NEW YORK, NY.- PHOTOFAIRS New York, the new contemporary art fair dedicated to photo-based and digital artworks, has announced details of exhibitor and program highlights for its inaugural edition. Organized by Creo and its majority shareholder Angus Montgomery Arts, and in collaboration with Candlestar, the fair takes place at the Javits Center from September 8-10, 2023 (VIP Preview on September 7) and adds a new and distinct dimension to the global art fair landscape.
Alongside its booth presentations, PHOTOFAIRS New York features a range of dynamic special projects, large-scale installations, publishing projects, and an annual acquisition prize for exhibiting artists, established in partnership with 21c Museum Hotels. Visitors have the opportunity to explore an array of highly-curated presentations, from surveys considering the craft and materiality of photography, to its intersections with emerging technologies. More than one third of the fair is dedicated to solo presentations, providing the chance to discover up-and-coming image-makers, as well as in-depth showcases of renowned photographers. Running alongside The Armory Show, PHOTOFAIRS New York cements the first week of September as the annual pulse point on New York’s arts calendar.
“We are so excited to bring together such a variety of organizations and artists, offering an expansive and forward-thinking view of photography and image-making,” says Helen Toomer, Director, PHOTOFAIRS New York. “Our exhibitors and partners are truly invested in the new platform that PHOTOFAIRS New York provides for their programs and their artists, and we are looking forward to our first of many annual convenings.”
EXHIBITOR HIGHLIGHTS
PHOTOFAIRS New York’s debut edition welcomes a highly curated selection of exhibitors from more than 20 cities around the world—from renowned photography dealers to interdisciplinary contemporary art galleries and organizations at the forefront of emerging technologies.
In addition to a range of thematic and group exhibitions, more than a third of the fair is devoted to solo artist presentations. Highlights include: HESSE FLATOW’s presentation of photographs, prints, and video works by New York-based artist Adama Delphine Fawundu, whose practice explores themes of indigenization and ancestral memory; Nil Gallery’s presentation of works by Ghanaian artist Caleb Kwarteng Prah, who blends street photography and personal archives to portray contemporary Ghana; never-before-seen portraits from Katsu Naito’s Once in Harlem series, exhibited at The Fridge; a physical and digital presentation by Praise Shadows Gallery of Nicole Wilson’s durational project Ötzi, where the artist photo-documents the process of reconciling ancient and contemporary tattoo practices; artist duo Elliot & Erick Jiménez’s showcase of staged photographs that personify deities and saints within Yoruba and Catholic syncretism, presented by Spinello Projects; a selection of Maleonn’s photographs and installations, including the artist’s tribute to painter Jheronimus Bosch’s 15th century masterwork The Garden of Earthly Delights, at Shun Art Gallery; and Momentum’s presentation of cinematic landscapes from Norwegian artist Ole Marius Joergensen’s latest series, which explores the mysteries of rural life.
Many of this year’s solo and dual presentations spotlight the work of artists examining the craft and materiality of photography and its intersections across media and discipline, from drawing and painting to fiber techniques and collage. Highlights include: Elijah Wheat’s solo presentation of Rhiannon Adam’s new series Composites, for which the artist arranges large-scale Polaroid emulsion lifts on watercolor paper; Brooklyn-based artist Delphine Diallo’s new series Golden Age, unveiled in Fisheye Gallery’s solo booth, which combines portraiture and collage to give new life to African cult objects; Luis De Jesus Los Angeles’ display of a new body of work by Chris Engman that sees the artist employ drawing and painting alongside photography for the first time; and Robert Mann Gallery’s presentation of artists including Cig Harvey, Jane Waggoner Deschner, and Ana Teresa Barboza, whose practices combine photography with various historical fiber techniques.
PHOTOFAIRS New York’s expansive view of image-making explores contemporary intersections with digital art and new media. Several exhibitors specializing in emerging technologies present new digital projects, as well as engage audiences virtually. Highlights include: The Path, an exhibition staged by Postmasters Gallery featuring photographs and video by Kenny Dunkan, Damjanski’s AI-assisted app alongside photographic works, and a sculpture by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy that employs cinematic footage created through an algorithm; bitforms’ group exhibition of works by pioneering artists including Marina Zurkow, Quayola, and LaJuné McMillian, who engage new technologies to interrogate themes of identity, representation, and environment; and TRANSFER’s showcase of Huntrezz Janos’ multilayered face filters, which use augmented reality to explore the mythology of self.
Exhibitors were chosen by the fair’s esteemed Selection Committee: Sebastián Alderete (ROLF ART, Buenos Aires); Amanda Coulson (TERN Gallery, Nassau); Nicholas Fahey (Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles); and Putri Tan (Gagosian, New York & 19 cities worldwide), in collaboration with PHOTOFAIRS New York Director Helen Toomer.
21C ACQUISITION PRIZE
The fair’s first edition also marks the launch of the 21c Acquisition Prize, an annual award established in partnership with 21c Chief Curator and Museum Director Alice Gray Stites. The prize is awarded to an artist exhibiting at PHOTOFAIRS New York whose work has been selected by Stites to join 21c’s esteemed collection. Stites and PHOTOFAIRS New York Director Helen Toomer will present the inaugural award at the Javits Center on Friday, September 8, 2023.
“21c seeks to support today’s most dynamic artists, working in a wide range of media and addressing the pressing issues of our time,” says Stites. “We are excited about discovering visionary artists working in innovative photographic and digital media at the inaugural edition of PHOTOFAIRS New York and expanding the collection further through the establishment of the 21c Acquisition Prize.”
SPECIAL PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMING
Complementing the booth presentations are special projects from the fair’s programming partners. The international photography museum Fotografiska presents a special installation of recent portraits by Cara Romero that explore ideas of Indigeneity and Futurism. The artist collective For Freedoms presents artwork from a select group of their Fellows whose practices focus on photography, and Jamaica Art Society stages Memories Don’t Leave Like People Do, an exhibition of video works curated by founder Tiana Webb Evans that features work by artists Simon Benjamin, Zachary Fabri, Ania Freer, Timothy Yanick Hunter, and Jamilah Sabur, and explores the tension between knowledge, memory and history. Center of Photography at Woodstock showcases the work of Tommy Kha, the recipient of the organization’s 2023 Emerging Artist Award, while Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York presents modern prometheus III by Emma Safir, an alumnus of their Guest Curatorial Program.
A series of artist spotlights and installations activate the expansive fair space, including: artist and computer developer Daniel Rozin’s special project RGB Lights Mirror, presented by bitforms, in which aluminum knobs and lights are manipulated through engineering and the artist’s own algorithms to change and respond to the presence and perspective of the viewer; Robert Mann Gallery’s presentation of Sayler/Morris’ Eclipse, a site-specific video animation and soundscape that commemorates the lost species of the passenger pigeon; Throned, a mobile photo-installation by interdisciplinary artist Tiffany Smith presented by TERN Gallery that creates a meditative setting for participants to have their portrait taken; Jackson Fine Art showcases The Mind-Baby Problem, a sculptural presentation of photographer Tabitha Soren’s raw and intimate exploration of the bond between mother and newborn, and the emotional complexities of new and unconditional love; and Rolf Art Gallery’s presentation of Andrés Denegri’s Uprising, a large-scale film installation merging photochemical images, filmstrips, and film projectors with their respective sound environments to resemble a large kinetic machine.
Throughout the weekend, the fair hosts a dynamic conversation series convening a group of thought leaders in dialogue about issues and relevant topics in the field. Programming partners include 21c Museum Hotels; Aperture; Artwrld; Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York; Center for Photography at Woodstock; The Cultivist; Dear Dave, Magazine; Fotografiska; Gagosian Quarterly; International Center of Photography; Jamaica Art Society; and Printed Matter, Inc. A complete schedule of talks and participants will be announced in the coming weeks.
2023 EXHIBITORS
193 Gallery, Paris; Artwrld, Global; Art Bond NY, New York; Artemis Gallery, Lisbon; Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York; Atlas Gallery, London; Bildhalle, Zurich/Amsterdam; bitforms, New York; Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston; Chela Mitchell Gallery, Washington, D.C.; CLAMP, New York; Elijah Wheat, Newburgh; Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles; Fisheye Gallery, Paris/Arles; THE FRIDGE, New York; Galerie XII, Paris/Los Angeles/Shanghai; Gaotai Gallery, Xinjiang; HackelBury Fine Art, London; HESSE FLATOW, New York; Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York; Huxley-Parlour, London; The Hullet Collection, Tulsa; IN THE GALLERY, Palma de Mallorca/Copenhagen; inside-out, Brussels; Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta; JHB Gallery, New York; Les filles du calvaire, Paris; Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles; Management, New York; Marshall Gallery, Los Angeles; McBride Contemporain, Montreal; Momentum, Miami; Montrasio Arte, Monza/Milan/Piacenza; The Music Photo Gallery, New York; Nil Gallery, Paris; OSMOS, New York/Stamford; PIBI Gallery, Seoul; Postmasters Gallery, New York/Rome; Praise Shadows, Brookline; Printed Matter, Inc., New York; Rick Wester Fine Art, New York; Robert Mann Gallery, New York; Rolf Art, Buenos Aires; Ruttkowski;68, Cologne/Düsseldorf/Paris/New York; Sasha Wolf Projects, New York; Shun Art Gallery, Tokyo/Shanghai; Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, New York; Spinello Projects, Miami; Staley-Wise Gallery, New York; TERN Gallery, Nassau; TRANSFER, Miami; Throckmorton Fine Art, New York; Troconi-Letayf & Campbell, Mexico City; UNIX Gallery, New York; Von Lintel Gallery, Santa Monica; Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle/New York; Yiwei Gallery, Venice, CA.
