Photo by Jeremiah Teipen

Glen Rubsamen paintings line a wall of Brändström & Stene's booth at the Armory Show.

Courtesy Nanzuka Underground

Mustone's "Yamatanoorochi" (2008) at Nanzuka Underground's booth at Pulse

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Oh dear. No amount of spin from the fair organizers can compensate for the fact that LA Art is simply too small to generate any excitement, despite the respectable efforts of one or two individual exhibitors [honorable mention: Paul Kopeikin]. If I had a gallery in Los Angeles and discovered that the New York (and international) audience was being given such a dreary an impression of the L.A. scene, I would be seriously pissed. And as for the gallerists consigned to the claustrophobic basement, what on earth could they have done in a former life to deserve that? Rating: *** (3/10)

PooL

The fair that isn’t quite a fair, PooL was a real delight, and perfectly at home in the super-eccentric, romantic labyrinth that is the tawdry Chelsea Hotel. Different unrepresented artists occupied each room, and every one was passionate to tell you about their work, and to hear what you had to say about it. There was some quite excellent work here and — as though to underscore how distant the whole enterprise was from the other fairs — nobody tried to sell me anything. Come back next year, PooL. You’ll be very welcome. Rating ******* (7/10)

PULSE

A major success for PULSE. Only two years ago they were the new kids on the block; this time around, they succeeded in reinventing the fair, and found a great new location as well. In doing so they have changed the Armory Week pecking order, overtaking Scope to become the other fair that you have to see. Rating ********** (10/10)

Red Dot

I’ve always liked Red Dot — though I think it works better in Miami than in New York. It’s modest, and it’s unpressured. But this week I couldn’t help thinking that while other fairs’ efforts — and, ironically, the arrival of Red Dot sister fair Art Now — have raised the bar, Red Dot has just stayed where it was. It’s cozy, it’s a bit old-fashioned, and despite one or two of the gallerists’ efforts to raise the overall standard [honorable mention: Nancy Hoffman] the work can be a bit craft project-y. I never really understood it before when people used the term “hotel fair” disparagingly. I do now. Rating: ***** (5/10)

Scope

Like I said in my review, Scope has really found its groove. It has a wide circle of committed, quality dealers and a team of organizers who are confident and ambitious. It must have come as a bit of a blow to them that while they’ve been doing all that consolidating, PULSE has expanded so successfully that they’ve now passed them on the rails. Rating: ******** (8/10)

Volta

A really successful debut for Volta. I’m not sure we really need a new fair formula (see the Dark Fair, above), but Volta’s one-artist-per-gallerist format works really well — perhaps because it requires genuine commitment on both sides. The fact that Volta is part of the Armory Show brand (or the Merchandise Mart brand, more accurately) and was thus served by a fleet of shuttle buses from the pier didn’t hurt either, but that would have been irrelevant had the work not been as stimulating as it was, or the gallerists’ attitudes less enthusiastic. Congratulations all around. Rating: ******* (7/10)