Today, no-one is surprised by artistic anti-market gestures; in fact, market criticism forms a perfectly acceptable sphere of the most marketable art practices. This premise constitutes the underlying ideology for much of New York-based artist Sean Paul’s practice. The press release for his 2006 exhibition at Elizabeth Dee, famously featured a photocopy of the 2003 Top Gun Prospecting financial advisement bookcover, matched with a transcript of Paul’s dialogue with his dealer. Taking this commentary further, the artist’s solo exhibition at Front Desk Apparatus is organized in collaboration with Thea Westreich, whose consulting firm provides advisory services for collectors. “Every Hair of the Bear” displays what Paul describes as “arrangements,” oil on canvas paintings mapping out black square territories on white backgrounds. Also on show is a richly textured monochrome print and a reproduction of a classical portrait of a princess in her precious garments, architecturally folded around a gallery pillar. A mirror amplifies the display, offering an alternate installation view. The sparse arrangement, nonetheless, presents an elaborate layering formulated through reproduction, abstraction and reflection of familiar imagery. Sean Paul’s current projects include a participation in a group show “New York: Directions, Points of Interest,” at Massimo de Carlo, Milan, dedicated to the young art scene of New York. (Marta Jecu)