Is Market Art + Design the ‘Brooklyn’ of Hamptons Art Fairs?

It's a mix of cutting-edge with traditional art and design.

Sinisa Kukec Zenith. Courtesy of Spinello Projects, Miami.

On a weekend when two major art fairs opened simultaneously in the Hamptons, Market Art + Design at the Bridgehampton Museum, felt a bit like the “Brooklyn” version of the two, with more than its fair share of young, hip visitors, while Art Southampton seemed to be the spot to which the Hamptons “old guard” flocks.

Market Art +Design at the Bridgehampton Museum. Photo by Eileen Kinsella

Market Art +Design at the Bridgehampton Museum. Photo by Eileen Kinsella.

The fair, inside a compact well-organized space at the Bridgehampton Museum, featured a vibrant, eclectic mix of mostly contemporary dealers, along with jewelry and design specialists, and a varied crowd to match.

Alongside familiar New York galleries like Winston Wächter Fine Art, The Hole and Castle Fitzjohns, was a special section of exhibitors at “Jewelbox,” which caters to the high-end jewelry crowd. Director Max Fishko described its inaugural outing as attempting to “bridge the gap,” between what fair-goers want and expect from design.

Hollton Rower 12ab1a. Courtesy of The Hole, New York.

Hollton Rower 12ab1a. Courtesy of The Hole, New York.

Both The Hole and Miami’s Spinello Projects gave over their booths to solo presentations by artists who straddled the line between wall-ready works and abstract sculptures. At The Hole it was fantastic large, sculptural pieces by Holton Rower, while Anthony Spinello showed sleek works by Croatian artist Sinisa Kukec.

Sinisa Kukec Zenith. Courtesy of Spinello Projects, Miami.

Sinisa Kukec Zenith Sluts. Courtesy of Spinello Projects, Miami.

First-time exhibitor Vincent Harrison, director of Castle Fitzjohns Gallery in New York, praised Fishko’s past fair track record and ability to successfully mix fine art with design as well as bringing big guns like Gagosian to the nascent Seattle Art Fair, as influencing his decision to participate this year.

Sam Tufnell, Dadadadad. Courtesy of Castle Fitzjohns Gallery, New York.

Sam Tufnell, Dadadadad. Courtesy of Castle Fitzjohns Gallery, New York.

Along with showing work by gallery artists Sam Tufnell, Bradley Hart, Ori Carino, and Max Wiedemann, Harrison has organized a pop-up space for duration of the month at a renovated barn on Birchwood Lane in Bridgehampton. The gallery hosts an opening reception there tonight (July 8) from 7-9 p.m., and all guests with an art show badge are welcome.

Egon Schiele, Kneeling Female, Semi-Nude (1920). Courtesy of Galerie Fledermaus, Chicago.

Egon Schiele, Kneeling Female, Semi-Nude (1920). Courtesy of Galerie Fledermaus, Chicago.

Also included in the eclectic mix at the fair was Chicago exhibitor Galerie Fledermaus, which director Jerry Suqi explained shows work by Vienna Secession artists like Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Alphonse Mucha, alongside contemporary artists whose work clearly shows the influence of the movement, such as Alessandra Maria and Gail Potocki, the latter of whom is having a show at LACMA next month.

Surprising as it is to come upon historic works in a very contemporary fair, like so much else here, it all fits together.


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