How Independent is Revitalizing the Art Fair Model

The fair will include a façade installation by architectural firm Solid Objectives Idenburg Liu (SO–IL), who also created the Randall’s Island tent for Frieze New York before it moved to Hudson Yards. Meanwhile, D_P_S (Diogo Passarinho Studio) will give the fair’s interior a sweeping, unified design.

There will also be several commissioned projects: Greek artist Nikolas Ventourakis will exhibit a giant, immersive wrap-around photo mural of a garbage pile at the fair’s entrance to evoke our increasingly dystopian era; fashion house Comme des Garçons will present couture creations—wearable sculptures, really—by its legendary founder Rei Kawakubo; and there will be a restaging of a video installation by Gretchen Bender (1951–2004) whose work during the 1980s presciently tracked the negative effects of mass media.

Fairs devoted to the modern and mid-century eras have become fixtures of the art market, but here again, Independent distinguishes itself by presenting lesser-known artists alongside marquee names. The move to the Breuer should prove to be a real game changer: the building itself is a landmark of 20th-century art, not only for its iconic architecture, but for memories of Whitney shows past. Together, they’ll provide the sort of historical context for the work that’s simply not possible at convention centers.