Among the various art fairs taking place in New York on May 2024, the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) fair stood out as an excellent opportunity for genuine artistic discovery. This year, the event features 92 exhibitors, with about half showcasing truly captivating works from May 2 – May 5, 2024.

Figurative painting dominated the fair, but the most compelling pieces in this genre moved beyond camp and irony—common traits in contemporary art—to offer sincere explorations of identity and culture. Sculpture also made a strong impression, highlighted by John Newman’s pieces at Europa, Dorian Reid’s ceramic creations at Kapp Kapp, and Gérald Lajoie-Restrepo’s abstract designs at Pangée.

Artist Santos engages with the “aswang,” a multifaceted figure from Filipino folklore, through a decolonial and feminist lens. This figure serves as a metaphor for her experiences of displacement, fragmentation, and transformation, embodying a sense of multiplicity that defies traditional Western identity frameworks. Her portrait series delves into complex methods of self-care and self-awareness, drawing parallels with the animal kingdom and exploring how relationships are formed and nurtured. 

Sayart / Amia Nguyen, amyngwyen13@gmail.com