July 10, 2005
Newsday
This art fair isn't meant to intimidate

BY DANIEL SCHLOSBERG
Daniel Schlosberg is a freelance writer

 That rarefied and sometimes frightening phenomenon known as the contemporary art fair touches down in - where else? - the Hamptons next week. But -scopeHamptons is not aimed strictly at the toney set.

While the idea of contemporary art fairs may have certain stereotypes - pontificating crowds mulling works full of indecipherable metaphor - one major aim of this one is to demystify the process.

"Other fairs go after the major collector," says Michael Sellinger, a producer for the show. "We don't see it as a zero-sum game. We're trying to create an environment where people aren't afraid to come in and get their feet wet."

-scope Art will present its "-scopeHamptons" festival in Hampton Hall in Southampton, featuring 35 galleries, most from New York and the East End, Thursday through next Sunday. A New York-based fair presenter, -scope has held exhibitions in New York, Miami, Paris and London - this time deciding on the Hamptons, Sellinger says, largely because of the wealth and artistic curiosity the area attracts in summer. Hamptons a natural

In the past, -scope has scheduled its event to coincide with larger, more prominent fairs: in New York City, during the same time as the well-known Armory show, and in Miami, during the Art Basel fair.

-scopeHamptons, however, will be running independent of other art shows.

"It was a natural decision, with the Hamptons being right in our backyard. Plus, we've worked with several of the galleries out there in the past," says Sellinger.

Despite the optimism that accompanies the move to a new locale, there is the chance, particularly in an untested market, that not enough people will come.

"People are testing the waters, and there's always a degree of apprehension," says Sara Nightingale, of Sara Nightingale Gallery in Water Mill.

"[The Hamptons] is the place where so many of the collectors are at, but the trick is to get them away from their benefits and their cocktail parties," she says.

The show's organizers are hoping the layman art enthusiast, or curious wanderer, will find them.

Much of the art on display will be of the edgy variety - everything from mixed-media installations to video art - and the visual environment that surrounds the various works should be both outlandish and fun. In earlier shows, at other locations, the fair has taken over whole floors of hotels, transforming them into whimsical, often saturated, visual spaces.

And then there are the performance artists: at the New York City show in March, visitors entering the fair were greeted by an artist named Skip Arnold, who suspended himself in the lobby from a luggage trolley.

The Hamptons' performance offerings include "Lifeboat-Hamptons," which fair organizers describe as "a group of artists transforming their bodies into well-oiled tanning machines while discussing security, the human condition, and other related topics against the backdrop of island/oasis necessities."

More traditional media, such as oil painting, also will get a showing.

Most of the artists, as well as the galleries that present them, have a bond: they're young.

Nightingale, who has shown at -scope events in Miami and New York City, and will appear in this Hamptons fair, thinks of the enterprise in terms of other counterculture movements.

" is similar to indie films and alternative music. It's younger, riskier and more exciting, as opposed to a blue-chip fair like the Armory," says Nightingale.

Another factor that separates -scope from other fairs is its concentration on a single artist; the company requires each presenting gallery to devote 80 percent of its booth to one talent.

"It allows the collector to have a better dialogue with the artist without the cacophony of voices you see in most gallery presentations," Sellinger says.

Nightingale adds that the focus naturally helps the artist as well. "It's a situation similar to where an artist gets to have a solo show," she says.

Ryan Wallace showcased

The artist Nightingale has chosen for the Hamptons is Ryan Wallace, a 27-year-old Brooklyn resident whose mixed-media canvases she characterizes as "surreal, almost trippy and very mature. His palette is beautiful and earthy."

Naturally, the 34 other galleries will add to the variety that can make a fair so entertaining.

While there will be plenty of provocative art to soak in, Sellinger says that, for the Hamptons show, things are going to be toned down.

"We are painting it down a bit, and we're not throwing as much of a raging opening night party as we normally would," he says.

Still, the happenings should be hip, and for those whose hipness is tempered by a family, there's kids-scope, a children's art program that will run at the same time the booths are open in Hampton Hall.

For those coming in from the city, Hampton Hall is within walking distance of the Long Island Rail Road's Southampton station.

Tickets are $10. For complete schedule and map, call 212-268-1522 or search online at www.scope-art.com.