This weekend I attended a collaboration exhibition presented by The New Art Dealers Alliance and Basilica Hudson in Hudson, NY. I have been to a couple of NADA art fairs, as they are the alternative venue for the Miami Art Basel extravaganza… The work is generally a little more relatable; they usually host smaller galleries, more diverse artists. This time it was a site-specific project which played “upon the character of a historic venue in showcasing contemporary sculpture, installation and performance.” The space is a beautifully renovated 19th century foundry of steel railway wheels and is located in a field right on Hudson waterfront. It was a fun 2 day event that brought lots of friendly NYC faces to the Hudson Valley.

Luckily for me it also coincided with a pie contest in the nearby town of Tivoli NY, lots of yard sales and swimming holes spots…

One of the artists whose work really caught my eye was a very lovely woman named Fabienne Lasserre, who shows with Jeff Bailey Gallery in NYC.

Fabienne is warm, generous and smart, quite like her work: her sculptures seem to be defining unusual spaces, overlooked negatives and unwanted shapes; with color and texture she gives voice and presence and volume to the awkward and ignored.  She has a great sense of color (which worked really well in the Basilica), structure and material, and creates unusually elegant pieces which are skinny, empty, covered, folded and tilted.

It seems like there is a reference to the classical shapes of monuments, like arches, medallions, towers: shapes of commemoration and tribute. I like thinking about these works as small monuments, celebrating the beauty of imperfect shapes. It is great being in the same room with them as they feel very small and fragile but are, in reality, larger than life. They feel sturdy and dedicated to maintaining their structure.

I was very happy to meet Fabienne and to have a moment to talk with her. She has a very nice website which I plan on exploring in great detail!!