylic paintings pop from the booth, alongside the work of Dustin Yellin and Sasha Pierce. The three early-to-mid career artists are devotees to colour and eye-dancing form; at times angular and graphic, at others loud and splashy.
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London
London’s Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery are showing a dual exhibit of work by Norwegian artist Martine Poppe and British-born Richard Stone. Stone’s weighty sculptures, often formed from bronze and patina will feature; the artist regularly works with classic materials, employing them to discuss the tension between old and new, the new constantly attempting to keep moving forwards. Poppe’s paintings have a photographic element to them, often created to polaroid ratios, her outdoor naturalistic scenes flooded with a hazy light.
V1 Gallery are showing at Volta 12’s Parlor, with a show which celebrates drawing, with some artists whose practice centres around this form, and others who draw as part of a wider process. The works are varied, some moody and dark, others colour laden and illustrative. A sense of fun runs through much of the work, with playful nudity–Elephant particularly enjoyed Monica Kim Garza’s A Paintera’s Studio–and plenty of comical faces. A personal favourite is Misaki Kawai’s simply formed vomitting ghost.
Volta 12 runs until 18 June at Markthalle, Basel
