What makes an art fair successful? Sales. Crowds. Fairs that give people a reason to come back. This fall, artist William Powhida, Netvvrk Director of Operations Penny Retica, and I walked New York's fair week to see which ones do that job. We went to the Spring Break in the old CBS News offices, Independent 20th Century, The Armory, and Printed Matter's New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1. One of them left us with some serious FOMO.
Guest credits
Artist William Powhida
Netvvrk Director of Operations, Penny Retica
Artists/Projects Mentioned:
Spring Break
https://www.springbreakartshow.com/
Kara Sheffler & Joanna Herr, Tiki Bar
David Molesky, Prone to Bruise
Christopher Chan & Lindaluz Carillo, Soft Bruise
Kutay Tufekci, Roselynn Sadaghiani, & Richard Medina in Fool Me Can’t Get Fooled Again
Alice Herbert, HOUSE ARREST
Matthew Cronin, Catalina Tuca, & Joseph Wilcox, Afterimage, curated by Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen
Independent 20th Century
https://www.independenthq.com/
General Idea
David Hammons
Jenny Holzer
Armory
https://www.thearmoryshow.com/
Dorian Langberg
Michelle Grabner
Darvish Fakhr
Embajada Gallery
Katarina Riseing
Alba Triana
NY Art Book Fair
https://nyabf2026.printedmatterartbookfairs.org/
African Art Book Fair, The Pan African Library Will Not Be Colonized
Book Arts Solidarity Network, MAKEREADY
A, Lukas, Stop Hiding Behind Masks
Precious Okoyomon, The Pleasure Principle
Black Sheep, Riso Lantern
Additional Reading
Valentina Di Liscia, "Independent 20th Century, the Mise en Abyme of Art Fairs," Hyperallergic, 2026
Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late Capitalism, Verso, 2024
Activating the Transformative Potential of Commons in the Arts
Free class
If you want shows beyond your home city, join my free class, How to Get Shows Beyond Your Region, on October 14 at 7 PM EDT. Register here.
