In 1917, at the un-juried Soci­ety of Artists exhi­bi­tion, Mar­cel Duchamp unveiled the world’s most famous ready-made art object: Foun­tain. By using an image not shaped by the hands of an artist, Duchamp shifted the art world’s focus from artis­tic craft to intel­lec­tual inter­pre­ta­tion. The cre­ation of Foun­tain brought the observer into con­tact with an orig­i­nal that, although still an orig­i­nal, also exists in an altered state through the observer’s per­cep­tion of the object. It is a work of art that tran­scends a form, but that is also intel­li­gi­ble, an object that strikes down an idea while allow­ing it to spring up stronger.

In this same spirit Foun­tain New York tran­scends the tra­di­tional art fair by pro­vid­ing an oppor­tu­nity for smaller inde­pen­dent gal­leries, artists and non-profit orga­ni­za­tions to present their unfil­tered, uncouth and enter­pris­ing view­points. This guerrilla-style art fair fea­tures the edgier young Brooklyn-based gal­leries show­cas­ing fresh work with­out the pos­tur­ing of offi­cial booth spaces, or selec­tion by com­mit­tee juries. In form and spirit, the art­work shown truly reflects the avant-garde and in-your-face atti­tude equated with Duchamp and the Dada move­ment. The mem­bers of Foun­tain New York work as a com­mu­nity to offer a forum for mid career artists and col­lec­tives to dis­play their edge, not dic­tate an aes­thetic. The col­lab­o­ra­tion of Brooklyn’s most forward-thinking gal­leries: Capla Kest­ing Fine Art, Ch’I Con­tem­po­rary Fine Art, McCaig-Welles, Front Room, Glowlab, Yum Yum Fac­tory, New Improved Art, Steve Gagnon and Out­ra­geous Look will be on dis­play for five full days this win­ter. In addi­tion to the gal­leries, Foun­tain New York will have dis­play tables for smaller inde­pen­dent pub­li­ca­tions and not-for-profits includ­ing Frac­tured Atlas, Nur­ture Art, Williams­burg Gallery Asso­ci­a­tion, Brook­lyn Arts Coun­cil, Wag­Mag, L Mag­a­zine, and M: The New York Art World. Foun­tain New York, now in its sec­ond year, will make its mark again in the mas­sive 5000 square foot space at 660 12th Avenue, a few blocks from the Armory Show at Pier 94. This excep­tional space is eas­ily acces­si­ble through mul­ti­ple street level entrances fac­ing the West Side High­way and can be viewed through its full block of win­dows directly from the street. Expect floor-to-ceiling dis­plays of brand new works, bold instal­la­tions, impromptu per­for­mance events and the best par­ties of the weekend.

Work­ing to gal­va­nize sup­port for the small inde­pen­dent avant-garde gal­leries and asso­ci­a­tions, Foun­tain in the last year has pro­duced two extremely suc­cess­ful art fairs in New York and Miami. Foun­tain New York aver­aged 700 vis­i­tors a day and boasted com­men­tary from ART­news, Time Out New York, The Brook­lyn Rail, Jux­tapoz Mag­a­zine and Dou­glas Kel­ley Show List. Each gallery involved not only sold sev­eral art­works but also built rela­tion­ships with col­lec­tors who con­tinue to buy from them.

“In the most valiant effort cat­e­gory: The Foun­tain Show. Three of Williamsburg’s most dynamic gal­leries took on the ‘Blue Chips’ and pro­duced an alter­na­tive ‘fair’ right across 12th Avenue from the big boys. It was fresh and in their faces, a per­fect exam­ple of avant-garde ener­get­ics.”
—The Brook­lyn Rail, March 2006.

Rid­ing on the momen­tum of Foun­tain New York, Foun­tain Miami attracted addi­tional gal­leries and artists as it gar­nered fur­ther inter­na­tional acclaim in a 5000 square foot space oppo­site Scope and down the block from Pulse art fair. Foun­tain Miami was men­tioned in Art in America’s Decem­ber pre­view, The Miami Her­ald, ART­news, City Link, The Sun Post and Art Info. Not only was the salon-style pre­sen­ta­tion well received, but sev­eral of the more uncon­ven­tional dis­plays gar­nered com­men­tary includ­ing Daniel Edwards’ life size sculp­ture of Brit­ney Spears giv­ing birth on a bear skin rug and Steve Gagnon’s Model T refit with video pro­jec­tions of Miami from the 30s. Another of the show fea­tures was the per­for­mance orches­trated by Brook­lyn artists known as the Orga­niz­ers. Their com­plex piece titled The Sams incor­po­rated per­for­mance, tech­nol­ogy, humor and con­cepts of iden­tity. Actors imper­son­at­ing Art Basel Direc­tor, Sam Keller, were dis­patched through­out the city on the Thurs­day and Fri­day Art Basel event nights to attend par­ties as Sam. In addi­tion to the pos­i­tive recog­ni­tion by pub­li­ca­tions, Foun­tain Miami was also a huge com­mer­cial suc­cess for sev­eral of the gal­leries and indi­vid­u­als involved.

Look­ing to push the bound­aries fur­ther, Foun­tain sets a prece­dent for inde­pen­dent art fairs and looks to expand its influ­ence through­out the art world. Foun­tain will again have pres­ence in Miami for Art Basel and is cur­rently inves­ti­gat­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties in Boston, Los Ange­les and Chicago. The pos­si­bil­ity of expos­ing more col­lec­tors to the smaller, more cut­ting edge gal­leries and artists con­tin­ues to expand as Foun­tain gains recog­ni­tion and momentum.