Future Fair NY

BY: PROVOKR Editors

This year is the inaugural edition of Future Fair, a New York-based startup attempting to disrupt the current art fair system through a profit-sharing model that puts galleries’ interests first. Due to increasingly high costs, the current dominant art fair model is often too risky for most small and mid-size galleries to participate in, making it exceedingly difficult for them to compete with their blue-chip counterparts. And that was before COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders contributed to the economic struggles that so many galleries already faced. Thus, it feels like Future Fair NY couldn’t have come at a better time, as the digital exhibition splitting 35% of its profits with participating galleries may be precisely what the art world needs more than ever.

While they’re certainly not the first trying to upset the traditional structure (Felix LA, Object & Thing and Superfine are fairs that have also introduced alternative models), Future Fair founders and art world veterans Rachel Mijares Fick and Rebeca Laliberte believe the needle can be pushed further in terms of equitability and transparency. Their mission is “to provide a platform that supports the advancement, sustainability and empowerment of art galleries.”

With 36 galleries exhibiting from all over the world and available works presented online in partnership with Artsy, Future Fair’s catalog and program are on view now through June 6th. And while there are plenty of stunning pieces to check out, here are eight participating artists whose work you shouldn’t miss:

Jenny Morgan

Exhibited by Mother Gallery in Beacon, New York, figurative painter Jenny Morgan’s photorealistic and intensely colorful works—typically distorted or blurred by abstract shapes—stand out. Having a personal connection to her subjects is essential to Morgan, who mostly paints friends or self-portraits. As a result, her works convey an intimacy that is enhanced by her figures’ direct eye contact confronting the viewer.

Rajni Perera

Sri Lankan-born, Toronto-based Rajni Perera explores issues of hybridity, futurity, ancestorship, immigration identity/cultures, monsters and dream worlds in her multidisciplinary practice. Through composition and color, Perera’s figures exist in a limitless state that’s both ancient and futuristic—encouraging us to examine our collective histories and futures. Perera’s works are presented at Future Fair by the newly established, Toronto-based Patel Brown Gallery.

Leandro Feal

Based in Havana, El Apartamento brings together contemporary Cuban artists, like Leandro Feal, to displace dominant voices by giving more attention to sub-alternate artistic groups and minorities. Through Feal’s wide-ranging photography practice, which captures impromptu frames and candid-like characters, Feal investigates daily life in an attempt to expand the collective cultural imagination of Cuba.

Shannon McConnell

Presented by Seattle’s SEASON gallery is a selection of works by visual artist and musician Shannon McConnell. McConnell’s abstract figures, imbued with an aura of visceral garage-punk and speculative situations, reveal a psychological thoughtfulness reflecting the human condition. Her paintings also explore the “arbitrary alienation of modern life.”

Romina de Novellis

Paris and Venice-based gallery Alberta Pane presents photographs of performances by Italian artist Romina de Novellis within the context of a group show meant to challenge our vision and perception. De Novellis’ performance art centers around her body, as it is both the object of her work and the subject of her research. In her statement, she explains, “My body is a way to denounce all abuse and limitations of the contemporary society regarding our bodies. I make my body available to create a living picture to share with the public.”

Cristina BanBan

Cristina BanBan’s recent paintings and works on paper—made after her move to New York City from Barcelona—address intimacy, loneliness, communal gatherings and family. Specifically, the series references famous Spanish cultural figures and separation from her family during a global pandemic. The works, presented by New York’s 1969 Gallery, are part of her second solo exhibition with the gallery titled Tigre y Paloma.

Rodrigo Valenzuela

For this fair, Klowden Mann Gallery is exhibiting new work by two LA-based artists, one of which is Chilean-born visual artist Rodrigo Valenzuela. In his new photographic series titled “Stature,” Valenzuela builds and rebuilds casted concrete objects (made from discarded consumer electronics) so that they can be photographed from a fixed point—obscuring the division between documentary and fiction through narrative, presentation and production.

Adébayo Bolaji

British multidisciplinary artist Adébayo Bolaji uses vibrant and metaphorical visual language throughout to convey unique narratives within each painting. His works center around discussions of transformation and the individual’s position within a connecting society, whether it’s anthropologically, religiously, historically or through popular culture. Bolaji is represented by Beers London.