Two Major Art Fairs Prepare For Face-Off On Thursday Night - 27 East

Arts & Living

Arts & Living / 1352316

Two Major Art Fairs Prepare For Face-Off On Thursday Night

icon 38 Photos

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Michael Moore will participate in "A Conversation With ..." on Sunday at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.

Michael Moore will participate in "A Conversation With ..." on Sunday at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Brooklyn lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances in DreamWorks Pictures/Fox 2000 Pictures' dramatic thriller BRIDGE OF SPIES, directed by Steven Spielberg.

Leray Coulter, Arjun Achutan, Isabelle & Ejiah Topliff at last year's Chef's Dinner.  Jenny Gorman

Leray Coulter, Arjun Achutan, Isabelle & Ejiah Topliff at last year's Chef's Dinner. Jenny Gorman

Stan Goldberg COURTESY STEPHEN GOLDBERG

Stan Goldberg COURTESY STEPHEN GOLDBERG

Stan Goldberg COURTESY STEPHEN GOLDBERG

Stan Goldberg COURTESY STEPHEN GOLDBERG

Bob Dylan's ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition will be featured at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton untill July 18. MAGGY KILROY

Bob Dylan's ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition will be featured at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton untill July 18. MAGGY KILROY

ArtHamptons hosts launch celebration with the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition on July 3rd at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton. MAGGY KILROY

ArtHamptons hosts launch celebration with the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition on July 3rd at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton. MAGGY KILROY

ArtHamptons hosts launch celebration with the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition on July 3rd at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton. MAGGY KILROY

ArtHamptons hosts launch celebration with the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition on July 3rd at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton. MAGGY KILROY

East Quogue School Board president Kathryn Tureski during Wednesday night meeting and budget adoption. KYLE CAMPBELL

East Quogue School Board president Kathryn Tureski during Wednesday night meeting and budget adoption. KYLE CAMPBELL

Allison Wade with her puppy, Coconut and Jeff Bandman attend the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ opening. MAGGY KILROY

Allison Wade with her puppy, Coconut and Jeff Bandman attend the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ opening. MAGGY KILROY

Julie Zoppo, Kathryn Jones and Heather Mcardle at Mark Borghi Fine Art at 'The Drawn Blank Series' opening by Bob Dylan. MAGGY KILROY

Julie Zoppo, Kathryn Jones and Heather Mcardle at Mark Borghi Fine Art at 'The Drawn Blank Series' opening by Bob Dylan. MAGGY KILROY

‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibit at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton casts light on the creative world of Bob Dylan from 1989-1992. MAGGY KILROY

‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibit at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton casts light on the creative world of Bob Dylan from 1989-1992. MAGGY KILROY

Lawrence Depalma and Betsy Reynard at the ArtHamptons launch celebration. MAGGY KILROY

Lawrence Depalma and Betsy Reynard at the ArtHamptons launch celebration. MAGGY KILROY

‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition is a collection of large scale, colored sketches by Bob Dylan from 1989 to 1992. MAGGY KILROY

‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition is a collection of large scale, colored sketches by Bob Dylan from 1989 to 1992. MAGGY KILROY

Jonathan Morse studies the details of Bob Dylan's "Statue Of Liberty." MAGGY KILROY

Jonathan Morse studies the details of Bob Dylan's "Statue Of Liberty." MAGGY KILROY

David Slater and Satn Birnbaum at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton on July 3rd. MAGGY KILROY

David Slater and Satn Birnbaum at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton on July 3rd. MAGGY KILROY

ArtHamptons hosts launch celebration with the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition on July 3rd at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton. MAGGY KILROY

ArtHamptons hosts launch celebration with the Bob Dylan ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition on July 3rd at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton. MAGGY KILROY

Mark Borghi was approched to present Bob Dylan's ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition at his gallery in  Bridgehampton as part of their annual July 4th weekend kickoff event. MAGGY KILROY

Mark Borghi was approched to present Bob Dylan's ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition at his gallery in Bridgehampton as part of their annual July 4th weekend kickoff event. MAGGY KILROY

Bob Dylan's ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton is his first gallery opening in the U.S. MAGGY KILROY

Bob Dylan's ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ exhibition at Mark Borghi Fine Art in Bridgehampton is his first gallery opening in the U.S. MAGGY KILROY

Kevin Berlin and guest at the ArtHamptons launch celebration. MAGGY KILROY

Kevin Berlin and guest at the ArtHamptons launch celebration. MAGGY KILROY

authorMaggy Kilroy on Jul 6, 2014

If there are two things Kevin Berlin knows, it’s his art and his women.

