NEW YORK— At around 3 p.m. in the former Dia building — and now former X Initiative space — on West 22nd Street, New York dealer Stefania Bortolami could be found taking a break from feather-dusting her large Tom Burr sculptures to air kiss Miami collector Mera Rubell, who was visiting Bortolami Gallery's stand with her husband, Don. Such was the scene just before the opening of Independent, the much-buzzed hybrid non-art-fair art fair that gallerists Elizabeth Dee and Darren Flook organized as a collective-minded alternative to the other bazaars filling New York this Armory Week. Though billed as a grassroots venue with a greater emphasis on exhibiting art than selling it, the affair was decidedly high-toned — and avid. As a silver Rolls Royce idled outside, the Rubells joined a pool of other power collectors (Howard Rachofsky, for one) in previewing the wares on display in the stands, while organizers of other art fairs — including Frieze’s Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, and Art Basel’s Marc Speigler and Annette Schonholzer — and the occasional artist (Maurizio Cattelan) took in the event's open-floor layout.

Spread throughout the building's four floors was a curated selection of 40 indie-spirited exhibitors, both dealers — from Turkey's Rodeo gallery to New York's Dispatch — and non-profits, like Artists Space and heady art publications October and Farimani. As with many of the events organized in the space by X Initiative (also founded by Dee), a refreshingly communal, engaged, and (almost) informal atmosphere pervaded the space. Independent Curators International's energetic Kate Fowle, who brought to the fair material from MIT List Visual Arts Center curator Joao Ribas's "FAX" show and other exhibitions the organization has mounted, had an espresso machine in her booth and was dispensing coffees with alacrity to whomever requested one. She was enthusiastic about the dialogues occurring between the exhibitions at different stands, which most participants had installed without the traditional drywall partitions seen at art fairs. “This space allows connections between things, and for things to breathe,” said Fowle.

When the doors to Independent officially opened, a host of art-world taste-makers and collectors streamed into the galleries. A popular destination was New York dealer Ed Winkleman's booth, which exhibited Eve Sussman’s stage-set reconstruction of Russian astronaut Yuri Gargarin’s office, complete with map, globe, desk and carpet. (Winkleman first showed the piece in his gallery last May.) Sometime after the public opening, a woman climbed into Sussman’s installation, and the artist was on hand to pounce. “No, no, no, you can’t do that,” she admonished. In an undertone she added, “You can do that if you buy it.” The piece is priced at $85,000.

While organizers Dee and Flook object to Independent being called a fair, “everyone knows we’re here to sell,” said Daniele Balice of Paris gallery Balice/Hertling. Indeed, he had already sold one piece at the opening — a mixed media work by Nikolas Gambaroff priced at about $5,500 — and had others on reserve. “People like to say that New York doesn’t need another fair,” the dealer said. “But this disproves that. It’s smaller, and more interesting than other fairs.” And though sales were being handled discreetly — there's a slightly transgressive aspect to dealers conducting business out of an exhibition context, which is what made the hybrid event exciting — they were certainly in effect at other booths during the opening.

London dealer Laura Bartlett, for instance, was able to part with two photographs by Cyprien Gaillard, priced at $5,000 apiece, and a large installation by Nina Beier for $11,500. “If it was in a convention center or something, if it was just another Armory Show, we wouldn’t have done it,” Bartlett said. “This is creative and ambitious, more of an exhibition approach than a sales-dominated approach.” Sutton Lane director Cora Muennich, who sold a large abstract Cheyney Thompson painting during the opening hours for $75,000, concurred. “This is much better than the Armory Show,” said the dealer, who did the marquee New York fair three years in a row before stopping with the 2008 edition. “The artists were really interested in showing here, and it’s nice to have daylight.” Behind her, the last rays of the day’s sunlight were streaming in through tall windows, a touch often absent at art fairs.