PULSE Contemporary Art Fair Debut at Pier 40
Proves a Public, Critical and Commercial Success
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair wrapped up its Pier 40 debut with solid sales, its highest New York attendance to date, and an acclaimed menu of public programs and installations. Over the four-day fair 12,000 visitors, including major collectors, art professionals and critics (up from 9,500 in 2007), browsed the diverse set of premier international galleries to discover and experience a vast selection of contemporary art.
Under the guidance of fair Director Helen Allen, PULSE broke new ground by bringing its 2008 edition to the West Village. According to Allen, “PULSE continually strives to provide a fantastic experience at a thriving contemporary art marketplace. This year in New York we came closer than ever to realizing our vision for an ideal presentation, with new media and performing arts alongside large installations and renowned international galleries. The reward has been enthusiastic exhibitors with consistent sales through the
entire weekend.”
Feedback from the 96 exhibitors, which represented more than 20 countries, was incredibly positive, including Vienna gallerist Lukas Feichtner who said, “Visitors gave us an extraordinary response; 100 percent of those to whom I spoke said it was their favorite of the New York fairs. PULSE has demonstrated that it can provide an interesting and enjoyable event that attracts major collections such as Bank of America and J.P Morgan Chase, along with those of private individuals.”
Large-scale photographs, digital prints and new media works were in extremely high demand throughout the course of the Fair. New York’s P.P.O.W. sold a 50,000 USD woven photograph by Dinh Q. Lê, and Richard Levy Gallery of Albuquerque sold a large photograph by Korean In Sook Kim for 60,000 USD. Frankfurt gallerist Anita Beckers reported a complete sellout, including the sale of a work by Sigalit Landau that went to a Southern California-based museum trustee, along with the sale of a large Vee Spears photograph to Tokyo’s CB Art Collection. She later referred to the Fair as her “best ever”. DNA of Berlin, sold two Mariana Vassileva videos, including her Journal (2000-06) to a Guggenheim board member, while hilger contemporary of Vienna experienced brisk sales of John Gerrard’s Grow Finish Unit (Eva, Oklahoma), selling four of the edition at 60,000 USD each, and having another reserved by a major US museum.
Sculptural works were also in high demand, with Baró Cruz of São Paolo moving two small 1960’s aluminum sculptures by Lygia Clark for a combined 150,000 USD, and San Antonio-based Finesilver Gallery’s sale of Leonardo Drew’s large glass-vitrine and cast-paper installation Number 90 to an undisclosed
Spanish foundation.
This edition of PULSE New York also presented PULSE Pause and PULSE PERFORMANCE, two new elements of the fair. At the PULSE Pause Reading Room, a collaboration between the Fair and Parsons The New School for Design curated by Jeffrey Walkowiak, an installation by graduate student Brandon Nastanski gained the young artist national press attention. Meanwhile, with PULSE PERFORMANCE, visitors were given solid glimpses of contemporary performing arts courtesy of Brooklyn dance troupe Chez Bushwick and artist Mary Coble.
Crowds gathered to view Mary Coble perform her Blood Script, a 16 hour long performance spread over the course of two sessions, during which hateful insults were tattooed onto the artist’s skin without ink by artist Duke Riley, who is represented by New York’s Magnan Projects. Contact prints were made from her blood from each tattoo and displayed within her performance space. The performance prompted Maura Reilly, Curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum to comment, “I’m very interested in the way that Mary pushes the viewer’s experiences and sensibilities while drawing upon the lineage of neo-dada and feminist icons like Catherine Opie. Performances such as these are usually associated with male figures like Chris Burden or Vito Acconci, and it is wonderful to see a young artist push herself in this way. The intervention of a work like this in an art fair is amazing to behold. Kudos to Conner Contemporary and PULSE for bringing such a non-commercial work to a market setting.”
Another first for PULSE was The Lounge of Ethereal Fun, a children’s VIP lounge designed by artist Jenny Marketou. Children visiting the Lounge were given the opportunity to relax in high-design seating, decorate balloons, and grant interviews on their collecting habits.
This year saw the second edition of PULSE PLAY, a video and new media lounge which was curated by MIT List Visual Arts Center Curator Bill Arning. PULSE’s series of large-scale sculptures and original installations, including works by Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Mark Shetabi, Jennifer Burkley Vasher and Andy Yoder, among others, also made its return.
The PULSE Prize, a cash grant awarded to an emerging artist selected from those exhibiting in the IMPULSE section of the Fair was presented by Malgorzata Romanska, President and CEO of MR Industries to painter Philip Gurrey, of London’s Madder139.
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair will return to Miami this winter to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach at Soho Studios in the Wynwood District.
About PULSE Contemporary Art Fair:
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair is held annually in New York and Miami and presents high-quality artworks in an environment that serves both seasoned and emerging collectors. The format of the Fair is divided between a main section devoted to a select choice of international galleries invited by the PULSE Committee, and the IMPULSE section featuring solo and two person exhibitions presented by emerging galleries. The Fair provides a friendly, highly selective and innovative context for all of its constituents.
For more information about PULSE Contemporary Art Fairs, please visit
www.pulse-art.com or call +1 (212) 255-2327
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Media contact:
For further information, registration to the Fair, visuals, or interviews please contact:
Andy Cushman or Elizabeth Reina
Blue Medium, Inc.
T: 212-675-1800
E: andy@bluemedium.com
