5 Photos
July 3 -- Photographer Dennis Bontempo of Water Mill took this photo at Flying Point Beach last week, a 30-second exposure at around midnight that reveals the majesty of the night sky. This picture of "The Milky Way", sculpture by Nova, was taken on June 16th, 2012 at Nova's Ark project in Bridgehampton. Another sculpture, "The Soldiers" sits centered on the grass in the background. The house on the far right is mayor Giuliani's.
Eight months ago, rumors began swirling around two competing art fairs when one, somehow, poached the location—and summer weekend—of the other.
The powers that be at Art Southampton managed to snag Nova’s Ark Project in Bridgehampton, a venue and prime real estate previously reserved for ArtHamptons, which was held last weekend at a private estate nearby.
As to whether it was a strategic maneuver or a stroke of luck, Art Southampton founder Nick Korniloff said it was a little bit of both. “It was just an opportunity,” he said during a telephone interview last week. “[ArtHamptons’s] lease expired, and the space became available. It just came together.”
Now in its fourth year, Art Southampton’s mission has not strayed too far from its original goal, to provide summer visitors and residents of the East End with a contemporary art fair selling a wide range of work, though the size ands scope has grown this year by 10 galleries, bringing the total to 86 vendors selling upward of $20 million worth of art.
“There’s a high-quality selection of work represented by esteemed galleries,” Mr. Korniloff said. “If you can’t afford the million-dollar works, you can buy an inexpensive drawing from Picasso, depending on the year and which part of his career.”
The Manhattan-based Praxis Gallery team will show and sell pieces at the fair for their third consecutive year, appealing to those with slimmer wallets. With pieces ranging from $3,500 to $30,000, Praxis represents a broad range of styles, but solely Latin American artists—natives from Columbia, Argentina and even Southampton’s own Darlene Charneco.
“We have artists doing super-large-scale collages with Japanese rice paper, and Argentine artists doing white background paintings,” said a Praxis Gallery team member—the gallery does not believe in creating individual identities within the gallery, so everyone, including the owner, is considered part of the Praxis team.
For the past three years, RJD Gallery in Sag Harbor had shown with ArtHamptons, but for the first time, they’re switching teams and setting up shop at the familiar Nova’s Ark Project. Not unlike his previous booths at ArtHamptons, owner Richard Demato will stick to what his gallery does best, he said.
“We are bringing our usual mix of photorealistic, figurative art and American magic realism,” he said.
Art Southampton will run from Thursday, July 9, through Monday, July 13, at Nova’s Ark Project in Bridgehampton. An opening night preview will kick off the art fair, starting at 6 p.m. for platinum ticket-holders and 7:30 p.m. for VIP ticket-holders. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. on Friday, noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Monday. A one-day fair pass is $25, $15 for seniors and students age 12 to 18, and free for children under age 12 with an adult. A multi-day pass is $40. For more information, visit art-southampton.com.
Jack Sullivan on Jul 7, 2015