Bowling paired with abstract paintings? Naturally.

Annie Rana of Marianne Boesky Gallery, fair organizer Scott Reeder, and John Riepenhoff of Green Gallery standing in Marianne Boesky's booth 

This weekend I drove up to Wisconsin to see the Milwaukee International art fair. The Cheese State fete did not disappoint.

To break from the bitingly commercial nature of Art Chicago and the fair-saturated art market, the MI is held in a slightly dilapidated bowling alley called Falcon Bowl. The name pretty much says it all: Like many Milwaukee venues, the hall is a smoky, boozy, gritty neighborhood spot. Ironically, organizers and brothers Scott and Tyson Reeder were able to snag some glossy, big-name galleries—something that Art Chicago had trouble doing. Marianne Boesky Gallery and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise came from New York, and even San Juan and Beijing were represented among the few dozen galleries there.

The Reeder brothers were also able to get their hands on immaculate white walls and bright lights, so the aesthetic ended up somewhat similar to the glitzy fairs it poked fun at. But the artwork was still very bowling-alley as the walls were covered with angsty, scribbly drawings. Highlights included Old Gold's paintings by various artists (one of whom, Cayetano Ferrer can be seen standing with OG director Caleb Lyons, at left) for the bowling-alley-bargain price of $100 (the novel idea carried the content), and obsessive drawings at Tokyo-gallery Hiromi Yoshii.

Also on display were a glut of casual abstractions—paint glooped and smeared on the canvas in a way that, unless done with deft hands, doesn't always work. Perhaps this prevalent trend among young artists is a reaction to the chaos of war. More likely, it's a hopeful rendering of the next big thing, hot on the heels of deer and pirate-ship paintings. Clearly this style is partly swiped from the rigorously nonchalant paintings in Rebecca Morris’s 2005 Renaissance Society show. And now that this style is ubiquitous, it's only a matter of time until Urban Outfitters decorates its storefront in homage to this aesthetic. Hopefully then (if not now) artists will move on, and do their own thing.