David Wojnarowicz's "Untitled (From the Ant Series)", 1988-89, is being used as Moving Image video art fair's promotional image.
Moving Image, a New Video Art Fair, Moves in on Armory Week
NEW YORK— Hot on the heels of the announcement of a new Brooklyn-based art fair during New York's upcoming Armory Show week in March, a fresh contender is throwing its hat into the ring — one that is perhaps still more unlikely, and intriguing. The just-announced Moving Image fair is the brainchild of art dealer Ed Winkleman and Murat Orozobekov, a partner in Winkleman's eponymous Chelsea gallery. It aims to solve the longstanding problems of showing video art at a fair.
Moving Image will run March 3-6 at the cavernous Tunnel event space at 216 11th Avenue in Chelsea (home to the former Bridge Art Fair during Armory week in 2009). The fair will feature two sections, one dedicated to some 30 videos displayed on hanging monitors, and a second area highlighting about eight stand-alone video installations. The list of exhibitors remains in formation, but already includes such spaces as Sabot from Romania and Galerie Gregor Staiger from Switzerland.
The selection is being handled by a distinguished team that includes gallerist Elizabeth Dee, who last year launched the well-reviewed Independent art fair, also during Armory Week — a notable success. "We are hopefully cross-promoting with Independent," Winkleman told ARTINFO. "We are definitely on the same team."
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Winkleman said that the impetus for the new fair came from two separate sources. The first was the "California Video" show at the Getty in Los Angeles two years ago, which featured more than 50 videos in a mixture of large-scale projections and more intimate viewing stations. "It was the best video experience with that many videos I have ever had," said Winkleman, who added the experience provoked a thought: "This is exactly what I should do with a fair."
The second impulse driving the formation of Moving Image was a casual quip from a prominent New York critic during the 2010 Frieze Art Fair: "I never watch video at an art fair — I don't have time." That comment got Winkleman thinking about solving the problem, and his mind returned to the combination of intimate installations and large works offered by the "California Video" show. "The goal," Winkleman said, "is to signal, 'You can spend time here.'"
The price to show a single-channel video at Moving Image is $2,500, or $5,000 to show an installation, with the cost of the buy-in covering equipment and installation. For an international selection of dealers, the format provides the option of just sending the work rather than having to staff a full booth. Or, for dealers who choose to travel to New York, it offers the flexibility of spending time visiting collectors and institutions — activities that Winkleman says he has often found more useful than manning a booth when he has been on the road promoting his gallery.
In the past, Winkleman has shown at Pulse or Independent during New York Armory Week. This year, he will focus exclusively on Moving Image, showing video works by Leslie Thornton and the duo Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev.
Finally, some signal of the new fair's adventurous spirit comes from the image used in its first round of advertising: "Untitled (From the Ant Series)" by David Wojnarowicz, the late artist whose censorship by the Smithsonian has become a national cause célèbre. Winkleman says that he consulted with PPOW gallery, which represents the Wojnarowicz estate, before choosing the promotional image. "No video artist in the world is more talked about right now," Winkleman said. "It just made sense."
