
default image confirmation
For Immediate Release Press Contact:
Sarah Usher
SU PR, Inc.
[email protected]
After a two-year hiatus, the Seattle Art Fair, presented by AIG, made its return to the Lumen Field Event Center for its 6th edition this past weekend, drawing in an excited and rejuvenated attendance of art collectors motivated by the fair’s impressive curation of around 80 top galleries from the Seattle area and around the world presenting the best in modern and contemporary art.
Over 15,000 avid collectors and art lovers attended the fair across the four days, taking in the impressive collection of galleries laid out throughout the fair’s spacious, museum-quality set-up, as well as the innovative installations and programming that spoke to the many layers and facets of creativity that inspire and define the Seattle arts community, as curated by Artistic Director Nato Thompson. The enthusiastic energy and celebratory spirit was welcomed by participating galleries, who reported productive engagement with both new and existing clientele and strong sales at a wide range of price points.
Continuing the fair’s commitment to the vibrant arts community of the Pacific Northwest, this year celebrated the region’s museums and institutions, including the return of the Seattle Art Museum as the fair’s Beneficiary Partner. Signifying the Seattle Art Fair’s long-term commitment to the Seattle arts community, the Seattle Art Museum will be the fair’s beneficiary partner through 2024, inviting year-round opportunities for collaboration, access to the museum’s engaging exhibitions and collections, and educational and public programming.
Highlights included an intimate talk with distinguished artist Carrie Mae Weems, Seattle NFT Museum’s panel discussion on the importance of NFTs existing in the physical world, Motel 6 by Mexican artist Miguel Calderón (presented by Kurimanzutto), who created a room within a billboard advertising the motel to examine the game of correspondence existing between real spatial dimensions and our notion of them, Peter Gronquist’s communion, 2022 (presented by Winston Wächter Fine Art), which exuded a natural serenity by way of a tranquil pool of water, set in a less natural environment, and an installation of 18 masks by Orly Anan entitled LAS BALEBOSTE, 2022, (presented by Museum of Museums), which explored the idealizations of female stereotypes.
Other key visual moments included Preston Singletary’s KILLER WHALE TOTEM (presented by Traver Gallery), THIS WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL, AND DANGEROUS TOO, 2022, created by Seattle-based, Pakistan-born artist Humaira Abid (presented by Greg Kucera Gallery), and a large representation of Tokyo’s remarkable and vibrant arts institutions including A Lighthouse Called Kanata, KOKI ARTS, Ohshima Fine Art, TOMOHIKO YOSHINO GALLERY, and YUKI-SIS.
Throughout the weekend, Seattle Art Fair was pleased to host receptions and well attended tours with a variety of cultural partners, including SAMS (Seattle Art Museum Supporters), whose tour, which was part of the fair’s beneficiary partnership with the museum, focused on the many special projects.
AIG Private Client Group returned as the fair’s presenting sponsor for the 6th straight edition. Christie’s Auctions was back as Associate Sponsor and title of the fair’s theater and robust talks programs. Also returning as official sponsors were Perkins Coie, Goldman Sachs, Elysian Brewing, Browne Family Vineyards, Helm Building (Vulcan Real Estate) and hotel partners Embassy Suites Hotel and Thompson Seattle. New partners supporting this year’s fair were Ketel One Vodka, Tanqueray Gin, Washington State Department of Commerce, Oris Watches, ArtCloud, Aperol, Vibe (video screen partner) and Visit Seattle.
The success of this year’s Seattle Art Fair was recognized by galleries, artists, and buyers alike:
From Judith Rinehart, J. Rinehart Gallery: “We felt the fair was a great success! Reconnecting with friends and collectors after so long was incredible. Every day of the fair was exciting and packed with a highly engaged audience excited to see and collect art. We were also thrilled to have so many of our local art institutions visit and support our creative ecosystem. I look forward to the future of the Seattle Art Fair!”
