The Object & Thing art and design fair is teaming up with the Independent fair.
Installation view of the Object & Thing fair featuring work by Rebecca Warren, R Weil, Colette Guéden, Jaque Sagan, Roger Capron, and Jaque Sagan, New York, 2019. Photo by Pernille Louf. Courtesy of Object & Thing.
The Object & Thing fair made a big splash when it premiered earlier this year, and much of the to-do concerned the freshman fair’s unorthodox business model: it took a commission on items sold rather than charging an exorbitant and therefore exclusionary booth fee. Now the upstart fair, which also set out to toe the line between design objects and high art, is teaming up with the veteran Independent art fair. This collaboration will take place in a dedicated space within Independent's March 2020 edition, and in advance of Object & Thing’s second edition, slated for May 2020.
According to Object & Thing director Abby Bangser, there will be a roughly even split between art and design objects at her fair’s presentation within Independent, though she acknowledged the fluidity between the two disciplines when speaking to the Financial Times.
Elizabeth Dee, founder & CEO of Independent, remarked in a press release:
Like Independent, Object & Thing is a collaborative platform that is interested in creating a new space with talented artists and galleries who have a vision. Together, we are interested in the atmosphere that can be created through prioritizing the creative aspect in how artworks are presented and sold.
Independent New York will be held in Tribeca’s Spring Studios from March 6 to 8, 2020, and the collaboration with Object & Thing will consist of about 30 works shown along a mezzanine floor in the lower Manhattan building. The full list of participating artists and galleries will be made public in early 2020.
