Paper Love: Art on Paper 2021 Returns

This excellent art show returns for its seventh year with works from 75 galleries. It’s one of my favorite events on the art calendar because – it’s all about paper!

It was so exciting to step into an exhibit space after nearly 18 months away. Scaled back slightly this year to allow for more room and social distancing – also by limited international representation – Art on Paper 2021 was more intimate and less intimidating for first-time collectors and visitors. Curated around modern and contemporary paper-based work, the show is considered a starting point for galleries which often display a cross-section of work.

Every gallery has artists who work exclusively on paper, but they also have artists who maybe [use paper as] a certain part of their oeuvre that they don’t often get to show… – Kelly Freeman, Fair Director

I spoke with some of the exhibitors, wondering how they felt about being back. All said they were thrilled, although somewhat disappointed by the lower turnout. I visited the exhibition on a lovely, but somber, saturday in New York – the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I assume because of that, and people still avoiding crowded indoor spaces due to Covid, it may be a while before New York returns to its old hectic self.

Upon entering the exhibition space, another of Samuelle Green’s large-scale installations greeted visitors this year. Made of thousands of book pages, then formed into cones, the winding installation swept up chairs and other detritus into its path for exploration from all angles. The beautiful shades of paper contribute to the contrast of light and dark, along with the density of the cones, and help define the form's shape and movement.

Entry hall of Art on Paper 2021 | Samuelle Green's Permutation 3 entry installation, paper and found objects

Detail of Samuelle Green's Permutation 3

Using a similar technique to a completely different effect, artist Rebecca Hutchinson incorporates handmade paper and plant-based materials along with recycled clothes and linens, rolled and sculpted to create her beautiful and colorful, nature-inspired installations.

Detail from top photo, Rebecca Hutchinson's Summer Bloom installation, 2020

Fired and unfired porcelain paperclip, handmade paper, organic material | Duane Reed Gallery

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Here are more pieces that attracted my attention this year.

What attracts a person to a piece of art? For me, the reasons are many. Sometimes for the content, the form, the technique, the artist's story, or a combination of all of them.

Paper pop-out book sculpture, Germ-Carrying Insects Which Transmit Infectious Disease to Humans

Lucha Rodriguez's Fantasia Andina Knife, watercolor on manipulated paper, 2021 | Gallery 1202

Lucha Rodriguez's Fantasia Andina Knife detail

Hiroshi Hayakawa's Vanitas No. 28, graphite and colored pencil on bristol, 2021 | Arcadia Contemporary

Hannah Wilke, Self-Portrait (BC) Series, 1990, watercolor | LaiSun Keane Gallery

Massimo Vignelli's Melting Pot Flag, silkscreen, 1976-1989 | Alpha137 Gallery

Light and dark flowers series, paint on paper

Claire Gilliam's A Conversation With Myself, 2021, ink on paper | Galerie L'Atelier

Jeffrey Ripple's Dark Flowers, oil on paper, 2008 | Arcadia Contemporary

Hideto Yagi's typographic sculpture, Super Busy, paper/foam and acrylic | Aware Works LLC

Tom Judd's Elephant, colllage/mixed media & graphite on paper, circa 2020 | Clark Gallery

Drew Leshko's Skateland, mixed media, 2021 | Paradigm Gallery

Katherine Glover's Dragon's Breath, hand made paper/acrylic paint/gold leaf, 2021 | Duane Reed Gallery

Chairs series, watercolor on paper

John Anderson's UFO 4, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 2021 | Tuleste Factory

Photos: © 2021 Janet Giampietro.