Conversations Program of Talks, Panel Discussions and Roundtables Announced for the Inaugural VERGE Art Fair New York

VERGE ART FAIR
New York 2010
4-7 March
The Dylan Hotel
52 East 41st Street
(Between Madison and Park Avenues)

VERGE emerging art fair is proud to announce Conversations, a program of talks, roundtable and Panel discussions for its inaugural New York fair, March 4-7, coinciding with The Armory Show. VERGE is THE source for emerging art during Armory Arts Week, located a short six block stroll from The Armory sister fair, VOLTA, and one block from the landmark Grand Central Terminal. Representing seven countries, VERGE is the only art fair exclusively devoted to emerging art in Manhattan and throughout the New York art fair scene. Come meet us for our inaugural effort.

Verge Art Conversations
All panels discussions, lectures, talks and roundtable discussions at Verge take place in the lobby of the Dylan Hotel at the day and times listed below. Admission to all Conversation events is free.

Saturday, March 6
1PM ARTISTS MEETING MARKET WATCH
Organized by Lee Wells, IFAC Arts, with G.H. Hovagimyan and others TBA

Artists Meeting members G.H. Hovagimyan and Lee Wells are joined by special guests for an open discussion on the effects of the market on artistic production, marketing and making a living in the 21st century

"All an artist needs is a poet and a patron." - Charles Baudelaire.
"We are not dead yet, so buy now" - Lee Wells

Baudelaire supported his poetry habit by writing art criticism.

There are two external parts to the mechanics of art: The first is the theoretical and/or linguistic analysis (the contextualizing) of an artwork and the second is the financial support for artworks by a patron. This second dynamic is especially interesting because the patron's demand always influences the artwork. It follows that artists must generate their own criticism and capitalize their own work if they are to advance beyond this established mechanic. One resolution to this situation is the need for artists to create their own segment of the market, in which they can control the critical discourse and re-assert the rigorous values of their own practices.

One might begin this project by deconstructing various aspects of the art market and the artist's means of production, then proposing alternative ways to approach art making and the art market. For example, the art market is most comfortable with a brand name artist and a signature style. Working in collaborative artists groups can be a counteractive methodology more in tune with 21st Century networked culture. The analysis of the money transactions surrounding art is also a subject for expanded invention.

A perennial subject among artists is how to get money to sustain their practice. Thus, de-emphasizing the art object and focusing on the entire creative process provides an alternative way to expand the idea of both the market and the contextualizing of an artwork. Under this set of guidelines, the issue becomes not what type of art an artist produces but rather how the production process itself facilitates the evolution of a creative project; how one solves the problems of making art and being an artist.

ABOUT ARTISTS MEETING
Artists Meeting is an international, semi-anonymous arts collective based in New York City. Begun in 2006, as a research project and experiment in collaboration and the creative process, Artists Meeting has participated numerous events including; Conflux, Pulse Miami, Dokfest, the Dumbo Arts Festival and Postmasters Gallery. Artists Meeting members have exhibited their work in many major museums around the world including; MoMA, The Whitney Museum, Jeu du Paume, SF MoMA, Musée D'Art Contemporain de Marseille, The Walker Art Center, Musée D'art, Contemporain de Lyon, PS1, The State Hermitage Museum and MCA Chicago.

3PM THE WORK OFFICE
Organized by Sabina Ott, with Katarina Jerinic and Naomi Miller

The Work Office (TWO) is a multidisciplinary art project disguised as an employment agency. Informed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression in the 1930s, TWO is a gesture to "make work" for visual and performing artists, writers, and others by giving them simple, idea-based assignments to explore, document, or improve life in New York. From a central office, TWO's administrators interview, register, and hire employees; assign, collect, and exhibit work; and distribute Depression-era wages to employees during weekly Payday Parties.

TWO’s administrators manage all aspects of the project, including oversight of the office and website. As the project’s lead artists, they perform the dull bureaucratic work that ensures that their employees make artwork. Prospective employees are invited to submit their application online, be interviewed, and, once hired, choose one of our assignments, which include document a need for repairs, make a regional travel guide for a neighborhood, reinterpret a newspaper photograph, or give a concert for a houseplant.
       
Employees have a week to turn in their assignment, for which they will be paid $23.50, the weekly wage for an artist in the Federal One Project (the arts division of the WPA). They will collect their wages and the public will be invited to view the week’s works and learn about the project at a Payday Party. These are inspired by the socializing that occurred between artists as they waited in line to collect their wages at their local WPA office.

