Miriam Cahn, mir selber fremd 25. 1. 05 schnell weg! 17. 4. 05, 2005. 13 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (33.3 x 28.6 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Artists bring the full weight of their craft to these small-scale works from our upcoming Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction. At more approachable sizes (and estimates), they represent an opportunity to add something special to any collection.
Miriam Cahn
You can’t not be in revolt mode if you’re an artist. It may be old school to think that, but it’s right.
—Mirian Cahn
Having engaged with performance art and feminist movements while a student in Basel in the 1970s, Miriam Cahn applies the conceptual ideas of performance and video art to a more traditional practice of painting and drawing that foregrounds the physicality of her own body. She sees no hierarchy between mediums and subjects and views her individual works as part of a complete project, often physically arranging her works herself in solo exhibitions as an act akin to performance art. Her works are acclaimed for their unapologetic, confrontational, and often overtly sexual depictions that subvert art historical norms in ways that open new pathways for viewers’ interpretations. To Cahn, her images function as signifiers of a new history she is helping to write, once remarking that she “wouldn’t like to be a man artist because they’ve done it all from their point of view already.” Despite its small scale, the present work is as emotionally charged as Mirian Cahn’s larger canvases. Executed in primitive, physical brushstrokes, a face emerges from the canvas like an apparition, mysterious and stylized. The frenetic energy of the work conveys a sense of inner turbulence and uncertainty that is further reflected by the artist’s inscription, “foreign to myself.”
Alvaro Barrington
Alvaro Barrington, 1363-1965, 2020. 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Alvaro Barrington’s distinctive and abstract approach to landscape painting is rooted in migration and belonging — perhaps attributable to his own life on the move. Born in 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela, to a Grenadian mother and Haitian father, he spent his early years in Grenada before the family relocated to Brooklyn when he was 8. In New York, he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Hunter College before eventually settling in London, where he finished his MFA at the Slade School in 2017 and remains based today.
In 1363-1965, flattened, nature-like forms are rendered in bold, almost tropical colors in an image as much reminiscent of landscape as it is of flag design. This itself indicates the artist’s conception of landscape not just as a place, but as the bedrock of a group identity. Executed with mixed media on burlap paper and wood frame made by the artist, this striking work represents Barrington’s now iconic style. Just under 15 inches wide, it makes for an excellent addition to an art collection of any scale. It was originally shown in the 2021 exhibition The Earth, That is Sufficient — a group exhibition at Nicola Vassell Gallery in New York. Since then, Barrington’s success has only grown, seeing the artist notably unveil his installation work, GRACE, in May 2024 as one of that year’s prestigious Tate Britan Commissions.
Jadé Fadojutimi
Jadé Fadojutimi, Drizzle, 2019. 8 x 8 3/8 in. (20.3 x 21.3 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Turning to Jadé Fadojutimi, we again encounter abstraction and landscape, as the artist frequently explores visual gestures that are reminiscent of vegetation or microorganisms. What’s different here, though, is a visual language rooted in a sense of time, as though her images were morphing and evolving and have simply been frozen by the artist for us to contemplate. This transformational process is on full display in Drizzle, executed with color pencil, marker, and oil on paper. Better known for her large-scale canvases, the artist offers a glimpse into her practice on an intimate level with this work on paper. There’s a connection felt to the artist in the mark-making here that resonates with her approach to writing. This work on paper functioning as a kind of visual diary that forms a parallel with her personal writing practice.
Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi, Black Sun Maquette, 1969–1971. 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (11.4 x 11.4 x 3.8 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Within Volunteer Park in Seattle’s vibrant and creative Capitol Hill neighborhood, visitors discover Isamu Noguchi’s monumental public sculpture, Black Sun. Located directly across from the Seattle Asian Art Museum, its off-center inner opening invites people in and frames a view of the downtown skyline, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains in the distance. In Seattle, Black Sun is among the most memorable of the city’s public artworks. The maquette featured in our sale offers collectors an opportunity to own an iconic symbol of Seattle, as well as an important example of Noguchi’s compelling and meditative body of work.
“To order space is to give it meaning.”
—Isamu Noguchi
The artist gifted an edition of 57 small cast iron Black Sun maquettes to the Seattle Art Museum commemorating the sculpture’s installation. Several examples were given to supporters of the project while the remaining presentation maquettes, including the present lot, were sold at the museum store in 1991.
Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner, Disengagement, 1987. Each image 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (16.5 x 11.4 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Bruce Conner relentlessly explored the imagery of American imperial violence in the 20th century. His works don’t hold anything back and have only gained relevance in the years since his passing in 2008, culminating in a 2016 retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Disengagement is a striking example of Conner’s lauded collage practice. With each image measuring just 6.5 x 4.5 inches, the artist’s careful attention to detail and meticulous skill is on full display in the placement of each individual collage element that form seamless miniature images. Highly characteristic of the artist’s work, these images call to mind the sights of colonialism and aggression — seafaring, gemstones, torture devices, restricted hands, and native villages. From our vantage point today, this 1987 work rings even more relevant at a time when renegotiations of power are increasingly acute.
Caroline Walker
Caroline Walker, Twin Room, 2004. 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in. (29.8 x 29.8 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Scottish artist Caroline Walker is adored for her interior scenes that frequently depict women in a moment of rest while at work. Exploring ideas of “women’s work” and the power struggle between her subjects and our gaze, Walker elevates these mundane moments to a nearly sacred plane. These themes reverberate in the intimate scale of Twin Room, which also showcases one of the artist’s most characteristic visual hallmarks — an uncanny sense of symmetry in carefully curated compositions that the artist photographs before painting. We feel an enticing sense of taboo upon encountering this image, resonating in both the figure’s presumably unsanctioned break to explore a book that a guest may have left behind and Walker’s invitation for us to surveil this figure as though through a secret window.
More to Explore
Left: Mark Bradford, Untitled (B), 2010. 12 x 8 1/2 in. (30.5 x 21.6 cm). Right: R.H. Quaytman, December, 2014. 12 3/8 x 12 3/8 in. (31.4 x 31.4 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
Elsewhere in the online auction, further compelling works are available by notable artists at approachable scale. These works can add depth and variety to comprehensive and growing collections alike, and showcase multiple artistic styles suitable for diverse tastes.
Ugo Rondinone, Small Yellow Mountain, 2016. 4 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (11.1 x 14 x 14 cm). Modern & Contemporary Art New York: Online Auction.
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