Art Fairs
AIPAD to Trade Park Avenue Armory for Pier 94
The art fair game of musical chairs continues.
The art fair game of musical chairs continues.
Eileen Kinsella ShareShare This Article
The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) announced that this spring’s edition of its prestigious annual show (April 14–17), will be its tenth and final show at the Park Avenue Armory. In 2017, the show will move to Pier 94 on the far west side of Manhattan, the same pier where parts of the annual Armory Show take place.
AIPAD president and Chicago dealer Catherine Edelman said in a statement that the show had outgrown the Park Avenue venue several years ago and that the organization had been looking for alternate sites. “The timing for the move to Pier 94 turned out to be ideal, since the Park Avenue Armory did not offer us dates for 2017,” Edelman said. “We are delighted that we will now be able to accommodate all AIPAD members.”
As a result, AIPAD expects the number of exhibitors to grow from 86 in 2016, to between 90 and 95 in 2017.
The Park Avenue Armory appears to have been making changes to its programming line-up lately. While the venue continues to be home to the prestigious annual Art Dealers Association of America‘s (ADAA) Art Show, organizers of the New York Art Antique & Jewelry Show announced in December that it had been tossed out of its usual autumn slot there following its November 2015 edition.
“Their intention is to not have events of this nature in the Park Avenue Armory and to switch it all to live performances,” said Scott Diament, CEO of the Palm Beach Show Group, which organizes the antiques fair, to artnet News in a phone interview at the time. He described the venue’s decision to the New York Post‘s Page Six as a “major shock,” but said he was still “hopeful” that Armory leadership would have a change of heart.
More recently, the team behind TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair), announced that the long-running fair that takes place in Maastricht, the Netherlands, each March, will expand to New York with the help of Artvest Partners, run by Jeff Rabin and Michael Plummer. Two annual shows are planned for the Park Avenue Armory, replacing the International Fine Art & Antiques Show in the fall and Spring Masters in the spring.