NEW YORK, NY.- VIP Art Fair announce its list of participating galleries for the opening of its inaugural edition from Saturday, January 22 to Sunday, January 30, 2011. The fair -- an acronym for “Viewing in Private” -- is the first-ever to take place exclusively online and has assembled 139 of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries from 30 countries in an unprecedented live event. A complete gallery list follows below.

With this power-packed list of international dealers, art collectors and enthusiasts are now able to browse works by a wide range of renowned artists including Franz Ackermann, Francis Bacon, Urs Fischer, Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Sarah Lucas, Takashi Murakami, and Jackson Pollock, to the most exciting emerging artists working today, all from the comfort of their own home. The vibrant presentation of artwork, enlivened with streaming video and dynamic zoom, along with the ability to connect one-on-one with dealers makes attending the fair from anywhere in the world a truly unique experience.

“Increasingly over the last decade the artworld has gone global, with important events happening around the world. Art collectors from Dallas to Kuala Lumpur can find it difficult to travel to all of the events and yet they don’t want to miss out. Three years ago, when we began conceptualizing VIP Art Fair, we wanted to harness the international reach of the Internet to give access to the best contemporary art from anywhere in the world,” stated James Cohan, owner of James Cohan Gallery in New York and Shanghai. This is the genesis of VIP Art Fair, which he co-founded with his partner Jane Cohan and Internet entrepreneurs Jonas and Alessandra Almgren. “By using the traditional art fair as a model, VIP Art Fair offers entrée to the most critically acclaimed artists and the leading dealers who represent them. This new platform allows collectors to see the art, learn about the art and also understand how to acquire the art.”

PARTNERS
VIP Art Fair announce that art insurance specialist AXA Art Insurance Corporation has joined as Lead Partner. The fair’s relationship with AXA Art allows for access to expertise on the benefits of art insurance -- a necessary collection management tool that helps to protect collectors’ investments in acquiring art and cushion the impact of loss or damage to their treasured items should the unexpected occur. During the fair, AXA Art’s in-house experts will be available to address questions submitted by the VIP Art Fair’s online collectors.

In commenting on AXA Art's partnership with VIP Art Fair, Christiane Fischer, President and CEO of AXA Art Insurance offered the following statement, “With its online offerings of quality contemporary art by leading art dealers and galleries from around the world, VIP Art Fair is at the epicenter of innovation. As a global art insurance specialist, we understand the need to be innovative to be able to deliver 360 degrees in products and service offerings to meet the demands of discerning clients. AXA Art is pleased to support this new model of art fair that is embracing technology and pushing the boundaries to meet the needs of collectors around the world.”

The fair’s Creative Programming Partner is the award-winning producer of contemporary films, Art21, who is creating an exclusive series of artist studio visits for the inaugural edition of VIP Art Fair. These videos will premiere in the fair’s VIP Lounge with 18 artists featured, including Bruce Nauman, Paul McCarthy, Cai Guo-Qiang, and Cindy Sherman, among others.

EXHIBITION HALLS
The VIP Art Fair is divided into three distinct exhibition halls:
• VIP Premier: comprised of 91 leading galleries, each presenting 15 to 20 works depending on booth size—large or medium.
• VIP Focus: comprised of 24 galleries, each presenting eight works by a single artist.
• VIP Emerging: comprised of 24 galleries, each presenting 10 works produced within the last two years by emerging artists.

GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
Among the Selected Galleries Are

VIP Premier:
• DAVID ZWIRNER (New York)
• WHITE CUBE (London)
• FRAENKEL GALLERY (San Francisco)
• XAVIER HUFKENS (Brussels)

VIP Focus:
•RHONA HOFFMAN GALLERY (Chicago)
•KERLIN (Dublin)
•GALERIA OMR (Mexico City)
•CHI-WEN GALLERY (Taipei)

VIP Emerging:
•AMP (Athens)
•KAUFMANN REPETTO (Milan)
•A GENTIL CARIOCA (Rio de Janeiro)
•WALLSPACE (New York)