ABOUT THE WORK OFFICE
The Work Office (TWO) is a multidisciplinary art project disguised as an employment agency. Informed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression in the 1930s, TWO is a gesture to "make work" for visual and performing artists, writers, and others by giving them simple, idea-based assignments to explore, document, or improve life in New York. From a central office, TWO's administrators will interview, register, and hemployees; assign, collect, and exhibit work; and distribute Depression-era wages to employees during weekly Payday. The Work Office (TWO) is a collaboration between Katarina Jerinic and Naomi Miller. They began to develop TWO a year ago and had a successful first run in the summer of 2009 with support from chashama, the Black Rock Arts Foundation, Moët Hennessey, Mike’s Tech Shop, and StoryCorps. They hired 50 artists as employees and held three packed Payday Parties and well-attended exhibitions in Manhattan. Media coverage included a Critic’s Pick in New York magazine, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer’s Artbeat blog, and the online version of Dossier, a Brooklyn-based arts journal. TWO was recently awarded a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council and will open in Brooklyn in spring 2010. Please click here for more information on The Work Office.
  

5PM Distinctions or Dichotomy?: Large Scale, Big Box Shows vs. Art Made Out of Intense Personal Necessity
Organized by Camilla Fallon, with Jill Connor, Lisa Beck, John Haber, Peter Reginato and Dennis Kardon

The discussion is about the response to this quote and article:

Roberta Smith: "What's missing is art that seems made by one person out of intense personal necessity often by hand." Roberta Smith, Post Minimal to the Max, NYTimes 2/14/10.

Each person will frame their own question or point of view on this issue. For instance: is it true, as Smith claims that museums are offering shows that encompass a mix of Conceptual, Installation and expensive art that need to be produced at the expense of smaller shows by individuals?

Questions:
If (Camilla Fallon) art needs to be produced and if art made by one person by hand becomes an exception in the museum context, how does that influence the gallery as breeding ground for the museum? If it does then is the individual and the emerging artist in particular, at a disadvantage? How would this scenario affect emerging artists with a distinct voice?

Another is: ( Jill Conner) "why Smith (and possibly other NYT writers) have spent most of the last 8 years covering shows by artists that produce work on such large scale (Martin Puryear, Roni Horn, Urs Fischer, Damien Hirst and Sterling Ruby to name a few) and what are the possible ties that mainstream journalism has to these types of shows given that the volume of emerging artists has increased dramatically over the last decade rather than dwindled?

How do (Lisa Beck) we define "intense personal necessity"? What is the role of the means of creation, size or materials used in placing an artwork in one group or the other? Could a John McCracken plank piece, or a Weiner phrase for example, be considered a work made out of intense personal necessity?

Most (Dennis Kardon) critically acclaimed art has become very procedural or methodological in nature. Meaning no longer is allowed to arise as a relationship between viewer and object, but has become prepackaged as a product of a certain procedure. This conflict seems to be at the heart of all arguments about the dissatisfaction with the role of art in our culture.

Sunday, March 7

2PM Critics and the Next Great Artists
Organized by Benjamin Sutton, L Magazine, with Karen Archey, Kathleen Massara and others TBA.

Contemporary art is always emerging, always on the verge of reaching... something. Emerging artists push art towards new precipices or re-discover past ones, taking themes, media, ideas and issues always a little further. But their breakthroughs are never solitary achievements. Emerging artists depend on the assistance (or, sometimes, thrive on the antipathy) of other artists, audiences, organizations, grants, galleries, curators, collectors and critics. The latter in particular, from their positions as insiders who (ideally) remain removed from the financial forces of the art market, play a role as tastemakers with a different set of biases. Art critics have a desire if not a duty to champion and promote the most interesting and innovative artists of their time, but their opinions alone, for better or worse, aren't enough to launch careers. How do critics fit into the contemporary art community, and what roles do they play in its constantly re-emerging landscape?

ABOUT VERGE
Verge is an international platform for the most exciting and interesting in new and emerging art. Verge exists to establish boundaries of the extraordinary as a counter to the natural compulsion towards stagnation in the way art is evaluated and delivered to the public. Staying true to this necessary state for the advancement of art requires a sustained focus on the best new ideas and practices of those marginal or newly emerging to international art audiences. The satisfaction of this fixed requirement for a healthy and competitive artistic culture is at the core of Verge as an international exposition of the highest quality artistic production and the galleries, museums and audiences who sustain it.

