Stanley Casselman — Worst Stuff We Saw at Art Basel and Art Miami 2018 Stanley Casselman — Worst Stuff We Saw at Art Basel and Art Miami 2018 NY NY

Maybe 20 percent of the pieces at any Miami Art Week fair are fantastic. About 75 percent are either trite or meaningless. But the final 5 percent is where the fairs truly shine: Every one has something in the realm of five to ten pieces that truly, genuinely suck in spectacular fashion.

Though this year's Art Basel and Art Miami might have been light on spectacle, there were still some gems at these two fairs. Come along, scholars. It's time for the annual "Worst of Basel":

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/the-worst-art-basel-pieces-2018-10947863

Stanley Casselman is most well-known for satisfying Jerry Saltz's prompt for a Gerhard Richter knockoff and delicately transforming his own painting practice to reflect the ambient abstraction. Geometric abstraction piqued his interest in the 1980s, and he infused materials including satin ribbon and monofilament paper beneath the painted surface of monochrome works.

He also worked in theater and film, creating light installations that visualized the subtleties of perception applied to spectrums of color. Casselman's mature work was hailed by Saltz—its internal motion is created with acrylic paint or gloss gel medium dragged across the canvas with a squeegee, blended and subtracted with a pallet knife, and textured by ribs.

He often rotates his works in the midst of creation, addressing all areas of the canvas. The works evoke strewn confetti and waterfalls as layers of paint peek through, affirming the sublime raw energy of color.

Casselman has exhibited at institutions including Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, New Jersey and Silverman Guild Art Center, New Canaan, Connecticut, among other international galleries. He has also participated extensively in art fairs including Art Aspen, Art Basel Hong Kong, and Scope Basel, among others.