MIAMI — If anyone should have a polished game plan for how to tackle the opening of an art fair, it’s an art adviser, whose entire professional livelihood is constructed around building collections for private clients. The wife-and-husband duo of Thea Westreich and Ethan Wagner have spent more than 30 years working, as Thea Westreich Art Advisory Services, on behalf of some of the world’s most intrepid collectors, often establishing markets of new and challenging genres, like living-room-unfriendly video art. They are also big collectors themselves, not only of art but also of books: the library in their SoHo loft has more

New York — Directly following Frieze, Ashley joined Thea and Ethan in Paris for FIAC. Once again, FIAC was very strong fair, and the presentation of booths was even better organized by relocating the “younger” galleries to the second floor of the Grand Palais. A highlight was Pablo Bronstein’s large architectural structure, a pissoir, at Franco Noero. Time spent on a cold and rainy day at the sculpture exhibition the Jardin de Tuilleries was well worth the discomfort if only to see the sculpture created by Adrián Villar Rojas, an artist we first saw and admired at the Venice Biennale.

STOCKHOLM — The Stockholm-based artist duo Goldin+Senneby invited TWAAS to collaborate with them on an artwork to be included in the curator Maria Lind’s ongoing exhibition series Abstract Possible: The Stockholm Synergies, in January 2012. A bound portfolio, or an “Investment Portrait,” was the result of the collaboration. Thea was also invited to participate in a symposium organized by Tensta Konsthall, along with Noah Horowitz, Olav Velthuis, Andrea Phillips, Stefano Baia-Curoni, and others.

NEW YORK — Art Advisory Services with Westreich / Wagner Publications, NY & Three Star Books, Paris present selected publications for INDEPENDENT, NY from March 8-11, 2012. INDEPENDENT is a temporary exhibition forum devised by and for gallerists. Its is customized to reflect the spatial and curatorial concerns of the 43 participants and to optimize the public’s viewing experience. Architect Christian Wassmann, in addition to devising the exhibition layout, created 29º Observatory, a site-specific environment on the roof of the building. The roof installation as well as the spatial configuration of the building layout is based around the concept of

CALISTOGA — Politics is Personal, the third exhibition at Stonescape, offers an expansive definition of politics; one that embraces issues of gender, alienation, cultural mores, sexuality, freedom of thought, violence, war and, inevitably, political power. All of the works in the exhibition are from the collection of Norman and Norah Stone. As such, they naturally reflect matters of personal interest and concern to the collectors. In an interview Norman once said, “Our art addresses upsetting issues and I don’t feel good about them, but they exist and should not be shirked.” That notwithstanding the Stones’ aim has never been to collect

NEW YORK — Will Holder is editor of F.R.DAVID, a journal concerned with reading and writing in the arts (published by de Appel, Amsterdam, since 2006). For Independent, NY, Westreich / Wagner Publications will feature Will Holder and Chris Evans’s “Goofy Audit.” The work of artist Chris Evans (1967, Eastrington, UK) evolves through conversation with people from various walks of life, selected in relation to their public position or symbolic role – resulting in sculptures, letters, drawings, film scripts and unwieldy social situations. These become indexes of a larger structure through which Evans deliberately confuses the roles of artist, collector,

NEW YORK — Blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction, Ryan Gander assembles seemingly disparate objects, actions and texts to develop his own narrative systems. Characterized by conceptual rigor, visual simplicity and allusive text, Ryan Gander’s works probe the processes of emergence and the mechanisms of perception entailed by the work of art. Installations, photographs, performances, publications and press inserts are his means of following up a train of thought concerning art’s discursive potential and its transmission systems. His practice, which makes extensive use of language and work with other artists, aims at “making the invisible visible” and providing the

Art Advisory Services hosted Atelier E.B. (Lucy McKenzie and Beca Lipscombe), Panel (Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan) and tailor Steven Purvis and launched “Inventors of Tradition,” a clothing line of high-quality wovens, knitwear, workwear and accessories. The project took as its subject the history of the Scottish textile industry post-1930s, and the clothing was made in collaboration with established manufacturers such as Mackintosh, Begg Scotland and McRostie of Glasgow, among others. Guests braved an early October blizzard to try on garments and discuss production and design with the group. In conjunction with the project, Thea and Ethan published a limited

The TWAAS team spent early March canvassing the fair trifecta – the Armory Show on the Piers, the ADAA’s Art Show at the uptown Armory, and Independent. This year’s Armory Show featured a re-design by architects Bade Stageberg Cox, allowing for larger booths and more public space. The fair devoted a section to young Nordic galleries, including Crystal from Stockholm who presented Goldin+Senneby’s model and performance “The Discreet Charm.” Theaster Gates, the Armory Show’s commissioned artist, was in residence for the duration of the fair, taking meetings, discussing projects and engaging with curators and collectors alike. At the Pilar Corrias

For the third year in a row, Westreich/Wagner Publications participated in Independent, in collaboration with Three Star Books (Paris). W/W and TSB presented a brand new co-publication by Ryan Gander, I’m Trending, a series of 28 brightly colored resin boards that can be presented in their slipcases or installed in a grid formation on the wall, blurring the distinction between book, sculpture, and painting. On the opening evening of Independent, Ryan directed a performance in which he encouraged bystanders to don painted sweatshirts and “blend” into the installation of the boards. Photos of the participants were then posted by Ryan

Thea, Ethan and Suzanne traveled to London for the annual Frieze Fair. By most accounts, the fair itself was a bit disappointing, but for us, there are always enough galleries and artists to make the trip worth while. Gavin Brown had a good booth as did Cabinet/Bortolozzi, which featured the work of J Chung and Q Takeki Maeda — and Daniel Buchholz’s booth is always worth visiting (speaking with him or any of his staff is guaranteed to enliven the visitor). The Sunday Fair continues to grow and is a place to be introduced to smaller galleries and discover some

In early December, Suzanne and Ashley attended the annual Art Basel Miami Beach fair. While the fair is still dominated by talks of parties and celebrity-sightings, there were some interesting and quality works to be found, including GB Agency’s presentation of Ryan Gander and Pratchaya Phinthong and Fergus McCaffrey’s retrospective of Gutai artist Sadamasa Motonaga. The opening of the NADA fair was extremely crowded with collectors looking for young artists at lower price points. Gallerists at both fairs reported steady sales.