In addition to Spring/Break (the largest of the alt-fairs) and the Armory Show (the anchor of the whole week of art-buying madness), there are numerous other satellite fairs, parties, and special exhibitions going on throughout the weekend. It's pretty impossible to do everything—Volta, Independent, Scope, ADAA, Moving Image, and Art on Paper are all happening right now—but if you want to check out the scene without making a huge commitment, the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, now in its 11th year, is a good place to start.
Pulse is located once again at the Metropolitan Pavilion in eastern Chelsea, and what that venue lacks in character it makes up for in its proximity to lots of subway lines. Forty-five galleries from around the world are on hand to show off work by their most exciting artists, and, as at all of these things, your reaction to each showcase will likely vary widely.
A list of my personal Pulse highlights, however, would definitely include Macon Reed's cartoony "Eulogy for the Dyke Bar" installation; everything in the Visual AIDS booth; Yumi Janairo Roth's sterling silver "Barbed Wire" and "Chain Link Fence"; Ciro Quintana's brilliantly-colored, mock-heroic paintings (especially the one of the giant alligator cresting the horizon); Mariu Palacios's bound and shrouded sculptural and photographic pieces; Sergei Isupov's "decoupage" behemoth woman, one the fair's few show-stoppers; and the stunning photographs of Cape Town women by Tony Gum who, by the way, is all of twenty years old.
Pulse is located at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, and is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.. Admission is $25, though VIP passes from Spring/Break, Volta, or the Armory Show will also be honored here.
