5. Mary Finlayson
Known as Painted Mary, owner/operator Mary Finlayson is a one-woman painting and printmaking powerhouse. Based in San Francisco but originally from Vancouver, B.C., her bold and bright compositions are reminiscent of Matisse.
Mary Finlayson, "de Kooning, Bueys and Plants," 2017
Opening next week in Los Angeles, Superfine! Art Fair is a new twist on the standard art fair. With the goal of making art collecting accessible to a new generation, transparency and reasonable prices are the name of the game. Unlike traditional art fairs, who live by the policy that if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it, all prices of the 2,000+ available works will be listed clearly, and 90% of the work on offer is priced below $5,000.
In addition to making art buying more accessible, Superfine! wants to make the fair selling experience accessible to a larger population. That’s why solo artists, as well as galleries, are welcome, and more than half of the exhibiting artists are women, and artists of color and LGBTQ+ artists also receive outsized representation in the fair.
Here are five artists bringing diversity to Superfine! LA.
1. Pansy Ass Ceramics
Toronto-based Pansy Ass Ceramics is bringing their naughty and nice retro-ceramics to LA this through their Pansyland installation. A celebration of queer culture through kitsch, their works in porcelain challenge stereotypes of masculinity.
2. Rogelio Maxwell
Artist and performer Rogelio Maxwell creates a "living tableau" by blending painting, drawing, and music with performance, film and video. Based in Washington DC for almost 30 years, Maxwell was born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn. His intricate stipple drawings create abstract universes, a visual delight to explore.
3. BBAM! Gallery
Based in Montreal, BBAM! Gallery focuses on emerging, mid-range, and career artists working within pop, figurative, and hyper-realism. Established in 2012, with a roster consisting primarily of North American artists, they are consistently voted one of the top galleries in Montreal.
4. John Waiblinger
John Waiblinger redefined himself as an artist in his early 60s after a career in academia. Describing his new media works as Post Photography, his compositions explore masculinity, desire and intimacy.
