NEW YORK, NY.- As the
Downtown Fair drew to a close, the overwhelming consensus was that the fair was a resounding success on all fronts. The inaugural edition of the Downtown Fair was the only fair during Frieze Week to offer a versatile array of fresh primary and important secondary contemporary and modern blue chip works, alongside works by noteworthy emerging artists. The Lexington Avenue Armory was transformed into a luxurious and intimate exhibition space which hosted 14,000 international collectors and art enthusiasts over the course of its four-day fair, 3,000 of which attended the VIP Preview and inaugural evening. The stately beaux-art landmark provided the perfect backdrop for attendees to discover paintings, sculptures, photographs and mixed-media works by over 600 artists from around the globe, exhibited by more than 50 international dealers in a welcoming and luminous setting.
Important six-figure works sold within the first few hours of the VIP Preview opening setting the tone for the remainder of the evening and for the days that followed. Seasoned as well as new collectors, curators, museum professionals, cultural foundations, dealers, art advisors and consultants acquired top quality works by mid-career and emerging artists as well as blue chip works by Picasso, De Kooning, Ruscha, Wesselmann, Rauschenberg, Warhol, Calder and other artists, creating consistent sales activity over the course of the fair.
“There was a very high-quality of works by all exhibiting galleries,” London-based art dealer Brain Balfour-Oatts, of ARCHEUS / POST-MODERN, raved. “The turnout was incredible, the flow of visitors was steady with top notch buyers continually coming through. There were selling opportunities every second of the day. The Downtown Fair is a winner.”
Art dealer Sandro Bosi of BOSI Contemporary, who is based out of both New York City and Europe, concluded that “there was consistent attendance of very engaged collectors. The Downtown Fair is very well organized and very elegant. I am very pleased with the fair and plan to return next year.”
Dealers that reported five- and six-figure sales include:
• ARCHEUS / POST-MODERN sold Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, a 1966 screen print in colours for $220,000 early during the VIP Preview as well as Botero’s “Dancers” for $950,000, followed by purchases of works by Hockney, De Kooning, Lucian Freud among other artists.
• BOSI Contemporary located on the Lower East Side featured two mid-career artists, Shony Rivnay and Andre Feliciano and sold multiple works by each artist, priced at up to $30,000 by each artist
• Chowaiki & Co. sold four Calder gouaches for a total of over $300,000, a Keith Haring for $45,000 and a Warhol lithograph for $25,000
• William Shearburn reported sales of works by Vik Muniz, Mel Bochner, Cy Twombly and a sculpture by Donald Sultan
• Catherine Edelman sold Gregory Scott’s mixed media work for $34,000, among other mid-career artists
• Armand Bartos parted with a Tom Wesselmann for $170,000 as well as a Russell Conner work for an undisclosed amount
• The “Life Psychotic” sharks by Johnston Foster drew huge crowds at the Emmanuel Fremin Gallery booth. "Life Psychotic III," 2009, sold to a major Miami-based collector
• Wasserman sold a few pieces by artist Lauren Satlowski, who, along with artist John Dunivant, were main attractions at their booth
• KM Fine Arts reported strong interest in a Chamberlain sculpture, asking price was nearing a seven-figure dollar amount at time of close
• Durham Press sold three “Landscape Majestic”, 2011, wood block, screen prints by well-known, female artist Mickalene Thomas, asking price for each was $20,000 (unframed)
• Eckert Fine Art sold a brass object by Roy Lichtenstein from his infamous “Modern Head” Collection for $50,000; additionally, the gallery sold a Warhol, titled “Sunset” for over $50,000
• C. Grimaldis Gallery sold a number of mixed media pieces including Chul Hyun Ahn's "Railroad Nostalgia" for $150,000 and Ahn's "12 Dots" for $25,000 among other notable pieces
• Richard Levy Gallery sold Emi Ozawa’s work for $25,000, multiple Suzanne Caporael New York Times newsprint collages, along with an Alex Katz for an undisclosed amount
• A number of pieces by Hunt Slonem were sold by Dean Project, including his oil on wood piece: "Bunny." "Bunny" was also the topic of discussion as part of the special programming on May 9th. The discussion was moderated by Bruce Helander and featured artist Hunt Slonem
• Munich-based Galerie Andreas Binder sold several Izima Kaoru photographs including "One Sun (Nordkap 3)", 2009; additionally, the gallery reported sales of a Dieter Rehm piece titled "Zwinger” as well as a painting by artist Yigal Ozeri
• Galerie von Braunbehrens sold a popular mixed media piece by Marck called "Tank" for over $25,000
• Nicholas Metivier Gallery sold John Hartman's 2014 oil on linen, "Brooklyn" and Charles Bierk's 2014 oil on canvas "Peter" as well as several oil on linen works by Stephen Appleby-Barr
• Helen Frankenthaler's "Untitled (painting for cover of book)" garnered interest among art collectors and sold for $25,000 with Scott White Contemporary Art
Additionally, avid interest in newer and mid-career, cutting edge artists translated into strong sales and sold out series of works at:
• Jenkins Johnson Gallery sold a variety of works by Timotheus Tomicek, Julian Opie, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Ben Aronson, Rin Johnson-Kaiser
• David Lusk Gallery sold multiple works by David Hildebrand and Greely Myatt
• Cynthia-Reeves sold Shen Chen acrylic on canvas and photography by Shuli Sade
• Peter Blake Gallery from Laguna Beach sold Whitney Biennial artist Matthew Deleget to a major Panamanian collector among other works
• Sundaram Tagore sold five works at undisclosed prices
“It was exciting to see the crowds lined up at the door and down Lexington Avenue for the VIP Preview, The inaugural year of the Downtown Fair was a huge success in terms of overall attendance and sales throughout the weekend,” said Nick Korniloff. “Many of the galleries have reported meeting new collectors and reinforcing old relationships while achieving strong sales. It was amazing to see how many of world's leading international art collectors, influential museum curators, designers, artists and art lovers came out to support the first edition of the Downtown Fair, plans are already underway for next years edition of the fair.”
