Fountain Miami, the alternative art exhibition known for presenting cutting-edge and inde-pendent art galleries, sets up shop in an industrial warehouse located at 25th Street and North Miami Avenue for its latest installment this December. Fountain is a guerrilla-style art event, dubbed by many as the "Anti Art Fair" for its brash, off-the-wall offerings of non-traditional art exhibitions in the art fair environment. Recruiting avant-garde galleries who showcase progressive primary-market works, Fountain breathes fresh life into the Mi-ami Beach "Basel Frazzle," giving gallery-goers and art enthusiasts the opportunity to see new works without traditional booths or selection juries.
While most fairs have fallen into the hands of corporate management, Fountain remains inde-pendent, and as such presents work in a forward-thinking manner. Unencumbered by the strict presentation guidelines and parameters found at other fairs, Fountain preserves the visions of galleries and dealers to provide an environment re-flective of the artists and their works.
Fountain’s venue, a large and dramatic 8000 square-foot complex with both interior and exterior exhibition areas, is adjacent to all the major Wynwood fairs. Participating galleries receive approximately 700 square feet of exhibition space, so visitors can expect massive installations of contemporary painting, sculpture, performance and new media art.
Artnet – the most widely read art site on the web – describes Fountain: “Likeability and chutzpah used to be what art was about. That, and a little guerrilla mentality, which you had at Fountain in spades. This is the place where you reminisce about the good old days, when you did it yourself, when inspiration and magic struck like a bolt from the blue. Here at Fountain, the artists and dealers are hungry and they welcome all visitors warmly. They are having fun and that’s the vibe. I felt like sitting down, having a beer, and hanging.”
Fountain Miami 2008 participating galleries include:
Glowlab – New York
Leo Kesting – New York
Open Ground – Brooklyn
Radau – Miami
Yum Yum Factory – Brooklyn
Fountain was launched in March 2006 in New York in an effort to leverage support for independent galleries overlooked by the larger, corporate-sponsored art fairs. The name "Fountain" is a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s controversial sculpture which shook up the art world when it was rejected by the Society of Artists’ exhibition in 1917. Similarly, in defiant contrast with The Armory Show, Art Basel Miami Beach, Pulse, Scope and the numerous other international art fairs, Fountain has received wide public support and critical acclaim for its experimental slant. In form and spirit, the artwork exhibited at Fountain reflects the avant-garde attitude of the Dada art movement, while attracting the attention of the international clientele and top collectors who attend the more traditional fairs.
