The Art Show 2019 edition takes place this week, open to the public February 28—March 3, 2019. Put on by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) at the Park Avenue Armory, the gala preview on Wednesday night, as well as tickets to the fair, benefit the Henry Street Settlement.
This year brings together 72 exhibiting galleries, including James Cohan, Marian Goodman, Hauser & Wirth, Casey Kaplan, Kasmin, Luxembourg & Dayan, Salon 94, David Zwirner, and more. To learn more about the fair, Whitewall caught up with Andrew Schoelkopf, President of ADAA, and cofounder of Menconi + Schoelkopf.
WHITEWALL: Nearly half of exhibitors will present solo exhibitions this year. Why do you think so many galleries have chosen to do so? Could you share some of the solo booth highlights?
ANDREW SCHOELKOPF: Solo booths help our members to bring an intimate exhibition to a broad community of viewers and to support their artists and gallery program.
Castelli Gallery will present an exhibition of more than a dozen drawings by Roy Lichtenstein, which I know is exciting for many. These seminal drawings are seldom shown and are appealing to a huge audience, so I expect that to be well received. Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is presenting a fascinating reconsideration of the African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, who lived from 1859 until 1937. The gallery is showing a number of Tanner’s works including a fascinating painting entitled Two Disciples at the Tomb, which is the subject of some interesting research recently completed by Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at the University of Delaware and the Luce/ALCS Dissertation Fellow in American Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The presentation should be fascinating and invites close study.
WW: Are there any curated or thematic presentations of note this year?
AS: One of the most interesting collaborations is the joint project between Fraenkel Gallery and David Zwirner, who are showing the work of Diane Arbus and Alice Neel. It is great to see works of several artists united in a different context – that should be a museum quality installation. Also, Salon 94 and Jessica Silverman Gallery are showing great works by Judy Chicago and an interesting group of women artists who were influenced by Chicago or who have reinterpreted some of the themes in her work.
WW:Who are some of the fair first-timers visitors should keep an eye out for?
AS: I am very proud that we have the opportunity to highlight our new members to the ADAA who have never before presented at The Art Show. They are Susan Inglett Gallery, who is showing a series of cut paper works by VILLALONGO; Kayne Griffin Corcoran, who is presenting a solo exhibition of early work by Beverly Pepper; Luxembourg & Dayan, whose presentation will highlight works by artists fundamental to the gallery’s engagement with postwar painting and sculpture including Alberto Burri, Piero Manzoni, and Yves Klein; Jessica Silverman Gallery, who is partnering with Salon 94 on a solo presentation of early abstract works by Judy Chicago flanked by younger women artists from each gallery’s respective rosters; and Venus Over Manhattan, who’s showing a thematic exhibition dedicated to artist-made boxes.
WW: Castelli gallery is returning to the fair after two decades. What will be special about their return this year?
AS: Castelli Gallery is one of the most important and influential art galleries of the past half-century, so we are really excited to see their presentation of Roy Lichtenstein’s important drawings. I have seen images of a number of them during The Art Show Committee’s selection process, and they are truly spectacular works. I expect that the presentation will incite a great deal of excitement and will be attractive to many visitors. I am certainly planning to spend some serious time in the booth myself as I love the material.
WW: Outside of the fair in late February/early March, what are you looking forward to seeing in New York?
AS: We have an exciting new initiative this year to unite The Art Show with the work of ADAA galleries in the neighborhood, so I’m looking forward to seeing the entire neighborhood come to life during the ADAA’s Upper East Side Gallery Walk on Saturday, March 2 during the busy weekend at the fair. Our Art Show visitors can walk a handful of blocks to see what’s on view at over 20 galleries on the Upper East Side and see the galleries in action with the many exhibitions going on each and every week in our member galleries.