When he’s not holed up in either of his studios—his time is split between Southampton and Florence, Italy—clutching a handful of paintbrushes, he can be seen gallivanting across the East End in the summer months, often flanked by a half dozen nearly nude, hand-painted women. Last year, they were green aliens. The year before that, tigers.

This past February, Mr. Berlin found himself opposite the fairest lady of them all. And she was fully clothed—dressed, in fact, as Snow White.

It was not another one of his performance art pieces. He was tying the knot.

Standing beside his good friend, Brussels-based art dealer Gregoire Vogelsang, at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair in California, Mr. Berlin watched as his bride, Valeriya Plotnikova—the reigning Ms. Bikini Ireland—walked down the aisle in full costume, complete with a veil and small bouquet of flowers.

The couple exchanged vows in front of their witnesses—including a man dressed as one of the Seven Dwarfs—and turned to Mr. Vogelsang. “By the power of no one,” he officiated. “I declare you married.”

And with that, Mr. Berlin was officially tied down, though his marital status will not affect his upcoming performance art piece—and his wife would have it no other way, he said recently. It may include a horde of eye-catching women, he explained, or it may not. He simply assured that it will be unforgettable.

Those who are curious will have two opportunities to see what Mr. Berlin has in store: on Thursday night during both ArtHamptons and Art Market Hamptons. The two Bridgehampton-based pop-up art fairs are simultaneously opening their temporary tents to the public on July 10, at Nova’s Ark and the grounds of the Bridgehampton Historical Society, respectively.

Though the art fairs typically draw two distinctively different crowds, Mr. Berlin does not choose favorites.

“It’s kind of comparing apples and apples,” Mr. Berlin said of the two fairs during a phone interview last week. “The big difference is the philosophy.”

Over the last six years, ArtHamptons has blossomed into a highly anticipated attraction on the East End by boasting artwork from the greats—including the likes of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol, according to fair founder Rick Friedman.

But this year, the majority of the price tags attached to the seventh annual fair’s 2,000 pieces of art—hailing from 87 international galleries showing in a 50,000-square-foot, air-conditioned tent through Sunday, July 13—will have significantly fewer zeros. This year, the average price point will range from $1,000 to $100,000—instead of, at times, upward of $1 million—falling more in line with the competing art fair just around the corner, Art Market Hamptons, now in its fourth year and opening the same night as Mr. Friedman’s enterprise.

“We do a very different thing,” Max Fishko, co-founder of Art Market Hamptons, said last week during a telephone interview. “So that’s not really going to be a problem.”

The younger fair of the two, Art Market Hamptons is actually an expansion of Mr. Fishko’s similar events in San Francisco and Miami. On the East End, the intimate affair offers 40 coveted spots to contemporary art galleries from across the nation. This year, they will bring nearly 4,000 works ranging in value from $500 to $15,000 apiece, he said.

Because both fairs are open through Sunday, the key is to plan wisely, Mr. Berlin warned, and get in early. “The good news is, you’re able to see both,” he said of the two fairs. “You’d better be clever opening night.”

During the ArtHamptons opening preview party on Thursday, patrons will be greeted by Moby, playing electronic music, before making their way through the grid-like arrangement of booths exhibiting work ranging from the pastoral landscapes of honoree Jane Freilicher to the platinum photography prints by self-taught artist Michael Massaia—one of the few photographers included in the fair.

Working out of his studio in Oradell, New Jersey, for the past five years, he built and developed his own process of creating large-scale prints with platinum powder completely by hand—a lost art in the photography world, according to Mr. Massaia.

“I saw a real laziness in a lot of modern photographers and the way they went about their work,” he said last week during a telephone interview. “It’s important to me that I do all the process myself—I see the project start to finish. I want to keep pushing what can be done completely alone.”

Art Market Hamptons will not only exhibit a range of art from some of the most cutting-edge luminaries nationwide, but also feature a bevy of food trucks, including Roberta’s Pizza, Red Hook Lobster Pound and Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream—a taste of the fair’s Brooklyn roots.

Whether Mr. Fishko and Mr. Friedman want to admit it, Thursday night will be a cultural face-off, which Mr. Vogelsang said is good for everyone. Next year, if the Belgium-based dealer is permitted, he is considering opening up a booth at Art Market Hamptons to run in tangent with ArtHamptons—where he has exhibited for the last three years with his Vogelsang Gallery.

In his opinion, there is a diverse-enough audience between the two fairs to make his plan plausible. Plus, he noted, it would be much more efficient and cost effective for international galleries, such as his, to show during multiple fairs while in town. Rounding out the season will be Art Southampton, coming to the Elks Lodge for its third year starting Thursday, July 24.

“If it was the same crowds, then I would not consider doing two fairs,” Mr. Vogelsang said. “The more excitement about art, the better. It’s a big month for art in the Hamptons.”