From Koki Ishibashi, KOKI ARTS: “We’ve been doing the Seattle Art Fair every year since its first edition back in 2015. It was great to finally be back, and we enjoyed catching up with collectors and friends after missing them for 3 years. We also made new friends this year. Japanese artist Koutaro Inoue’s paintings were shown in the US for the first time, and we’ve received great response from many people. Seattle is such a friendly city!”
From Jane Magavern Beebe, PDX CONTEMPORARY ART: “The Seattle Art Fair felt upbeat and advanced the appreciation of art by bringing in a variety of visitors for seasoned collectors to individuals completely new to the idea of collecting. The Seattle collectors, institutions and art dealers were very welcoming. We had wonderful visits at the fair with Stephanie Stebich, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery; Catharina Manchanda, Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, Seattle Art Museum; Sylvia Wolf, John S. Behnke Director, Henry Art Gallery; Georgia Erger, Associate Curator and Amanda Donnan, Chief Curator, Frye Art Museum. The Seattle Art Fair staff made everything easy for us with smiles on their faces. We are grateful to return home with good news for the artists we exhibited and thank them for providing us with new great work for the fair and it is a long list.”
From Wahei Aoyama, A Lighthouse called Kanata: “We were very happy to return to the Seattle Art Fair and see our friends and clients in the Pacific Northwest. The show was a great success, with nearly 10 major works sold to important collectors throughout the region.We look forward to returning in 2023!”
From Aimee Friberg, CULT Aimee Friberg: “What a beautiful week to be back in Seattle! As a University of Washington alumna I always enjoy reconnecting with Seattle’s political savvy and art-interested public. It was a pleasure to place the work of our artists in some local collections. Folks were very enthusiastic about our mission to support artists whose work responds to social issues of these times. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with Seattle through public commissions and institutional shows.”
From Christina Maybaum, Maybaum Gallery: “We are very pleased that we came back to the Seattle Art fair this year. This is our third year participating and we sold many works to our existing collectors that we had met in years past. It’s great to see people each year we return and have continued support among our Seattle collectors. We will be back next year!
From Melissa Morgan, Melissa Morgan Fine Art: “Getting to visit Seattle and exhibit with AMP is the best. There are so many friends and fabulous collectors in the Pacific Northwest that winter in Palm Desert, so this is a home away from home for us. We had a great time and placed work by Anthony James, Carole Feuerman as well as Steinunn Thorarinsdottr and others in some wonderful collections.”
From Cultured Magazine: “After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, the fair’s sixth edition highlights the depth and breadth of the region’s arts community, while also focusing in on noted galleries and artists from around the world.”
From The Stranger: “The Seattle Art Fair is Back, Baby!!…the installations and public programming featuring out-of-town artists are baller.”
From Crosscut: “Seattle Art Fair is known for its international flavor, with booths from Tokyo, Paris, Seoul, London and Toronto, as well as New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. It always provides enlightening context to see what’s happening in the wider art world. But having written about Northwest arts for the last couple decades, I tend to root, root, root for the home team…Among the 76 galleries showing work in the dizzying array of tidy white cubes are 20 hailing from Washington.”
Click here to view photos and other materials from Seattle Art Fair 2022.
