There are no less than 12 art fairs happening on New York's west side during the first weekend in March. As exhausting as it can be, this long weekend is also a unique opportunity to see what galleries around the world are showcasing right now, all in one place, allowing curious minds to update their knowledge, and fervent collectors to consider new acquisitions. If you could only choose 6 stops, consider our selection below:

THE ARMORY SHOW
The flagship fair showcases mostly established galleries. Two artists who are on our favorite list made it to the big fair this year: Ian Burns, on show at Mother's Tankstation and Susan Collis, who we discovered last year at VOLTA, and has a special work commissioned by the Armory Show this year.

Location: Pier 94 and Pier 92
12th Avenue at 55th Street in the Passenger Ship Terminal complex
March 4-7, 2010
Thursday – Saturday: Noon to 8 pm, Sunday: Noon to 7 pm

VOLTA
VOLTA NY is the American incarnation of the successful young fair founded in Basel in 2005. VOLTA NY was conceived to continue the original mandate to create a tightly-focused, boutique affair that would be a place for discovery and concentrate on current and topical art production. It is one of our favorite fair because of its focus on solo show.

Location: 7 West 34th Street
March 4-7, 2010
Thursday – Sunday: 1 pm – 9 pm

PULSE
With a solid reputation for showcasing some of the most innovative galleries, Pulse is a must-see show. It is also an opportunity to meet your dear ArtWeLove team in person: We will present artwelove.com website and some exciting limited edition prints developed in collaboration with four of our favorite -- and very gifted, artists! Meet us at booth P5.

Location: 330 West Street (corner of West Side Highway at West Houston)
March 4 – 7, 2010
Thursday – Saturday: Noon – 8 pm, Sunday: Noon – 5 pm

INDEPENDENT
This new fair was conceived by Elizabeth Dee, founder of X Initiative, and gallerist Darren Flook, from Hotel, London.

Location: 548 West 22nd Street
March 4 - 7, 2010
Opening: Thursday March 4 from 6 pm - 9 pm, Hours: Friday - Saturday, 11 am - 8 pm, Sunday, noon - 4 pm

RED DOT
If you're into emerging art, you should check out the 3rd New York edition of Red Dot Art Fair.

Location: Skyline Studios, 500 West 36th Street at 10th Avenue
March 4 – 7, 2010
Thursday: Noon – 6 pm, Friday and Saturday: 11 am – 8 pm, Sunday: 11 am – 7 pm

POOL
Pool art fair showcases unrepresented artists. It's an opportunity to discover new artists and buy directly from them.

Location: The Gershwin Hotel, 27th Street and 5th Avenue
March 5 – 7, 2010
Friday – Sunday: 3 pm to 10 pm

 

Our two favorite shows this month are:

"Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum" at the Guggenheim

For the building’s 50th anniversary, the Guggenheim invited scores of artists, architects, and designers to leave practicality or even reality behind in conjuring their proposals for the space. Fascinating.

"The 2010 Whitney Biennial"

"Less is more" seems to be the theme of the 75th edition, which actually does not have a theme, and features fewer works than its preceding editions. Simply titled "2010", the 75th edition of the Biennial is a brief survey of today's most interesting American artistic productions. Organized by guest curator Francesco Bonami and Whitney associate curator Gary Carrion-Murayari, it features work in a variety of media by 55 artists.

Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1972, Quentin Curry divided his childhood between Pennsylvania and Florida, where the dichotomy of the urban and the rural began at a very young age. At age 17, he moved to Vermont to attend The Putney School. Curry attended Bard College (1991-1992) and San Francisco Art Institute (1994-1995). Since 1996, he has been living in New York City. Curry engages in a kind of contemporary archeology as he takes on history’s most treasured and disregarded debris. Through porous fabric Quentin Curry applies layers of enamel paint mixed with stone dust atop his canvasses. (Read more).

Michel Huelin's recent work is digital, with the use of videos and inkjet prints. The viewer plunges into a virtual world of hybrid objects, a sort of vegetation that the artist refers to as ‘phenotypes’. In biological terms, a phenotype is an individual’s set of observable anatomical, morphological and physiological characteristics. The process, developed by Huelin, generates phenotypic variations that produce the illusion of the fundamental evolutionary principle. The images become compatible with the possibilities opened up by a genetically modified eco-system of the future. (Read more).

Jorge Otero-Pailos is an architect and theorist specialized in experimental forms of preservation. In his projects and writings, preservation becomes a powerful counter-cultural practice that creates alternative futures for our world heritage. (Read more).

Characterized by a profound fascination with the methodology of the creative process as well as with the mechanisms of image reproduction and dissemination, Lyle Starr’s ongoing oeuvre has rightfully garnered him acknowledgment as a distinctive and enterprising artistic personality. Utilizing popular culture’s constant flow of throw-away imagery, his work locates and portrays the individual in today’s multi-media world by crafting a colorful, seamless world from everyday sources such as newspaper supplements, holiday wrapping papers, catalogues, and picture books. (Read more).