Intersect Aspen Selections: Laura Smith Sweeney
Art advisor Laura Smith Sweeney selects standout works from Intersect Aspen.
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It’s such a fun, art-fueled week to be in Aspen with not only the Intersect, but the annual Art Crush gala. Intersect’s Aspen iteration has proven to be a very digestible fair with just over 30 galleries that span emerging contemporary artists to modern masterpieces to high quality prints. There is something for every collector.
Here are our top ten artworks:
What we love about this edition by the LA based artist, Charles Gaines (b. 1944), is how much it feels like his original work. An extension of his acclaimed Numbers and Trees Series, here Gaines photographed palm trees in Palm Canyon, California and plotted them against numbers and colors on his signature grids and encasing them in plexi boxes.
This lyrical abstract painting by the underrecognized artist, Mary Abbott, showcases her mastery of color and dynamic mark making. Abbott (1921-2019) was an important figure in the AbEx movement in New York in the 40s & 50s, but has only started to receive recognition after her inclusion in the Denver Art Museum’s groundbreaking 2016 exhibition “The Women of Abstract Expressionism”.
Jeffrey Gibson is taking center stage his week with a performance at the Anderson Park Meadow at the Aspen Institute. And this screenprint, which is on a handmade elk hide drum, wonderfully captures his bright, bold aesthetic and deeper connection to his Cherokee and Choctaw heritage.
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Laura Smith Sweeney, a native of Los Angeles, studied Art History at UCLA followed by a postgraduate degree at the Sorbonne in Paris. After completing her MBA and 20+ years of experience in Wealth Management at firms such as JP Morgan, Laura founded LSS Art Advisory with a dedication to transparency, integrity and education. Laura enjoys collaborating with clients to build contemporary collections that have lasting value, both emotionally and financially. Laura is a member of the Association of Professional Art Advisors (APAA), the only standard setting organization for the profession with an emphasis on ethical practice.
Philanthropic support of the California arts community is an integral part of Laura’s ethos. Laura served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at the The San Francisco Art Institute and continues to be involved with SFMOMA, the De Young, the Wattis, Headlands Center for the Arts, Artadia, LACMA and the Hammer Museum.
