Open Season on Art Fairs

Both ArtHamptons and artMRKT Hamptons will open their doors tonight with previews and cocktail parties for their own exhibitors, sponsors, media partners, honorees, events, and beneficiaries

Jul. 9, 2013

Jennifer Landes

Mid-July has become art fair season on the South Fork, with three fairs running in rapid succession, two this weekend in Bridgehampton and another beginning July 25 in Southampton.

Both ArtHamptons and artMRKT Hamptons will open their doors tonight with previews and cocktail parties for their own exhibitors, sponsors, media partners, honorees, events, and beneficiaries.

The sixth edition of ArtHamptons, the oldest of the fairs, will take place at Nova’s Ark sculpture fields off Millstone Road. It will boast a 50,000-square-foot tent and a theme of “Hamptons Bohemia.” Its honorees will be the very much alive Edward Albee and Billy Sullivan, and Larry Rivers, who died in 2002. Its opening-night party will benefit Guild Hall. Its events include a polo demonstration and an Empire Pride Agenda tea dance in addition to a number of private receptions and educational talks.

Now in its third year, artMRKT will be on the grounds of the Bridgehampton Historical Society and benefit the Parrish Art Museum and the LongHouse Reserve. Although somewhat of an upstart, the younger fair has captured the hearts and minds of much of the South Fork gallery and dealer establishment. Exhibitors include Boltax Gallery, Bridgehampton Fine Art, Eric Firestone Gallery, Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Halsey Mckay Gallery, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Mark Humphrey Gallery, Neoteric Fine Arts, QF Gallery, Sara Nightingale, the Grenning Gallery, Tripoli Gallery, and Vered Art Gallery, in addition to galleries from Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Florida, New Orleans, and yet farther-flung places. A total of 40 galleries will exhibit.

Of note will be an installation and performance by Adam Stennett from Glenn Horowitz on the grounds of the fair. “Artist Survival Shack: 96 Hour Test Run” will be a demonstration project for a longer performance on the East End. The artist will set up his 6.5-by-9.5-foot “survival shack” for the duration of the fair. A monthlong performance will follow with an exhibition of the shack, related paintings, and artifacts, opening in September at the gallery.

The QF Gallery in East Hampton will have three installations at the artMRKT entrance.

At ArtHamptons, exhibitors include Lawrence Fine Art, Mark Borghi Fine Art, Monika Olko Gallery, Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, and Tulla Booth from the South Fork, and dealers from Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America, in addition to domestic and North American galleries, 80 galleries in all.

Both fairs will remain open through Sunday. Full details and schedules can be found on arthamptons.com and art-mrkt.com. Tickets start at $20 for a day pass for artMRKT and $25 for ArtHamptons and increase for multiple days or for the preview parties.