New York’s Independent art fair is returning for its 17th edition this spring (14-17 May), though much about it will look and feel brand new. The contemporary art fair has relocated from the labyrinthine Spring Studios in Tribeca to the expansive Pier 36, on the East River, whose exterior is being transformed by the renowned architecture firm Solid Objectives Idenburg Liu (SO–IL) for the fair.
Nearly half of Independent’s 76 exhibitors will be showing at the fair for the first time, and more than a third of the fair’s stands will be solo presentations by artists who have never had one in New York before. This feature of the fair, key to its reputation as a venue to discover emerging or overlooked artists, has been formalised as the curatorial initiative Independent Debuts. Under its guise, the Berlin-based gallery Buchmann Galerie will give the German artist Bettina Pousttchi her New York debut, showcasing sculptures inspired by bike racks, bollards and other features of urban streetscapes. The Reykjavik-based i8 Gallery will show tapestries by the emerging Icelandic textile artist Arna Óttarsdóttir as well as related works on paper.
Carrie Schneider, Eve III (bloodline), 2025 Courtesy of David Peter Francis and Independent.
In addition to its international bonafides (42% of exhibitors are based internationally this year), the fair will feature a strong showing of New York galleries, including many from the surrounding neighbourhoods, such as Spencer Brownstone Gallery, Superhouse, Post Times, Uffner & Liu, Jupiter. The Chinatown-based gallery David Peter Francis, making its Independent debut, will show the large-scale, quasi-sculptural abstract photography of Carrie Schneider (who will concurrently be featured in the Venice Biennale).
The fair’s expanded footprint will allow it to showcase more large-scale and site-specific installations, among them a large bronze by Francis Upritchard (presented by Anton Kern Gallery) and an iteration of Gretchen Bender’s influential TV Text & Image series of the 1980s and 90s (presented by Sprüth Magers). The fair, working with the Athens-based gallery Callirrhoë, has commissioned an installation for the fair’s main entrance by Nikolas Ventourakis. Another special presentation will be a selection of more than 20 designs by Rei Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garçons, installed within a bespoke architectural environment she is designing.
Gretchen Bender, TV Text & Image (PEOPLE WITH AIDS), 1986 Courtesy of Sprüth Magers. © Gretchen Bender Estate.
This year marks many new beginnings for Independent, whose second fair—Independent 20th Century in September, focused on overlooked artists of the last century—will relocate from the Battery Maritime Building to Sotheby’s new headquarters at the Breuer Building (formerly the Whitney Museum of American Art). In the process it is expected to grow significantly in terms of featured galleries and artists.
Independent’s May edition will coincide with a slew of fairs around Manhattan, including Tefaf, Frieze, Nada, as well as the marquee spring evening auctions at Bonhams, Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s.
- Independent, 14-17 May, Pier 36, New York
