It is unusual to discuss an art fair’s atmosphere, unless in the context of one’s own claustrophobia. It is often difficult to find to find the moments of grounded viewership that the art in question actually deserves. Describing Independent’s atmosphere, then, is essential to describing its difference. Spread across four floors of Tribeca’s Spring Studios, the space is airy and most essentially open, as walls separate but do not enclose each gallery’s display. This year, collectors, critics, gallerists, curators, artists, and enthusiasts gathered and mingled. Large windows filled rooms with white clouded sunlight, just a handful of blocks from the river; some artists even chose to include site specific work that brought the vista inside, such as Samara Scott at London’s Sunday Painter. Her sculptures – plastic covered tubs of opaque liquid and found detritus—have an almost landscape like quality, as the color schemes of daily consumer objects sink in the watery container and appear to melt, plastic becoming watercolor. The long narrow line of color facing the window was built by Scott on site with local materials, in response to the wintery view from the highest floor.

At Maureen Paley, an astonishing wall of small works by Paul Thek, Esther Pearl Watson, Felipe Baeza, and Wolfgang Tillmans framed a larger soft focus portrait by Kaye Donachie, a sad clown in tender blue tones. All the work felt close at hand, scribbled down, finished by dinner, yet each piece’s content was undeniably cosmic. Thek’s cartoon heart in a sling shot on lined note paper perfectly balanced some of the louder, more show stopping pieces in the room. The delicacy of the curation was palpable, and the combination of works evoked emotional response.

Karma also went with work that was somewhat quieter but just as profoundly resonant, with a collection of Gertrude Abercrombie’s surrealist paintings. No bigger than your head, her work has none of the bombastic absurdity of more famous surrealists. Rather, these paintings pause on a moment in shadow and make it dream-like through attention alone: a blue door, a white jug, a pink folded glove. The colors emerge hesitantly from a dark scene, a cat turns around an unexpected corner. These works necessitate a certain stillness, and it was good to see visitors take time with them, circle back, discuss, and linger.