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# NADA New York Gets Nasty
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/nada-new-york-gets-nasty/
- Published: 2016-05-06T21:28:49.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:34:25.000Z
- Description: NADA New York, the New Art Dealers Alliance's (NADA) hometown art fair, has a reputation for showing a certain type of clinical, vaguely cynical, and aggressively cool contemporary art.
- Author: Benjamin Sutton
- Tags: Art, Art Fairs, Caroline Wells Chandler, Frieze Week, Jack Hanley Gallery, Ltd Los Angeles, Max Maslansky, NADA New York, Peter Saul, Photo Essays, Sally Saul, The Landing, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:17 (2016, 2017, part 1)

![Visitors at NADA New York 2016 (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0181.jpg)

Visitors at NADA New York 2016 (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

NADA New York, the [New Art Dealers Alliance](http://www.newartdealers.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s (NADA) hometown art fair, has a reputation for showing a certain type of clinical, vaguely cynical, and aggressively cool contemporary art. But [this year’s edition](http://www.newartdealers.org/fairs/2016/new-york?ref=hyperallergic.com), once again filling the courts of the Lower East Side’s Basketball City, finds the fair coming out of its shell — and its clothes. As I wandered the aisles during yesterday’s preview, a penchant for prurient art became apparent. Butts, breasts, and abs abound; genitals are generally prevalent; and nipples are numerous.

Like the video rental stores of old that kept the porn in the back room, NADA New York gets raunchier the further back you go. Near the far end, the exterior of [Stems Gallery](http://www.stemsgallery.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s booth is covered in rear ends. The plush wall sculptures, from French artist [Marie Vic](http://www.marievic.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s [*Fair Trade* series](http://www.marievic.com/FAIR-TRADE?ref=hyperallergic.com), are tame compared to the work inside the booth — two pairs of large, colorful paintings by [Sarah Faux](http://www.sarahfaux.net/faux/%5F.html?ref=hyperallergic.com), each rendering a closeup of an erotic encounter in two very different styles.

![Works from MarieVic's 'Fair Trade' series in Stems Gallery's booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0163.jpg)

Works from Marie Vic’s ‘Fair Trade’ series in Stems Gallery’s booth

![Paintings by Sarah Faux in Stems Gallery's booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0072.jpg)

Paintings by Sarah Faux in Stems Gallery’s booth (click to enlarge)

In the fair’s farthest corner, new Los Angeles gallery [the Landing](http://www.thelandinggallery.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) has devoted its entire booth to figurative ceramic sculptures, and its largest work is a scene of debauched butchery. “The Mad Doctor’s Operation” (1974), a collaboration between [Peter Saul](http://hyperallergic.com/tag/peter-saul/) and [Clayton Bailey](http://www.claytonbailey.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), depicts a disastrous operating room scene with two doctors — one blindfolded, the other with serious optical issues of his own — looming over an androgynous, partially amputated and eviscerated body, butcher knife in hand. Nearby stands a comparatively tender vessel by Bailey, formed from two nude figures embracing.

![In the Landing gallery booth, Peter Saul and Clayton Bailey's "The Mad Doctor's Operation" (1974), glazed ceramic, 72 x 22 x 25 in](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0048.jpg)

In the Landing gallery booth, Peter Saul and Clayton Bailey’s “The Mad Doctor’s Operation” (1974), glazed ceramic, 72 x 22 x 25 in (click to enlarge)

![A sculptural ceramic vase by Clayton Bailey in the Landing gallery's booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-2511.jpg)

A sculptural ceramic vase by Clayton Bailey in the Landing gallery’s booth

Bailey’s ceramic lovers look tame compared to the other sex scenes at NADA New York, which range from [Alphachanneling](http://www.alphachanneling.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s stylized erotica in [Jack Hanley Gallery](http://www.jackhanley.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s booth — which could pass as storyboards from [the X-rated version of *Avatar*](http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2010/jan/22/avatar-hustler-x-rated-pornography?ref=hyperallergic.com) — to the *Girls Gone Wild*\-style action in [Dale Lewis](http://www.edelassanti.com/artists/56-dale-lewis/works/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s 13-foot-wide painting “Deep Fat Fryer” (2015), which is the centerpiece of London gallery [Edel Assanti](http://www.edelassanti.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s booth. A personal favorite, meanwhile, is the relatively vanilla scene in [Gahee Park](http://www.gaheepark.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s painting in the [Marginal Utility](http://www.marginalutility.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth. The focus of the image is essentially a still life with a very large (and understandably distracted) cat in the foreground, while two partially visible nude bodies fumble about in the background.

