The colossal Armory Show gets most of the attention during Art Fair Week, and the scrappy "anti-art fairs" like Spring/Break and (un)Scene do nicely as well, attracting crowds of a more raucous sort.
But while all three of those events are fun for different reasons, don't forget that there's a whole bunch of other, so-called satellite fairs happening this weekend as well, including Pulse and Independent, Volta and Moving Image, and, my personal and perennial favorite of
this group, Scope New York, which threw a great opening party last night in their new home on far-West 46th Street.
Scott Lynch / Gothamist
If you just read the manifestos of all these fairs it can seem pretty obscure what it is that makes one different from another. Like, why should I spend my afternoon at these fairs, and not these other ones?
Scope, for example, defines its mission as tapping "into the cultural psyche to present only the most pioneering work across multiple creative disciplines." I guess it succeeds at that but, more simply put, what I DO know is that every year Scope assembles a fresh and lively range of exhibitors from all over the world—there are nearly 60 here this year—who bring a lot of art that I happen to really like.
And there you have it: I like Scope because I like the art at Scope.
Scott Lynch / Gothamist
So If you're looking for some art fair action this weekend but don't feel like dealing with the Armory madhouse, Scope could be the way to go. BONUS: Scope's new location puts it right next door to Underwest Donuts!
