26/3/2008
Volta NY 2008
7W, New York
The cutting-edge art fair brings 53 international artists and 52 galleries to New York during The Armory Week. Continuing its original mandate to create a tightly-focused, curated event that is a place for discovery and a showcase for current art production, Volta introduces a new format that features exclusively solo projects of notable international artists. A platform for challenging ideas about contemporary art, it is an exhibition contained within the format of an art fair and aims to promote a deep exploration of its selected artists.
VOLTA—the cutting-edge art fair that debuted in Basel —brings 53 international artists and
52 galleries to New York during The Armory Week for its inaugural solo invitational exhibition,
VOLTA NY, held at an extraordinary location off 5th Avenue, immediately opposite the Empire State
Building.
Continuing the original VOLTA mandate to create a tightly-focused, curated event that is a place for
discovery and a showcase for current art production, VOLTA NY introduces a new format that
features exclusively solo projects of notable international artists, conceived to complement the
exciting program of art presented by The Armory Show and available in New York during Armory
Week, March 2008.
A platform for challenging, often complimentary, sometimes competing ideas about contemporary
art, VOLTA NY is an exhibition contained within the format of an art fair and aims to promote a deep
exploration of its selected artists—who, in turn, are some of the world’s most innovative exponents
of new trends in art. Organized as a curated exhibition under the title The Eye of the Beholder by the
Directorial Team of art critics/curators Amanda Coulson (Executive Director) and Christian Viveros-
Fauné (Curatorial Advisor), the show considers, among other themes, beauty and its opposite—that
is, the twin polarities presented by criticality and aesthetics in contemporary art.
Embodied in the works of its participating artists—exponents as varied as video artist Peter Sarkisian
and painter Ena Swansea and conceptualists William Pope.L and Vienna’s International Festival—
VOLTA NY charts some of the most compelling directions in contemporary art today.
Highlights of VOLTA NY include a solo exhibition of the photographs of 2008 Whitney Biennial artist
Melanie Schiff; a debut installation by kinetic sculptor David Ellis and his parallel live-in project at
Chelsea’s Theory Store (38 Gansevoort Street); the first U.S. exhibition of the highly political work of
Venice Biennale veteran and Kwangju Biennial Prize Winner Jota Castro; the inaugural U.S.
exhibitions of the works of Czech sculptor Kristof Kintera, Mexican artist Jose Dávila and Japanese
sculptor Takaaki Izumi; the New York debut of Romanian painter Serban Savu; a solo exhibition of
new photographs by American artist Tracey Baran; an exhibition of the post-Katrina images of New
Orleans by American Clay Ketter (in advance of his 2009 solo at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet); a
solo exhibition of large-scale drawings by British artist Adam Dant; as well as a lobby mural and
limited edition works by German painter Florian Merkel. With site specific pieces (such as Swiss artist
Nils Nova’s wallpaper room installation) and ambitious large-scale projects (like avant-garde
composer Theodor Koehler’s live hourly orchestral performances that are part of Frankfurt-based,
American artist Adrian Williams’ media performances), VOLTA NY will provide visitors with unusual,
unexpected and innovative projects rarely seen in an art fair format.
Aside from convenient public access by subway or taxi, visitors can reach VOLTA NY’s prime
location just off 5th Avenue with shared shuttles directly between The Armory Show on Pier 94 and
the VOLTA NY site opposite The Empire State Building on 34th street.
VOLTA was founded in 2005 by dealers Kavi Gupta (Chicago), Ulrich Voges (Frankfurt) and Friedrich
Loock (Berlin). VOLTA4 will be held in Basel from June 2nd-June7th, 2008, at Ultra Brag, while
VOLTA NY premieres in 2008 from March 27th-March 30th.
Press Information:
European Media Contacts
Amanda Coulson – Executive Director
amanda@voltashow.com
Tel: + 49.69.9511.9622
Creixell Espilla-Gilart – Project Manager
espilla@voltashow.com
Tel: + 49.30.2243.7387
US Media Contact
Christian Viveros-Fauné – Curatorial Advisor
cvf@voltashow.com
Tel: + 1.646.641.8732
VIP Preview: Thursday, March 27th 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
7 West 34th Street
Public Hours Daily: Thursday - Sunday, March 27-30th 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Ticket Price: Regular Day Ticket $ 10; Reduced $ 8