Palm Springs
Art and design enthusiasts from around the world will descend on Palm Springs this Presidents Day weekend. One of the major draws for art collectors, museum curators and art tastemakers is Art Palm Springs. The show has grown to become one of the top art fairs on the West Coast. Artists and galleries from around the globe, including Venezuela, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, and coast to coast from the U.S. are drawn to the show, and 2017 will be no exception with a record 70 galleries and over 300 artists.
New this year, producers of Art Palm Springs announced the addition of SELECTS to its programming lineup, featuring 50 works selected by curators, designers and tastemakers.
“SELECTS offers patrons and collectors a new way to navigate the extraordinary works of art at the fair. Palm Springs SELECTS highlights over 50 pieces chosen by noted curators, designers, and critics including Palm Springs Art Museum Chief Curator Katherine Hough, collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, architect Lance O’Donnell and designers Christopher Kennedy and Dann Foley, among others,” said Art Group Vice President Donna Davies.
Davies has tapped top professionals in the art and design communities to make their selections of the artwork being exhibited at Art Palm Springs. All SELECTS pieces will be noted as chosen pieces at Art Palm Springs and accessible online for easy reference for the February 16 – 19, 2017 event at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Katherine Hough, Chief Curator, Palm Springs Art Museum, referenced artists James Turrell and Ed Ruscha (both with Richard Levy Gallery), and Art Palm Springs Artist of the Year 2017 award recipient Lita Albuquerque (Peter Blake Gallery). “These significant artists and their iconic works represent major innovations in the development of Southern California as a major world art center,” said Hough.
“We’re adding these selections to give our audience another opportunity to connect with the artwork at the fair,” said Davies. “Seeing what pieces each of these curators, designers, and critics have noted gives our visitors opportunities to further engage with artworks at the fair.”
SELECTS tastemakers chosen for 2017 Art Palm Springs include:
Beth Rudin DeWoody, Art Collector, Curator, and President, Rudin Family Foundations
Veronica M. Fernandez, Principal Art Advisor, Fine Art Advising Services
Frederick Fisher, Architect, Frederick Fisher & Partners
Dann Foley, Interior Designer, Dann Foley Lifestyle and Interior Design
Christine Giles, Curator of Western Art, Palm Springs Art Museum
Mara Gladstone, Associate Curator, Palm Springs Art Museum
Brooke Hodge, Director of Architecture and Design, Palm Springs Art Museum
Katherine Hough, Chief Curator, Palm Springs Art Museum
Jeff Jurasky, Principal, Jeffrey Jurasky & Associates
Christopher Kennedy, Christopher Kennedy, Inc.
Julian Lombardi, Contemporary Art Digest
Zoe Lukov, Director of Exhibitions for Faena Art, Desert X board member
Juliet McIver, collector + advisor
Lance O’Donnell, Architect, o2 Architecture
Photography made a number of lists including that of collector Beth Rudin DeWoody who said, “I love photography and this suburban pool has a great look. Can’t tell if it’s a random shot or setup but it’s fun and compelling,” regarding the work of Julie Blackmon (photo-eye Gallery).
Several pieces, such as James Turrell’s Aten Reign (Richard Levy Gallery); Alex Katz’s Nicole (Adamar Fine Arts); and Jesus Raphael de Soto’s Vibration (Galeria Moro) which were chosen by more than one of the experts. “Alex Katz is a wonderful figurative artist, closely associated with New York and Maine. His work has always engaged me for its simplicity and yet penetrating grasp of the personalities of his subjects,” said Frederick Fisher.
Although all are connected by the thread of their work as designers and art experts, the participating members of SELECTS are a diverse group. Christopher Kennedy is widely known for his work in home design and the annual Modernism Week in Palm Springs, where his design home is one of the most popular exhibits each year. Lance O’Donnell worked with famed Palm Springs architect Donald Wexler and his own home designs take the best features of Midcentury Modern buildings and integrate them into functional and easily livable modern homes. Frederick Fisher founded the firm that is recognized for innovative, refined and enduring designs with an approach to architecture that comes from a broad cultural and social perspective, including the famed Sunnylands Visitors Center, while Julian Lombardi of The CAD (Contemporary Art Digest), presents a curated Instagram, with contributions and input from LA-based artists and curators.
Sculptor Scarlett Kanistanaux (William Havu Gallery) was selected by designer Dann Foley who said, “I have a personal affinity for busts and this particular piece in bronze is sophisticated, sleek and both contemporary and traditional at the same time.”
The SELECTS pieces range in widely different directions, from Grace Hartigan’s The Entertainers (C. Grimaldis Gallery); to Doug Herren’s Ivory Table Stand (Peters Projects); and Cheryl Ann Thomas’ Ledge (William Siegal Gallery). “Doug Herren’s, Ivory Table Stand, is particularly interesting because it takes on the look and feel of industrial machinery,” said Julian Lombardi, Contemporary Art Digest, “with enamel applied in a way that suggests the worn paint you may see on a tractor.”
While long time patrons and collectors have generally formed their own concepts of artists and genres that they personally prefer, by tapping into the sensibilities of these designers and art experts, Art Palm Springs hopes to open the eyes of new collectors and expand the horizons of collectors that have not yet developed their own scope of appreciation.
“We look at Art Palm Springs, and our other art fairs as a place where collectors and art patrons can be introduced to artists and their diverse works,” Davies said. “And that in this way, we can expand the world of art to everyone who attends our fairs.”
If you go: Tickets for Art Palm Springs are available here. Ticket prices range in price from $100 for a First Look Pass that admits two throughout the weekend; $75 for VIP Pass, which also admits two throughout the weekend; or $20 for single day passes ordered online; or $25 for single day passes at the door.
For the full schedule of events and information on participating galleries, go to the Art Palm Springs website.
