EXPO 2016: Critic’s Picks by Luke A. Fidler

Sadie Barnette, “Untitled (Beer Cans),” 2016. Collage on glitter and holographic papers /Photo: Luke A. Fidler

Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles), Booth 521
Charlie James showcases the work of Sadie Barnette. She explores the broad vocabulary of glitter and reflection in a virtuoso suite of collages. Ripe with telling vignettes, confidently juxtaposing a range of surfaces, her works shine in comparison with better-known collages by Rauschenberg et al. at nearby booths.

Galerie Thomas Schulte (Berlin), Booth 312
Come for the Alfredo Jaar lightboxes and Iris Schomaker’s lyrical watercolors, but stay for Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s two large sculptural meditations on the confluence of form, climate and data. Three-dimensional renderings of cloud and storm data, their uncanny sheen fills the space, their aluminum foil calling to mind an alien aircraft. They mount a refreshingly subtle politics, especially when considered alongside the more muscular works about global warming beloved by many on the left.

Neil Raitt/ Photo: Luke Fidler

Anat Ebgi (Los Angeles), Booth 640
As Chicago’s renewed appreciation of Roger Brown proceeds apace, I was pleasantly surprised by Neil Raitt’s tongue-in-cheek paintings of repeated landscape passages. Like Brown, Raitt glories in kitschy repetition and clever facture. A suite of paintings by Chris Coy cleverly reimagines Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s “L’Escarpolette.” Both are names to watch.

The Breeder (Athens), Booth 315
Although Jannis Varelas’ hectic canvas dominates the space, the real gems are a quietly lyrical sculpture by Andreas Lolis and two wall pieces by Zoë Paul. Weaving wool and string over vintage refrigerator grilles, Paul makes objects that shimmer and gleam. They raise important questions about domesticity, art and the complex histories of textile work.

Deborah Remington, “Dorset,” 1972. /Photo: Luke Fidler

Kimmerich (Berlin),  Booth 718
Deborah Remington is a criminally overlooked practitioner of hard-edge abstraction. The works collected here state a persuasive case for her revival. Most notable is a large oil canvas from 1972, a triumph of color gradients and bold lines. But the studies and smaller graphite works also show an intriguingly well-rounded artist who will repay closer looking. (Luke A. Fidler)