The Best Booths at Independent Art Fair, From a Porcelain Janitor’s Cart to Abstract Ledger Drawings

Maximilíliano Durón, ArtNews, May 9, 2025

Michelle Grabner at Abattoir Gallery

 

Another well-established artist making a strong showing at Independent is Michelle Grabner. Since her 2017 Arts/Industry residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Grabner has built a close relationship with the program, which gives artists access to Kohler’s production lines. At Cleveland gallery Abattoir’s booth, she presents a charming display of porcelain objects: sinks pulled straight from the line, a janitor’s cart stocked with a yellow mop bucket, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies. There are also several bronze brooms, oil-painted in black.

 

Gallery founder Lisa Kurzner told ARTnews that she likely has the fair’s most affordable work: a porcelain toilet paper roll priced at just $800. She even brought tote bags so buyers can carry them home. The gesture, she said, is meant to “undercut the masterpiece system.”

 

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