On Saturday afternoon, James Franco stood on stage in the New Museum’s basement theater holding a switchblade. “I just wanted to do something that said, ‘We remember you, Brad,’” Mr. Franco told the packed house. The switchblade’s handle read, “Brad Renfro,” in candy-colored letters, and the blade bore the word “forever.” Read More
Independent, the 44-gallery art fair that opened for a VIP preview at noon today and that calls itself a “temporary exhibition forum” is located just 30 blocks south down the West Side Highway from the Armory Show’s Piers 92 and 94, but feels like a different world altogether. Started three years ago by art dealers Elizabeth Dee and Darren Flook at the former Dia Center for the Arts in Chelsea, it is smaller and more welcoming than most art fairs happening in New York this week. There are, for instance, windows that let actual light into the exhibition space, not to mention an accessible roof, which is about as rare at one of these things as free alcohol. Independent lived up to its tagline, feeling more like a large, convivial group show than a standard trade show. Read More
