Shnayerson and Salle Give Talks At Parrish Art Museum

This week, the Parrish Art Museum hosts a pair of speakers who will talk about the nature of contemporary art.

First up is Vanity Fair writer, author and Sag Harbor resident Michael Shnayerson who, in his book “BOOM: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art,” provides a fascinating insider look at the meteoric rise of the largest unregulated financial market in the world—the contemporary art market. On Thursday, August 1, at 5 p.m., Mr. Shnayerson will be at the Parrish Art Museum to discuss his provocative new book with museum director Terrie Sultan.

Through his research of the story, starting in post-World-War-II New York City and leading to the global bonanza it became, Mr. Shnayerson realized the story of contemporary art was a tale best told through the gallerists and its dealers who had championed and promoted significant artists for the last half century.

Some of these art world figures, like Irving Blum and Paula Cooper, remain vital and engaged a half-century after establishing their galleries. Through the decades, more gallerists were available to tell their stories, among them Gavin Brown, Mary Boone, Marian Goodman, Anthony d’Offay, Lisa Spellman, Thaddaeus Ropac, David Kordansky, and others. The book highlights the four “Mega Dealers” who have come to dominate the field: Arne Glimcher, Iwan Wirth, David Zwirner, and Larry Gagosian, who has 17 galleries around the world.

A book signing follows Mr. Shnayerson’s talk, and books will be available at the Parrish Museum Shop.

On Friday, August 2, at 6 p.m., artist David Salle will be at the Parrish to give a gallery talk on “After Michelangelo,” three of his monumental paintings recently gifted to the museum. Mr. Salle will address how they came to be, his process, and more.

The works, created in 2005 and 2006, were commissioned for Museo Carlo Bilotti, Rome, and inspired by the Sistine Chapel. On view for the first time in the United States, they are: "After Michelangelo, The Creation;” “After Michelangelo, The Flood;” and “After Michelangelo, The Last Judgment.” All three are on view now at the Parrish, part of the reinstallation of the museum’s permanent Collection.

In the 1980s, Mr. Salle was among a group of young painters, quickly dubbed the neo-Expressionists, who reinvented the idea of figure painting. Incorporating layered references—from film, literature, and other paintings, to name just a few of his sources—he typically juxtaposes two or three separate panels. The temptation for the viewer is to try and piece together a narrative from these seemingly disjointed images, but the connections remain elusive. Mr. Salle is not concerned with storytelling but with the primacy of painting as vehicle for his creative imagination.

Admission to talks are $12. The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. Visit parrishart.org or call 631-283-2118 for information.