There’s a simple reason why my Sat. June 1 Chelsea gallery tour will be the most extraordinary tour of the past 14 months: it’s coming on the heels of the acclaimed Frieze art fair that recently took New York City, and the rest of the art world, by storm.  Frieze attracted buyers from all over the globe; hence, many of Chelsea’s 300 galleries decided to mount  their best shows of the entire year, so as to draw these clients to their doors while they’re in town.  It’s certainly something I’m going to take advantage of.  And so can you, if you join me on Saturday.

It’s only the second year that Frieze, a London import, has set up shop in New York.  But it already seems to have supplanted what was previously the city’s number one art fair: the Armory Show.  Frieze is larger than the Armory Show, more lavish, more expensive for both galleries to show and for the general public to attend.  And the press has been paying a lot of attention.

To tell the truth, I’m not a fan of art fairs, even Frieze.  They’re nothing more than glorified markets, with galleries having to make do with crowded stalls to show their wares.  There’s much more of a focus on money transactions, and less on the more meaningful aspects of art.  I find fairs to be dizzying, claustrophobic, and mind-numbing.  And lots of gallery owners I speak with tell me they can’t stand art fairs, either.  But it has become an economic necessity for their survival.

Luckily for me, I don’t have to deal with art fairs if I don’t want to, and I can just sit back and reap the benefits, namely all the attention that gets paid to the rest of the New York art scene when a world-renowned art fair is in town.  Frieze has already left the city, but its concurrent Chelsea gallery exhibits, typically lasting 4 – 6 weeks, are still on display, and will be for a while longer.  My tour on Saturday will visit the 7 most staggeringly inventive Chelsea exhibits by many  the world’s greatest living artists.  This is THE ONE you’ll remember for some time to come!

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours