NEW YORK, NY.- Independent will take place next year May 14-17, 2026 at a new home at Pier 36, a 70,000-square-foot, light-filled venue located adjacent to the Lower East Side gallery community and contemporary art institutions. The move will more than double the fair’s footprint, and position it strategically along the East Side of Manhattan.


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The new location will allow Independent to expand the show for galleries and artists alike. “Our growth comes at a pivotal time for galleries worldwide who are looking to the New York market, and in particular rising artists and undervalued opportunities in 20th and 21st Century art,” says Independent’s founder, Elizabeth Dee. “We are delighted and grateful for our time at Spring Studios, but this feels like the right time to increase the cultural impact of Independent in New York, which is still the biggest art market in the world.”

Independent is a co-founder of New York Art Week, and its dates are aligned to coincide with the city’s spring fairs, such as The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), and others to be announced soon.

In developing the fair’s new chapter at Pier 36, Independent has appointed a creative team to address the building and related waterfront site. SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SO–IL) in Brooklyn will take on the project and apply its approach of creating meaningful cultural impact in ways that enrich local communities and the environment. D_P_S (Diogo Passarinho), Berlin will lead the exhibition design for the new show, drawing on a community of thinkers, artists and theoretical discourse to design an innovative space for more than 150 artists and their representing galleries.

Matthew Higgs, founding curatorial advisor to Independent states, "From the outset, Independent has sought to create a focused experience for art, artists, and audiences alike, one that is closer to our encounters with art in galleries and institutions. Central to these ambitions were the architectural spaces that Independent has occupied: the former Dia building on 22nd Street, Spring Studios in Tribeca, and the Battery Maritime Building on the tip of Manhattan. In moving to Pier 36, and working in close collaboration with SO-IL architects and D_P_S, the newly expanded show will once again establish a new model for what an art fair might be."

The fair will continue to be organized by Independent’s curatorial team: Matthew Higgs; Alexandra Alexopoulou and David Ulrichs, based in Berlin; Sofie Scheerlinck, COO; and Kyle Penner, Associate Manager; led by founder Elizabeth Dee.