While the Armory’s 235 galleries sprawled across the polished concrete floors of the Javits Center can be disorienting, the Independent 20th Century fair at Casa Cipriani in the old Battery Maritime Building is precisely the opposite. Only 32 galleries, all focused on showing work by 20th Century artists this year, and the fair was civilized and serene but filled with surprises.
Cristin Tierney and Abattoir Gallery collaborated to show the works of Audra Skuodas. Born in Lithuania during World War II, Skuodas arrived in the U.S. at the age of 9 with few memories of her childhood. Although she produced work for her entire life, Skuodas’s art was rarely shown—even though her husband spent his career teaching art at Oberlin College. The galleries sold a painting to an institution for $40,000, but the works on paper at the booth, combining colored pencil drawings with stitched metallic threads, were show-stopping.