Lower East Side Launches Independent Art Week as Alternative to Fairs

The first edition of the Lower East Side Art Week (LES Art Week) will take place from October 17 to 21, 2018, in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood. Approximately twenty galleries will participate, with all venues within walking distance. The event aims to present each gallery's artistic vision through talks, guided tours, performances, poetry readings, and roundtables. Organizers Lesley Heller of Lesley Heller Gallery and Bart Keijsers Koning of LMAKgallery stated they were motivated by a desire to share their platform and show the Lower East Side as a cultural beacon. This year's theme is feminist artists, with each gallery mounting a dedicated exhibition. The initiative comes amid rising costs for small and medium galleries to participate in art fairs. NADA, the New Art Dealers Alliance, recently canceled its New York fair to focus on supporting member galleries during Armory Show week. Executive director Heather Hubbs cited the need to develop alternative models for connecting audiences with contemporary art. Similarly, in Basel, 13 galleries cooperated to launch Frame, a fair debuting during Basel art week, to counter organizational and financial pressures of major fairs. Co-founder Bertrand Scholler noted that art fairs are not structured to meet their needs and have become too expensive. In Los Angeles, a new fair called Felix will launch alongside Frieze Los Angeles, offering lower participation costs, initiated by a contemporary art collector.