![Works by Alphachanneling in the Jack Hanley Gallery booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0151.jpg)

Works by Alphachanneling in the Jack Hanley Gallery booth (click to enlarge)

![In the Edel Assanti booth, Dale Lewis's "Deep Fat Fryer" (2015), oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas, 78 3/4 x 157 1/2 in](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0161.jpg)

In the Edel Assanti booth, Dale Lewis’s “Deep Fat Fryer” (2015), oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas, 78 3/4 x 157 1/2 in (click to enlarge)

![A painting by Gahee Park in the Marginal Utility booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0033.jpg)

A painting by Gahee Park in the Marginal Utility booth

The fair is full of expressively sexual work of every sort and size, from [Caroline Wells Chandler](http://carolinewellschandler.com/home.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s jubilant and genderqueer crochet characters — the largest of which, at 15 feet, spans an entire wall of the [Roberto Paradise](http://robertoparadise.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth — to [Jennifer Chan](http://jennifer-chan.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s “Body Party” (2015), a bed spread printed with disembodied, oiled, and ripped male torsos, in the [ltd los angeles](http://www.ltdlosangeles.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth. A few use nude bodies to examine the power dynamics of voyeurism, like [Vanessa Gully-Santiago](http://cargocollective.com/vanessagully?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s painting of a young woman on her knees surrounded by eight cameras on tripods (in [247365](http://twentyfourseventhreesixtyfive.biz/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s booth) or, more subtly, [Max Maslansky](http://www.maxmaslansky.info/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s painting of a topless woman in red stockings (rendered with red fabric sewn onto the canvas) in the [Five Car Garage](http://emmagrayhq.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth.

There’s even sexually charged readymade sculpture at NADA New York, in the form of [Kari Cholnoky](http://www.karicholnoky.com/index.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s riotous mixed media sculpture “Life Like Feel (2016) in the [Safe Gallery](http://safegallery.biz/about?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth, which includes a cornucopia of sex toys.

![Crochet works by Caroline Wells Chandler in Roberto Paradise's booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0143.jpg)

Crochet works by Caroline Wells Chandler in Roberto Paradise’s booth (click to enlarge)

![A painting by Vanessa Gully-Santiago in the 247365 booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0120.jpg)

A painting by Vanessa Gully-Santiago in the 247365 booth

![A painting by Max Maslansky in Five Car Garage's booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0172.jpg)

A painting by Max Maslansky in Five Car Garage’s booth

![In Ltd Los Angeles's booth, Jennifer Chan's "Body Party" (2015), digital print on microfiber bedding, blowup mattress](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-2544.jpg)

In Ltd Los Angeles’s booth, Jennifer Chan’s “Body Party” (2015), digital print on microfiber bedding, blowup mattress (click to enlarge)

![In Safe Gallery's booth, Kari Cholnoky's "Life Like Feel" (2016), faux fur, urethane foam, plexiglass, acrylic, pompoms, synthetic hair, self-lubricating silicone, collage](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-2526.jpg)

In Safe Gallery’s booth, Kari Cholnoky’s “Life Like Feel” (2016), faux fur, urethane foam, plexiglass, acrylic, pompoms, synthetic hair, self-lubricating silicone, collage (click to enlarge)

To be sure, not all the work at this year’s fair is either full frontal or fully formal. A few pieces — but really a precious few — engage overtly with the outside world. The most memorable of these may be Sally Saul’s ceramic bust of the Koch brothers in the Landing’s booth, “The Attack” (2016). In the hilarious tabletop piece, Charles and David Koch tongue-wrestle while tarantulas lurk nearby and a tsunami looms behind them. A subtler engagement with current events, specifically prison reform, is present in the booth of Chicago gallery [Boyfriends](http://boyfriendschicago.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), which is showing two multilayered cut paper bas relief works by [Jacques Louis Vidal](http://www.jacqueslouisvidal.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com). The intricately sliced and patterned pieces are inspired by (and sometimes incorporate in their materials) the artist’s correspondence with inmates. Their elaborate sign systems and surreal scenes are a delight to parse, and add some dimension and depth to the sexy fun and formalist filler at this year’s NADA New York fair.

![Sally Saul, "The Attack" (2016) in the Landing's booth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0045.jpg)

Sally Saul, “The Attack” (2016) in the Landing’s booth

![In the Boyfriends booth, Jacques Louis Vidal's "In n Out (your get out of jail free card)" (2016), 49 x 37 in](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-2550.jpg)

In the Boyfriends booth, Jacques Louis Vidal’s “In n Out (your get out of jail free card)” (2016), 49 x 37 in (click to enlarge)

![The entrance to NADA New York 2016](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/05/nada-new-york-2016-0182.jpg)

The entrance to NADA New York 2016

[*NADA New York 2016*](http://www.newartdealers.org/fairs/2016/new-york?ref=hyperallergic.com) *continues at Basketball City (299 South Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan) through May 8.*