FULL 2022 EXHIBITOR LIST:
A Lighthouse called Kanata – Tokyo, Japan
Art Mora – Ridgefield Park, NJ
Arteria Gallery – Bromont, Quebec
Axiom Contemporary – Phoenix, AZ
Bertrand Productions – Philadelphia, PA
Christine Park Gallery – New York, NY
Cube Gallery – London, United Kingdom
CULT Aimee Friberg – San Francisco, CA
Dolan Maxwell – Philadelphia, PA
Fountainhead Gallery – Seattle, WA
Galerie Fledermaus – Chicago, IL
Galerie PICI – New York, NY | Seoul, Korea
Galleria Palma Arte – Alseno, Italy
Gallery 110 – Seattle, WA
Gallery Henoch – New York, NY
Gallery Jones – Vancouver, CA
gallery R – Seoul, South Korea
Gallery Sumukha – Bengaluru, India
Gallery Tableau – Seoul, South Korea
Geheim Gallery – Bellingham, WA
George Billis Gallery – Los Angeles, CA | New York, NY
Ginza Gallery G2 / G-77 – Kyoto, Japan
GR Gallery – New York, NY
Gray Sky Gallery – Seattle, WA
Greg Kucera Gallery – Seattle, WA
Habatat Detroit Fine Art – Royal Oak, MI
Hall Spassov – Bellevue, WA
Hang Art Gallery – San Francisco, CA
Harris Harvey Gallery – Seattle, WA
Hashimoto Contemporary – Los Angeles, CA | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA
HAVOC Gallery – Burlington, VT
i.e. gallery – Edison, WA
J. Rinehart Gallery – Seattle, WA
John Natsoulas Gallery – Davis, CA
K+Y gallery – Paris, France
Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery – Mill Valley, CA
KOKI ARTS – Tokyo, Japan
Laurent Marthaler Contemporary – Zurich, Switzerland
Lustre Contemporary – Toronto, Canada
Lynn Hanson Gallery – Seattle, WA
Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery – Cordoba, Argentina
Marloe Gallery – Brooklyn, NY
Maybaum Gallery – San Francisco, CA
Melissa Morgan Fine Art – Palm Desert, CA
Museo – Langley, WA
Ohshima Fine Art – Tokyo, Japan
Okay Spark – Norfolk, Virginia
Patricia Rovzar Gallery – Seattle, WA
PDX CONTEMPORARY ART – Portland, OR
PIGMENT GALLERY – Barcelona, Spain | Paris, France
Quantum Contemporary Art – London, United Kingdom
Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery – London, United Kingdom | Miami, FL
Reisig and Taylor Contemporary – Los Angeles, CA
Russo Lee Gallery – Portland, OR
Ryan James Fine Arts – Kirkland, WA
Shift Gallery – Seattle, WA
Simyo Gallery – Seoul, South Korea
Somerville Manning Gallery – Greenville, DE
Spanierman Modern – New York, NY
Spence Gallery – Toronto, Canada
Stoney Road Press – Dublin, Ireland
Studio 103 Gallery – Seattle, WA
studio e – Seattle, WA
Sugarlift – New York, NY
The Space – Seattle, WA
Timothy Yarger Fine Art – Los Angeles, CA
TOMOHIKO YOSHINO GALLERY – Tokyo, Japan
Traver Gallery – Seattle, WA
VIVIANEART – Calgary, Canada
West Chelsea Contemporary – New York, NY | Austin, TX
Winston Wächter Fine Art – New York, NY | Seattle, WA
Woodside/Braseth Gallery – Seattle, WA
Yuan Ru Gallery – Taipei, Taiwan
YUKI-SIS – Tokyo, Japan
Zinc Contemporary – Seattle, WA
2022 CULTURAL PARTNERS
4Culture
Alliance for Pioneer Square
Amplifier
Artist Trust
ArtsFund
ArtsWA
ArtTable
Audain Art Museum
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
Cascadia Art Museum
Chihuly Garden and Glass
CoCA
Desert X
Forest For The Trees
Frye Art Museum
Gage Academy of Art
Glass Art Society
Henry Art Gallery
Kirkland Arts Center
Martyr Sauce
MoNA (Museum of Northwest Art)
National Nordic Museum
Office of Arts & Culture, City of Seattle
On the Boards
Oregon Contemporary
Pacific Bonsai Museum
Path with Art
Photographic Center Northwest
Pilchuck Glass School
Portland Art Museum
Pottery Northwest
Pratt Fine Arts Center
Rainier Club
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Artist League
Shunpike
Tacoma Art Museum
Visit Seattle
Washington Lawyers for the Arts
Western Gallery & Public Art Collection, University of Western Washington
Wing Luke Museum
ABOUT AMP:
AMP is a creative events firm that designs, builds, promotes and produces important cultural experiences worldwide. Since 2011, AMP has produced art fairs that focus on a high quality and engaging fair experience by connecting collectors with galleries in the most optimal settings. AMP’s current portfolio contains four major art fairs. AMP is a division of A21.
For more information about Seattle Art Fair and AMP, please visit http://seattleartfair.com/.