This time last year, word on the street was that Volta was nothing short of revolting. This year, the satellite fair felt much the same. While both the work on the walls and the venue were a little more pulled together, in all, most of the galleries should have applied Coco Chanel’s advice about accessories to their hanging; every booth needed at least one less thing on the wall. The fair was overhung and somewhat uninspiring

At the typically graceful PDX, Nancy Lorenz’s work was overwhelmed by wall-to-wall gold and silver. A shame considering Lorenz’s work had the potential to stand out against the maelstrom of art at Volta that predictably pictured guns or sex in insipid compositions. Next door, Cynthia Corbett Gallery made a similar mistake; works seemed to hang only inches apart making it hard, if not impossible, to make sense of the mess.

There were, however, some seriously exciting discoveries among the rough. Mickey Smith’s impeccable hanging of her Collocation No. 17 (VOGUE, 2010) at Invisible Exports provided a much needed break from the chaos. The large bound volumes of worn periodicals gave room for pause with Smith nostalgically confronting us with images of the tangible objects we are soon to loose to digitized technology.

Similarly, Luis Gonzalez Palma’s paced installation perfectly demonstrated that age old adage; quality truly does reign over quantity. His hand painted silver gelatin prints were penetrating. Golden portraits portrayed an overwhelming and intimate emotion that just didn’t exist in other booths.

So, when it comes to next year's fair, let's hope Volta takes their nickname on board and instead revolts [pun clearly intended] against what we've come to expect from them. My fingers are crossed.