Feb. 28, 2006 

SIX ART FAIRS IN NEW YORK IN MARCH
This March, the art fairs are roaring into New York City like a pack of lions. In addition to the Armory Show, Mar. 9-13, 2006, now in its eighth edition, the overheated art market has spawned no less than four other fairs -- Pulse New York, Scope New York, the Digital & Video Art Fair, the New York Design Fair and LA Art -- all of which aim to provide various courses in the feeding frenzy. A preview:

The Armory Show
The big kahuna of March art madness in New York is the Armory Show, running during one long weekend at Piers 90 & 92 on the Hudson River in midtown Manhattan. Of the 154 participating galleries from 38 cities, 54 are from New York, ranging from Deitch Projects and Matthew Marks Gallery to Guild & Greyshkul and Rivington Arms. The show is overseen by director Katelijne De Backer.

This year, the fair inaugurates a new section devoted to prints and multiples, and has enlisted designers Mark McDonald, Dune and Fighetto to do the public lounges. Artists Michael Joo, Richard Jackson, Os Gemeos, Wolfgang Staehle and Gary Simmons have been invited to install works in the fair’s lobbies and other public spaces. 

Also on the agenda is a panel on collecting moderated by Artnews publisher Milton Esterow, and a three-day festival of Spanish and Latin American video, film and poetry sponsored by ARCO, the Cervantes Institute and Merrill Lynch.

The show continues to become more selective -- the total number of galleries is down from 162 in 2005 and 189 in 2004. The operation is run by dealers Matthew Marks and Paul Morris, with a selection committee of dealers that includes Massimo De Carlo (Milan), Anton Kern (New York), Emmanuel Perrotin (Paris, Miami), Eva Presenhüber (Zürich), Stuart Shave (London) and Lisa Spellman (New York).

The opening night fundraiser benefits the exhibition fund of the Museum of Modern Art; tickets can be bought online and range from $250 to $1,000. General admission is $20 ($10 for students).

Pulse New York
After its launch in Miami last December, the new Pulse art fair sets up its second installment at the 69th Regiment Armory at 26th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. Pulse New York, Mar. 10-13, 2006, features approximately 60 galleries from 12 countries, including Rena Branstein (San Francisco), Volker Diehl (Berlin), FRED (London), Mizuma (Tokyo), Mark Moore (Santa Monica), P.P.O.W. (New York) and Torch (Amsterdam). Pulse is directed by Helen Allen and is a venture of Will Ramsay’s Affordable Art Fair empire.

Among the many highlights are Michael Arcega’s paper and glue pastiches of medieval props at Heather Marx Gallery (San Francisco); Stephen Brandes’ intricate landscape drawings tracing his grandmother’s flight through Europe to escape pogroms in Romania at the Rubicon Gallery (Dublin); and Simon Faithfull’s sketches done with his palm pilot at Parker’s Box (Brooklyn).

Pulse has also initiated a special "Impulse" section, featuring 13 dealers selected from an open application process, including Jeff Bailey (New York), Magda Danysz (Paris), Virgil de Voldère (New York), Nicola Fornello (Prato), Gregory Lind (San Francisco), lyonswier (New York), Walter Maciel (Los Angeles), Mackey (Houston), Magnan Projects (New York), magnus müller (Berlin) and Plus Ultra (New York).

Free shuttle buses run between Pulse and the Armory Show. General admission is $12.

Scope New York
The four-year-old hotel fair moves out of the hotel for the 2006 edition of Scope New York, Mar. 10-13, 2006, setting up in a 30,000-square-foot warehouse space at 636 Eleventh Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets, just blocks away from the Armory Show. The roster of 75 participating galleries includes a significant New York contingent: 10G, 31 Grand, Annina Nosei, Black and White, Daniel Cooney, Ethan Cohen, Dam, Stuhltrager, Dean Project, Thomas Erben, Jack the Pelican Presents, Kustera Tilton, Magnan Emrich, Metaphor, Moti Hasson, James Nicholson, Curcioprojects, Rare, Jack Shainman, Stefan Stux, the Proposition and Michael Steinberg.

Scope has several initiatives accompanying the fair, including performances on "a grassy hilltop stage," a program of radio art by free 103point9, and something called "Winner Takes All," billed (a bit incoherently) as a "bare-knuckle showdown" between teams of curators overseen by David Hunt and Franklin Sirmans.

Scope is also sponsoring, in alliance with the New Museum of Contemporary Art, a daily screening of films by Francis Alÿs, David Claerbout, Douglas Gordon, Gary Hill, Pierre Huyghe, Joan Jonas, Isaac Julien, William Kentridge, Paul McCarthy, Pipilotti Rist and Anri Sala. The works, which are also on sale as a DVD box set (for $1,000), were part of the 2004 "Point of View" exhibition at the New Museum.

General admission is $10.

DiVA Fair
The second New York edition of the Digital & Video Art Fair (aka DiVA), Mar. 9-12, 2006, occupies three floors of the Embassy Suites Hotel at 102 North End Avenue in Battery Park City in Manhattan. More than 30 galleries that specialize in film and video have signed up for DiVA, including New York dealers Elga Wimmer, Gallery Boreas, Intersections: New York, LMAK, Maya Stendahl, Michael Steinberg Fine Art, Pablo’s Birthday and Rewind/Florence Lynch Gallery.

The fair is distinctly international, however, with five galleries from Spain (Antonio De Barnola, Maria Llanos, Moisés Perez De Albeniz, Sicart and Magda Bellotti), four from Germany (Caprice Horn, DNA -- Die Neue Aktionsgalerie, PLAY_Gallery for Still And Motion Pictures and TZR Galerie Für Bildende Kunst), two from France (Les Filles Du Calvaire, Mamia Bretesché) and two from Taipei (Chi-Wen, Gallery, Galerie Grand Siecle). Other exhibitors make the trip from Canada (Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain), Russia (ARKA), China (Shanghart), the Netherlands (RONMANDOS), Italy (Paolo Bonzano Artecontemporanea) and even Chicago (Walsh Gallery).

The DiVA opening night party, on Mar. 9, 2006, is sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Tickets to the vernissage are $40 (admitting two); general admission is $10.

New York Design Fair
The second annual New York Design Fair, Mar. 9-13, 2006, brings more than 75 dealers in period, mid-century and contemporary furnishings to the Seventh Regiment Armory at 643 Park Avenue in Manhattan. In an interesting twist, the show features an exhibition, "100% Design," selected by interior designer Lou Marotta from the stock of the participating dealers. The show is organized by veteran fair producer Meg Wendy.

Attractions include fine 17th- to 20th-century continental furniture at Guy Regal Ltd., vintage Georg Jensen silver pieces from the Silver Fund, a selection of 17th- to 19th-century botanical and natural history engravings from Dinan & Chighine, and Picassos, Monets and Chagalls at Cerutti Miller.

The gala preview benefits Project A.L.S., a group dedicated to researching cures for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; tickets begin at $250. General admission to the show is $20.

LA Art
New York natives finally get a chance to see all those Los Angeles art dealers they’ve heard so much about when 16 L.A. galleries roll into town for LA Art, Mar. 10-12, 2006, at the Altman Building at 135 West 18th Street. Participating galleries include Acme, Angles Gallery, Carl Berg Gallery, Cherry and Martin, Christopher Grimes Gallery, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Kontainer, Lightbox, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Q.E.D., Richard Heller Gallery, Roberts & Tilton, Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Sandroni Rey and Shoshana Wayne Gallery. The fair is operating a free shuttle service between the Altman Building and the Armory Show. General admission is $10.

contact wrobinson @ artnet.com