ABOUT THE DYLAN HOTEL
Located in the former home of the New York Chemists Club, built in 1903, the Dylan is a lavish environment in which to showcase the best in new and emerging art. Dylan's interiors, by Jeffrey Beers of Jeffrey Beers International, mark a deliberate departure from both the too stark and overly hip designs currently prevalent in the high-end boutique hotel market. Interior design features include rich jewel-toned fabrics, Carrara marble sinks and American walnut fixtures and furnishings. The 11 foot ceilings in each guest room and suite not only complement the design, but offer a feeling of spaciousness not found in the average New York City hotel. Beers has created a timeless look for the property that redefines opulence for a new age while preserving the landmark-quality architecture of the 1903 Beaux-Arts structure. Room service is provided by the popular Benjamin Steakhouse at the Dylan Hotel for breakfast and dinner.

VERGE ART FAIR NYC
The Dylan Hotel
52 East 41st Street
New York, USA
 
www.vergeartfair.com
 
Tel: +1-312-612-2270

FREE ADMISSION for Facebook fans!
Become a fan of VERGE on Facebook and download a pass for free admission! Be the first to receive updates and special invites, join us on Twitter!

VIP REQUESTS PLEASE NOTE: All further VIP requests will no longer include admission to the VIP Reception. The Verge VIP Reception event is currently at maximum capacity, and name-check admission is required. This event is not open to the public. Additionally, all new VIP requests are for Will Call only. 

RECENT VERGE MEDIA IN BRIEF:

THE ART NEWSPAPER
Verge receives a mention in two new Art Newspaper articles: the first, a roundup of this year's Armory Week fairs and a second, with an analysis of why satellite fairs are "recession proof."

NYCGO
Verge Art Fair was recently profiled on NYCGO.com, New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization.

ARTNET
Verge recently was given a news item on Artnet.com as one of the new fairs premiering during Armory Show.

ARTSLANT
Verge was recently added to ArtSlant New York, an online, city-by-city profiling service of the best in art buzz and events.

PRESS INQUIRIES
+1-312-612-2270
Request a press pass

A Press Packet has also been made available for download with an print-quality, high-res image archive and materials for use by media and can be downloaded here from the VERGE Press center.

INTERVIEW REQUESTS
Edouard Steinhauer, Artistic Director for VERGE, is available for interviews. Please forward all interview requests to:

Anna-Maria Cerniglia
VIP & Media Relations
press@vergeartfair.com
+1-312-612-2270

Press intern: Patricia Gabel
VIP intern: Andrea Sparr-Jaswa
Exhibitor Services intern: Robin Juan

Artists Meeting members. Courtesy Artists Meeting.

VERGE EXHIBITORS
ANTIDOTE, Brooklyn, New York, AS Projects, Paris, France, Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, New York, Cellar Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, Alice Chilton Grace Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Front Room Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Galerie Yellowfishart, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Gitana Rosa Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Khaki Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, Mighty Tanaka, Brooklyn, New York, MS Projects, Brooklyn, New York, Megumi Ogita, Tokyo, Japan, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Shelter Island, New York, Nroom Artspace, Tokyo, Japan, NURTUREart, Brooklyn, New York, Jonathan Schipper/Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, New York, Satori Gallery, New York, New York, Sculpture Space, Utica, New York, Spence Projects, Brooklyn, New York, Tache Gallery, Richmond Hill, New York.

PROFESSIONAL PREVIEW
Thursday, March 4, 2010, Noon to 6:00 pm

PLEASE NOTE: Admission to the Professional Preview is given to press and VIP (Verge, and both Armory Show and Volta cards are accepted) cardholders only. The Opening Night Preview is for those cardholders and for paid public admission.

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW RECEPTION
Thursday, March 4, 2010, 6:00 to 10:00 pm

PUBLIC HOURS:
Friday & Saturday, 5 - 6 March, Noon to 8 pm
Sunday, 7 March, Noon to 6 pm

TICKETS AT THE DOOR
Opening night preview: $20
General admission: $10, $5 for students and seniors

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW RECEPTION PROGRAMS
Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6:00 to 10:00 pm

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

G.H. Hovagimyan is an experimental artist working in a variety of forms. He was one of the first artists in New York to start working with the Internet in the early nineties. His work ranges from new media and hypertext works to digital performance art, video art, photography and multi-media installations. His works have been exhibited at , MoMA, Mass MoCA, The Whitney Museum, The Walker Art Center, Jeu De Paume, MAC Marseille, MAC Lyon, Pompidou Center, ICA The Clocktower, The Kitchen, The Alternative Museum,  Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, List Visual Arts Center, La Gaite Du Lyrique, Stuttgart Kunstverein, Steim Institute, the Moscow Center for Contemporary Art, Postmasters Gallery, Pace Digital Gallery and Sara Tecchia Gallery.
http://www.nujus.net/~nujus/gh_04/