ArtHamptons open on Thursday, July 10, with a Black Card First Hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by a VIP preview party from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Nova’s Ark in Bridgehampton. The show continues on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, July 13, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free valet parking. Tickets are $250 for the Black Card preview, $125 for VIP preview party, $40 for a three-day general admission pass and $25 for a one-day pass. For more information, call (631) 283-5505 or visit arthamptons.com.

Art Market Hamptons will kick off with an Opening Night Preview on Thursday, July 10, from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by an Opening Night Party from 7 to 10 p.m. on the grounds of the Bridgehampton Historical Society. The show continues with general admission on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, July 13, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $75 for the VIP pass, $35 for a three-day general admission pass and $25 for a one-day pass. For more information, visit art-mrkt.com/hamptons.

You May Also Like:

'Through Her Lens: A Place in Time' at Bridgehampton Museum

Pingree W. Louchheim was the staff photographer, photo editor and darkroom superintendent for The Southampton Press from 1972–1997. During this time, she photographed every aspect of community life, from the mundane and ordinary to pivotal events in Southampton’s history. Now, the photographic work of Louchheim is going on view in “Through Her Lens: A Place in Time,” an exhibition running at the Bridgehampton Museum’s Nathaniel Rogers House from Saturday, July 12, through Saturday, August 16. The show opens with a reception on Friday, July 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. Louchheim’s regular beat included small-town life: Southampton Town Hall, school ... 21 Jun 2025 by Staff Writer

The Art of Collecting With Christine Mack at SAC

The Christine Mack Art Collection will take center stage in “Beyond the Present: Collecting for the Future at SAC,” an exhibition that will be on view at Southampton Arts Center from July 26, through September 27. A collector of emerging artists, Mack has built her dynamic collection by seeking out, meeting with, collecting and supporting young voices of our times. Her mission is to collect and holistically nurture these talents through the Mack Art Foundation Artist Residency. Following in the footsteps of her mother-in-law, Phyllis Mack, Christine Mack has forged her path in collecting young American and international talent. This ... by Staff Writer

Round and About for June 19, 2025

Music & Nightlife Mysteries, Deceptions and Illusions Allan Zola Kronzek, a sleight-of-hand artist, will perform ... 18 Jun 2025 by Staff Writer

Interview: Ophira Eisenberg, Host of 'Ask Me Another' and 'Parenting Is a Joke,' Will Perform Saturday at Bay Street Theater

Stand-up comedian Ophira Eisenberg, the host of NPR’s trivia and puzzle show “Ask Me Another” ... 16 Jun 2025 by Brendan J. O’Reilly

To Be a Stranger: Whitney White Explores Identity, Migration in New Musical

Born and raised in Chicago, Whitney White took her very first trip abroad to Paris ... by Michelle Trauring

Jazz Loft at Southampton Show To Pay Tribute to Long Island Jazz Legends at Juneteenth Concert

The “Jazz Loft @ Southampton Concert Series” continues with the “Long Island Jazz Legends & ... by Dan Stark

Author Talk at LongHouse Reserve on Gala Dali

On Sunday, June 29, at 4:30 p.m., author Michèle Gerber Klein presents an author talk and book signing at LongHouse Reserve about her book “Surreal: The Extraordinary Life of Gala Dalí.” Gerber Klein’s second book, “Surreal,” the long-awaited, definitive biography of Gala Dalí unmasks this famous, yet little-known, queen of the 20th-century art world, who graced the canvases, inspired the poetry, and influenced the careers of her illustrious lovers and husbands with courage, agency and tenderness. Using previously undiscovered material, “Surreal” tells the riveting story of Gala Dalí, (1894-1982) who broke away from her cultured, but penurious, background in prerevolutionary ... by Staff Writer

'Upside Down Zebra 'at the Watermill Center

This summer, The Watermill Center will present “Upside Down Zebra,” an exhibition exploring the artistic ... by Staff Writer

'An Evening With Betty Buckley & Christian Jacob' Kicks Off Music Mondays at Bay Street Theater

Bay Street Theater opens its 2025 Music Mondays series with legendary Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress Betty Buckley, who will be joined by celebrated jazz pianist Christian Jacob, for a concert on Monday, June 30, at 8 p.m. Buckley’s Bay Street show will be her only appearance on the East End this summer. Hailed as the “Voice of Broadway,” Buckley is a master storyteller whose performances blur the line between song and scene. Joined by the extraordinary Christian Jacob — nine-time Grammy nominee and a pianist of rare emotional clarity — this intimate concert promises a night of depth, ... by Staff Writer

Rock Down to Electric Avenue Courtesy of The Suffolk

The Suffolk welcomes back “Electric Avenue: The ’80s MTV Experience” on Friday, June 27, at ... by Staff Writer