With a golden eagle perched on its roof and an outpost of New York’s cult eatery Carbone occupying its ground floor, the Chancery Rosewood hotel in Mayfair is a fitting home for the inaugural London Invitational (until 18 October), a Dallas-founded fair that appears to be bringing an excited contingent of US-based dealers, advisers and collectors to London.
At the fair’s opening on Thursday morning, visitors padded around the third floor of the plush hotel, 12 of whose rooms are occupied by presentations from mostly US dealers (the exceptions are the London-based Charles Asprey and Vardaxoglou). All of the exhibitors have previously shown at Dallas Invitational, which was founded in 2023. Most of the works are priced in dollars.
The majority of participating dealers are staying at the hotel, sleeping surrounded by their works—which, to avoid damage to the walls, are presented propped on the rooms’ windowsills, positioned over sinks and suspended in front of mirrors. “It’s a bit of a ‘come into my living room’ situation,” says Jessica Nowitzki, a fair partner and also member of its advisory council.
The golden eagle atop the building is a nod to its former role Ben Anders
Many of the collectors and advisers buying at the fair are also American. “I’m seeing several things here I really like,” one New York-based collector tells The Art Newspaper, before adding that he had “already done some damage” at Frieze and Sotheby’s. “It’s almost like a club,” the New York dealer Alexander Shulan says of the cadre of dealers and collectors that the Invitational draws in.
James Cope, the British-born, Dallas-based dealer who founded the fair, first met Nowitzki when the pair worked at George Michael and Kenny Goss’s Dallas-based Goss-Michael Foundation. He had an inkling that US-based collectors might follow their fair to London. “The Dallas collectors love to travel,” Cope says. “Everyone loves London, there’s so much going on,” he adds.
Shulan, whose gallery Lomex has previously exhibited at Frieze London, cites the draw of the city’s much-discussed emerging galleries: “For young galleries, this is a really exciting time to be in London for experimental programming.” The city’s growing community of young galleries has become a significant attraction for emerging dealers from abroad, creating a virtuous cycle for the city’s art scene. Last month Heidi Gallery, which was founded in Berlin in 2021, moved its operation here.
Intimate setting offers calm
The minority of London-based dealers showing at the Invitational are benefitting from the loyal following that the fair has brought in from across the Atlantic. “There are loads of Americans,” says Charles Asprey, who sold two paintings by Alessandro Raho in the fair’s opening hours. “It’s been non-stop.” Raho, whose paintings are displayed in open-faced cardboard boxes around the hotel room, appreciates the relaxed, intimate atmosphere of the fair. “The booth’s too much, it’s too brutal,” he says. “But I wanted to hang out here.”
For many visitors, after the opening days of busier, larger fairs such as Frieze and Minor Attractions, the intimate setting and relative calm of the Invitational has come as a balm. “After spending a day at Frieze, it felt refreshing to visit the invitational,” Steven Sergiovanni, a New York-based adviser, tells The Art Newspaper. “I enjoy the tightly curated 12-gallery model.”
“It’s a very approachable environment to introduce people to the artist,” Nowitzki says. “You just have to be up at 7am and make sure the room’s clean.”
• London Invitational, The Chancery Rosewood Hotel, 30 Grosvenor Square, London, until 18 October
