artMRKT Productions, the Brooklyn-based organizer of contemporary and modern art fairs, will be sticking its flag in the Hamptons this summer for their inaugural artMRKT Hamptons, which will be open July 14-17 at the Bridgehampton Historical Society. Around 35 galleries from across the country will be exhibiting including Foley Gallery, Black & White Gallery Project Space in New York, Miami’s AJ Japour Gallery and Patrajdas Contemporary in Chicago. This will be the second big art fair in the Hamptons this summer. ArtHamptons International Art Fair happens the week before, just down the road in Sayre Park.
“We have such a wonderful, accessible place for people to come and see the work,” said Max Fishko, the event’s co-organizer along with his business partner Jeff Wainhause (pictured above). “It’s a vacation sort of community. You have a lot of people in New York, but they’re not on New York City time. They’re on their own time. So they’re looking for things to do, but you want to be concise, to the point, and easy for people to get in and out of.”
ArtHamptons is larger (though it downsized to 60 galleries, from 90 last year), and is now in its fourth year. 10,000 guests are expected to attend. In regards to his competitors Mr. Fishko said, “In any business there’s a certain amount of competition. But by and large, I think these two fairs compliment each other.”
The question is, will people vacationing in the Hamptons want to go to two contemporary art fairs on back-to-back weekends? Yes, one is international while the other includes only American galleries, but wouldn’t it have made more sense to hold the two fairs the same weekend, like NADA did with Art Basel Miami Beach? That said, July 14 is really the better of the two weekends, a little removed from the July 4th holiday and just before everyone goes into hibernation mode in August.
“The diversity of work that we’re bringing I think is really excellent,” Mr. Fishko said. “I think we’ll have a pretty good response.”
