Independent Names 76 Exhibitors for Its Upcoming May Fair

Independent has announced the 76 exhibitors that will participate in its upcoming 17th edition, which will run May 14–17 at a new venue, Pier 36 in the Lower East Side.

The fair will feature the work of over 100 artists, with more than 70 percent of the booths being single-artist presentations. Among these are Jason Fox at David Kordansky, Petra Cortright at Interval, Taína Cruz at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Silvia Heyden at Charles Moffett, Ina Gerken at Ryan Lee, Michael Bühler-Rose at Stems, and Trude Viken at Ricco/Maresca Gallery. Comme Des Garçons will also present a solo of Rei Kawakubo.

More than one-third of the exhibiting artists will also have their first New York solo outing, a program the fair calls “Independent Debuts,” such as Omar Mismar at Secci, Arna Óttarsdóttir at i8 Gallery, Nabeeha Mohamed at WHATIFTHEWORLD, Larisa Sitar at Suprainfinit, Dan Gunn at Pentimenti, Alessandro Miotti at Mariposa, and Antonio Darden at Kendra Jayne Patrick.

With its move to the LES, Independent is also embracing its new neighbors, inviting several nearby galleries to exhibit at the fair for the first time. They include Spencer Brownstone Gallery, Kiang Malingue, David Peter Francis, and Post Times.

The new venue will also see Independent team up with two design firms to realize the fair’s look and feel, with D_P_S (Diogo Passarinho Studio) doing the exhibition design and Solid Objectives Idenburg Liu (SO–IL) focusing on the venue’s exterior to ensure “the fair’s integration with its Lower East Side surroundings,” according to a release.

Additionally, Independent will also for the first time have sculptural installations placed throughout the fair, including ones by Gretchen Bender, brought by Sprüth Magers, and Francis Upritchard, brought by Anton Kern. The fair has also commissioned Nikolas Ventourakis (via Callirrhoë) to create an installation inspired by his photographs of trash heaps at the fair’s entrance.

“This is going to be an extraordinary year for Independent,” Independent founder Elizabeth Dee told ARTnews in an email. “Moving to Pier 36 has given us the chance to shake things up. The exhibition design, the number of new solo commissions, New York debuts, artists with institutional representation, and a few surprises will exceed people’s high expectations for what Independent can achieve and how fairs might model our work in the future.”

The full exhibitor list follows below.

*Indicates Independent Debuts presentations.