Clash of the Diamonds… who will dominate the lucrative New York art market?
This is hotting up to be the busiest fair season New York has seen in years. It is putting the Big Apple back on the map as the rightful leader of the international art market, as two International players Britain’s Frieze Art Fair and Americas own Pulse clamber for art buyers.
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair is a leading event dedicated to international contemporary art, It runs from May 3-6, 2012, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Currently in its seventh edition, PULSE New York will host sixty national and international galleries, presenting exhibitions that span across all media, from works on paper, painting, and sculpture, to performance, installation, and video art.
Frieze on the other hand has jumped into the deep end with a glitzier approach ready to put the wow factor back into fair going. It boasts 160 international galleries from 28 countries, including Brazil, China, India, Korea, Mexico, Romania, Israel, and South Africa, Frieze Co-Directors Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover have gleefully declared that ‘The number and quality of applications to our first American fair matched our ambition in ensuring this was a leading international fair from the beginning’.
The London galleries are well represented including the usual suspects, White Cube, Sadie Coles, Stephen Friedman, Frith Street, Victoria Miro, Maureen Paley, Alison Jacques Gallery,Anthony Reynolds, Timothy Taylor Gallery,greengrassi, Corvi-Mora, Vilma Gold and the Lisson Gallery as well as some surprises like, Seventeen,The Approach London,Kate MacGarry, Cabinet,Mary Mary, Glasgow and Limoncello. To this roster are added 32 local New York galleries, from heavy weights Gagosian, Lehmann Maupin and David Zwirner to James Cohan, Elizabeth Dee, and 303. Cape Town Gallery Stevensen will see South Africa represented for the first time, while the Beijing galleries Boers-Li and Tang Contemporary Art are also newcomers at the fair.
PULSE provides a unique platform for exhibitors from around the world to present artists ranging from the well-established, to undiscovered and emerging talents,” comments Cornell DeWitt, Director. “PULSE is consistently a favorite of exhibitors and visitors because we offer such a great diversity of galleries and artists, while maintaining a consistently high caliber of presentations in a dynamic atmosphere. While there are always fairs that people feel they have to visit, PULSE is a fair that they love to visit.”
This year’s exhibiting galleries include Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, featuring a large series of modern paintings by Andrew Masullo, a 2012 Whitney Biennial artist; Galerie Richard, New York, showcasing works by Paul Henry Ramirez; and Von Lintel Gallery, New York, presenting a range of recent works from artists Melanie Willhide, Catherine Howe, and John Chiara.
PULSE’s consistently strong showing of international exhibitors include GALERIE STEFAN ROEPKE of Cologne, Germany, who will be featuring photographic landscapes by Sharon Harper and abstract paintings by Julie Oppermann; Nieves Fernandez Gallery of Madrid, Spain, offering works from artists such as Jordi Alcaraz, Danica Phelps, Jeff Cohen, and more; Purdy Hicks Gallery of London, UK, displaying contemporary photographs and drawings from Susan Derges, Bettina von Zwehl, Claire Kerr, and Andrzej Jackowski; Lawrie Shabibi of Dubai, UAE, presenting mixed-media pieces by local artists Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Sama Alshaibi, Driss Ouadahi, and Shahpour Pouyan; and Zemack Contemporary of Tel Aviv, Israel, exhibiting a group show with Phellippe Pasqua, Ofer Lellouche, Yuval Yairi and others.
PULSE New York 2012 is also pleased to welcome several exciting first-time exhibitors to IMPULSE, a section of the fair devoted to emerging galleries who are presenting solo-artist offerings. IMPULSE exhibitors will include Black & White Gallery/Project Space, debuting three-dimensional works by Peter Brock, founder of Baji Lives!, an ongoing and collaborative public art project that brings color to the streets of New York City; HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY, featuring Chris Duncan’s sewn collages and works on paper that explore light and perception as physical metaphors; and international galleries, Antena Estudio of Mexico City, Mexico, showcasing Rocio Infestas; and Temnikova & Kasela Gallery of Tallinn, Estonia, displaying works by native painter, Merike Estna.
IMPULSE artists are eligible to receive the PULSE PRIZE, a monetary grant that is awarded to an emerging artist of distinction, selected by the PULSE Committee and for the first time, the public, by social media polling. The 2012 PULSE PRIZE winner will be announced on Saturday, May 5th. This year’s limited edition PULSE New York tote bags were designed by last year’s recipient, David Ellis.
ArtLyst will be in New York Covering both events… Watch this space…