Art Palm Beach returns with more galleries, new exhibitions
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Now in its second year under new leadership, Art Palm Beach begins this week with a full slate of international and domestic galleries, exhibitions and special guests.
The event, which runs Wednesday to Sunday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, kicks off with an opening night, red-carpet gala that features supermodel Lais Ribeiro.
The fair led by Scott Diament and Rob Samuels of the Palm Beach Show Group — the owners of the LA Art Show, who took the reins of Art Palm Beach last year — has received a great reception from enthusiastic galleries and patrons of the arts, said Kassandra Voyagis, the show's producer and director.
"The goal is to have five beautiful days where people can come and really enjoy artwork, with mixed media, contemporary, modern ... and all the big masters, but also contemporary work that maybe is not as known," she said. "So collectors can buy and then maybe we can create new collectors, or just come and enjoy the educational component."
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'Great things' draw international galleries
Buzz about Art Palm Beach under its new ownership preceded Voyagis in her recent international travels, she said.
Palm Beach Show Group also produces the annual Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show each February at the convention center.
"Palm Beach and the community here were so supportive," she said of the last year's fair. "The collectors came. The galleries did well. And it showed. My travels around the world this past year, I heard great things."
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The result: more global galleries vying for space at this year's Art Palm Beach, with about 30% to 40% of the more than 80 galleries at the 2024 fair coming from outside the U.S., she said. That includes galleries from Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Colombia, Italy, The Netherlands and South Korea.
"I wanted to bring galleries to the community that have not been here before," Voyagis said. "We're not all so lucky to be able to go to all ends of the world to see different shows or different exhibits. I think that's what makes it interesting, the diversity of it."
The lineup features a range of Palm Beach County-based galleries, including some with a footing on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach: Gallery Biba, Boccara, C + C Photography Gallery, Cavalier Gallery, Contessa Gallery, John Schuyler Gallery, Provident Fine Art, Sponder Gallery, Steidel Contemporary, Vertu Fine Art and Yvel.
Attendees can expect to see works from well-established and emerging artists, Voyagis said.
Provident is bringing a work by abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock, and Hollis Taggart gallery of New York will have a collection of works from pop artist Andy Warhol. Modern Fine Art, also of New York, will feature a work by the painter Marc Chagall.
American Heart Association partnership
This year's fair also has a new nonprofit partner: The American Heart Association, which will receive 15% of the fair's ticket proceeds. The association's chief executive, Nancy Brown, will speak at the opening night gala.
As the American Heart Association celebrates its centennial this year, Voyagis said it was an important year for the organization and an especially meaningful partnership as a result.
"We have the opportunity to give back," Voyagis said. "Some of the galleries are also partnering and donating. ... And it's a national partnership across the board, for our Palm Beach and L.A. shows."
Artificial intelligence in art
Among the special programming at this year's Art Palm Beach: a look at artificial intelligence and its potential effects on and benefits to the art world.
The programming is part of the fair's DIVERSEartPB, which explores the intersection of memory, humanity and AI, Voyagis said. The programming, curated by Marisa Caichiolo, includes installations and interactive experiences.
"It's about how AI can be used with artwork, to provoke conversations," Voyagis said. "It's not about using AI to replace artwork. It's about how you can use AI through projection to do something immersive with an art piece, or use AI to strengthen or show another side of an art piece."
The three installations should leave visitors having conversations about how AI can be used to benefit the art world, she added.
"Museum AI," presented by La Neomudejar Museum from Spain, will use AI to recreate lost pieces of art.
In "Mythstories" from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Colombia, artist Carlos Castro Arias uses AI and tapestries to tell classical myths with modern meaning.
In "Be Water" from Aal Museum in Chile, contemporary artist Antuan explores memory and AI using the form of a larger-than-life drop of water.
A royal presence
Among the featured exhibitions this year will be artwork, presented by the Ethan Cohen Gallery of New York, from Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark.
The prince's exhibition, "Dialogos," portrays Greece's natural beauty through photography and marble, Voyagis said.
"It's absolutely gorgeous," she said, noting that the prince also will have a talk Saturday during the fair.
"What he does is a fusion, where he takes a photograph and ... it basically gets stamped on the marble," she said. The effect is striking, with interplays of black and white against the marble's cool surface, she said.
Another featured exhibition presented by Modern Fine Art of New York will include works from the artists Gregory Scott and Kim Keever, examining their studio practices.
Scott's work incorporates photography, painting and video, along with actors, sets and props. Keever, a former NASA employee, is known for using dye and pigment to create abstract landscapes.
The Spanish painter Nikoleta Sekulovic will present her new exhibition with the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery of London.
The fourth featured exhibition comes from fiber artist Sarita Westrup, who draws on her childhood along the Texas-Mexico border for her collection with the Erin Cluley Gallery of Dallas.
Acquisition award comes to Palm Beach
Another new feature of this year's Art Palm Beach is the Museum Acquisition Award, which will be presented Sunday to one artist whose piece is chosen to be part of the permanent collection of La Neomudéjar Museum in Madrid.
The museum's committee will walk the fair's floor and determine which contemporary piece will receive the award, Voyagis said.
It's common for fairs to bring in museums to do acquisition awards, she said, noting this is their Palm Beach show's first time featuring the award.
"It just brings it to another level, yet again," Voyagis said of the award's meaning to Art Palm Beach. "It allows for another opportunity for a museum to commit to something like that. It's big. It means that they're interested in the fair, and it's something that I want to be able to do continue yearly with a different museum every year."
New show coming this summer
Following its success in Palm Beach and Los Angeles, the Palm Beach Show Group this summer will launch its first Hamptons Art Show, July 10-14 on the grounds of the Bridgehampton Museum in New York.
The Hamptons fair will feature more than 50 galleries and institutions, the group said in a news release.
The move to open a third fair in the Hamptons made sense, with an incredible market "especially during the summer," Voyagis said. She began conversations with potential stakeholders last summer, and found great interest.
"My phone has not stopped," she said. "I think it's needed, and it'll be another great element. And it will be different, because it needs to be curated for that area."
If you go
What: Art Palm Beach
When: 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Cost: $150 per ticket for opening night party; $35 for daily general admission
Information: artpalmbeach.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Art Palm Beach 2024 in West Palm Beach: Works from Chagall, Pollock