“The Downtown Fair is an elegant fair” said collector Cheri Kaufman and architect Bill Sclight. “The mix of exceptional blue chip works with young emerging artists strikes a perfect balance. The layout is fabulous, the crowd is impressive. I love this fair.”
Some of the important curators, museum directors and distinguished guests who attended the fair over the weekend included Eleanor Kennedy and Anna Safir, Amy Fine Collins, John Dempsey, actors Alan Alda, Richard Belzer, Dan Hedaya, Peter Scolari, Julia Stiles; Carmen and John Thain, Joe Cohen, Jill Spalding, interior designers Chris Coleman and Jamie Drake; Dawn Marie Grannum, Randall Stempler, Paul Shaffer, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Jill Kargman, Bettina Zilkha, Cheri Kaufman and Bill Sclight, Felicia Taylor, Fred and Sue Finkelstein, Debbie and Neal Sroka, Sara Herbert Galloway, Barry Kleinberg, Barry Kieselstein Cord, Ruby Lerner, executive director of Creative Capital, Lisa Kirk, Philippe-Artus Hoerle, Manon Slome co-founder and chief curator of No Longer Empty, Terrie Sultan, Director of the Parrish Museum, Joe Martin Lin-Hill, Deputy Director Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Michelle Grabner, curator of the 2014 Whitney Biennial, Claire Breukel, Chief Curator of MARTE Museum in San Salvador, El Salvador, art advisor Heidi Lee, fine art consultant Michel Witmer, Diane Brown founder of RX Art, art advisors Joyce Varvatos, Spencer Tomkins, Cindy Farkas Glanzrock; Omar Lopez Chahoud, curator of Untitled, Carmen Ferreyra, Fair Director of Untitled, independent curator Ian Cofre, and groups from the Perez Art Museum Miami, ArtTable, Palm Springs Art Museum, MOCA Los Angeles, MoMa, the Whitney, amongst others.
Some of the exhibiting artists who attended the Downtown Fair were Bernie Taupin, Victor Matthews, Dana Louise Kirkpatrick, Domingo Zapata, Alexander Yulish all exhibiting at KM Fine Arts; Isca Greenfield-Sanders at Scott White Contemporary Art; Jeff Muhs at Lyons Weir Gallery and Anne Spalter at the Cynthia-Reeves Gallery, among other artists.
The Downtown Fair partnered with several philanthropic arts groups including Creative Capital, supporting innovative and adventurous artists across the United States; No Longer Empty; a New York City based organization promoting public engagement with contemporary art; and Time In! Children’s Art Initiative, a groundbreaking arts organization that brings art to some of the most at-risk public school children throughout the city.
“The team behind the Downtown Fair did a wonderful job in selecting galleries with modern and contemporary works, all of which perfectly complemented each other in such an intimate space,” stated Manon Slome (PhD) is the Chief Curator of No Longer Empty. “It was a great start for this inaugural fair and we look forward to next year."
The following highly respected galleries from around the globe participated in this year’s Downtown Fair including Yossi Milo Gallery, Danese/Corey, ARCHEUS/POST-MODERN, BOSI Contemporary, Coagula Curatorial, William Shearburn Gallery, HackelBury Fine Art, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Nicholas Metivier, David Lusk Gallery, Armand Bartos Fine Art, Cynthia-Reeves, Arcature Fine Art, David Klein Gallery, Chowaiki & Co, Durham Press, Richard Levy Gallery, Mixografia, Modernism Inc., Peter Blake Gallery, Robert Mann Gallery, Wasserman Projects, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Catherine Edelman, Jerald Melberg Gallery, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Galerie von Braunbehrens, Galerie Andreas Binder, amongst others.