Lee Wells is an artist, exhibition organizer and consultant currently living and working New York. His artwork primarily questions systems of power and control and has been exhibited internationally for over 15 years, including the 51 st La Biennale Di Venezia, National Center for Contemporary Art Moscow, Kimpo International Airport, WRO07 XII International Media Biennial, PS1/MoMA, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, and the Museo d'arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (MART). He is a co-founder and director of IFAC-arts, www.ifac-arts.org, an alternative exhibition and installation program for artists and curators, since 1996. He is also co-founder of [PAM] the Perpetual Art Machine, since 2006. Wells is currently represented by Janet Oh Galery in Seoul Korea.
http://www.leewells.org

Though they engage in divergent art practices as individual artists, Jerinic and Miller share interests in community structures and interactions, detailed investigations of daily, immediate environments, and art as a Social Practice.

Katarina Jerinic is currently an artist-in-residence at the Center for Book Arts, New York, NY and was a participant in the Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace program and a resident at the MacDowell Colony and the Experimental Television Center. She has an MFA from School of Visual Arts and a BA from American University. Her work has been in exhibitions at NurtureArt, Rotunda Gallery, the Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery, and the DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival in Brooklyn, NY; the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY; the Fox Art Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ; and the Center for Book Arts, New York, NY and others. Other recent collaborations include the SP Weather Station, Queens, NY.

Naomi Miller is a photography-based artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Her work is concerned with both interior monologues and communal conversations. She holds a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BA from Clark University. Group exhibitions include Steven Wolf Fine Arts and Royal Nonesuch Gallery in San Francisco, CA; Printed Matter, New York, NY; WORKS/San Jose, San Jose, CA; and Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT. She is a regular contributor of text and images to Satellite (project of artist Jon Rubin).

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Camilla Fallon graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is an M.F.A. graduate of the Yale University School of Art. She lives and works in New York City, and taught at the Parsons School of Design for several years. Camilla has exhibited at the Denise Bibro Gallery and the Kim Foster Gallery in Chelsea, The Synagogue For the Arts, the Barbara Ann Levy
Gallery on Fire Island, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and other venues in New York City. She has received many artist fellowships notably from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. Camilla is a contributing writer to a blog: West Palm Beach, New York City and Anything Else, North Atlantic Corridor Arts-http://wpbnyc.wordpress.com.

Jill Conner is the New York Editor of Whitehot Magazine and is a contributor to ArtUS, Art Papers, Afterimage, Performance Art Journal and Sculpture magazine. Ms. Conner is also an independent curator and serves on the Board of Black & White Project Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Lisa Beck lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in film. Her artworks are created in a variety of mediums including painting, scupture and installation, often in combination. Her work has been exhibited in the United States and internationally since 1989 in galleries and other venues including Paula Cooper Gallery; de Pury & Luxemburg, Zurich; Le Magasin, Grenoble; PS1, Long Island City; CCNOA, Brussels; White Columns, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco and was included in the book "Painting Abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting by Bob Nickas, published in 2009 by Phaidon Press. My work is represented by Feature Inc.

John Haber is a writer and editor in New York City. He has lectured at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and is a regular contributor to 'Artillery' magazine. His Web site, begun in 1994, contains reviews of over 1,000 artists."

Peter Reginato has exhibited at the Heidi Cho Gallery, Huson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, The University of Texas at Austin, "LANDMARKS" long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Neuberger Museum of Art, "Welded!" Sculpture of the Twentieth Century, New York. Grant Recipient: Pollock-Krasner Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Sculpture Grant, Washington, DC, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship.

Dennis Kardon is a painter and occasional writer and teaches painting at the School of Visual Arts. His most recent one-person exhibition was at the Mitchell Algus Gallery in 2008. He has exhibited internationally and has received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, and NYFA, and has had a fellowship at Yaddo. He lives and works in New York.

Karen Archey is a freelance curator and art critic who has helped organize exhibitions in New York and Sacramento, and published interviews, reviews and features on established and emerging contemporary artists, most recently with a particular focus on performance art, for Art Fag City, Art in America and MAP Magazine.

Kathleen Massara is a freelance writer whose exhibition reviews and interviews with contemporary artists have appeared in The L Magazine as well as The Brooklyn Rail. She is currently an intern at Harper's and is enrolled in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism Masters program at NYU.

Benjamin Sutton (moderator) is a contributing editor at The L Magazine who writes about contemporary art as well as theater, film and music. His writing on visual art has also appeared in the New York Press and ARTisSpectrum Magazine. He's currently enrolled in the Media Studies Masters program at The New School.