NEW YORK—Three satellite fairs are making their New York debuts during the Armory Show this week, while another — which would have celebrated its third installment this time around — is shunning the entire affair.

Fountain Takes a Time Out
David Kesting, one of the founders of the small, guerrilla-style Fountain fair that featured young Brooklyn galleries and thumbed its nose at the traditional art-fair setup by offering scrappy salon-style installations, said Fountain won’t be returning to New York for 2008, mainly because its organizers are disappointed with the current state of the art fair scene and the “commercialization of contemporary art.”

“When we found out the Merchandise Mart had purchased the Armory [in 2007], that was the determining factor,” said Kesting, who runs Capla Kesting Fine Art in Williamsburg and the recently opened Leo Kesting Gallery in the Meatpacking District with business partner John Leo. “It’s tough to see the marketplace change to the point where it really is a mall setting.”

However, Kesting emphasized that he is well aware of the importance of fairs — “financial support for galleries and artists is part of why we do the Fountain project” — and he denied that tough economic times or lack of participatory interest were factors in the decision to cancel this year’s fair. “It’s quite the opposite, actually,” he said. “Basically we had more galleries this year who were paying more money to be part of the exhibit, and that’s what was so scary. Fountain was designed to offer independent galleries the chance to participate in these mega-fairs without being subjected to the jury panels and rental roles, and this year we saw ourselves becoming like a larger fair. Fifteen galleries were slated for the exhibition when we canceled—we actually had to refund a number of deposits taken on the show.”

Kesting said Fountain organizers will take several months to strengthen the fair’s mission to bring exposure to independent galleries and up-and-coming artists, and then re-emerge during Art Basel Miami Beach in December. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done with Fountain,” Kesting said. “This is not what I wanted to happen, but taking a minute to go back to our roots will really benefit us. I think we can still produce a quality exhibit for independent galleries in Miami.”

Bridge Finds New Focus
Kesting added that some of the galleries that participated in Fountain last year have found homes at other Armory satellites for the time being, including Bridge, a fair that started in Miami in 2005 but is making its first appearance in New York this year (Bridge made its London debut [with Kesting participating] during the Frieze Art Fair in 2007, and it will also expand to Berlin in October).

The New York edition of Bridge runs March 27 to 30 at the Waterfront — the former home of the famous Tunnel nightclub — on 12th Avenue. Bridge founder Michael Workman said he brought the fair, which will showcase 57 galleries, to New York because Armory founder Paul Morris encouraged him to do so. “[Morris] provided a lot of assistance in us getting set up here and reaching VIPs,” Workman said.

He added that Bridge is using the New York edition to introduce its brand-new “Focus” series. From now on, each edition of Bridge will highlight a different culture. Bridge New York will concentrate on Asia, with 15 of the participating galleries hailing from Taipei, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, and elsewhere across the Pacific Rim. The timing was right, Workman said, with interest in Asian art soaring, the success of the first ShContemporary fair in Shanghai in September 2007, and New York recently wrapping up its Asia week auctions, exhibitions, and fairs. “We’re trying to spread culture across geographic and artistic boundaries,” Workman said.

The art will be affordable, too, he added, which he felt was important given the current economic climate. “You won’t have to break the bank to purchase artworks.”