After wafting inches of rainwater onto the hall floors, some Hamptons Fine Art Fair (HFAF) attendees are pointing the finger at the fair for what they see as poor planning for the heavy downpour over Southampton, New York, last Sunday. On July 16, the chic coastal town was hit with three to five inches of rain in two hours, flooding the art fair on its most frantic last day and forcing a fire marshal-ordered evacuation due to unsafe electrical conditions.
While show organizer Rick Friedman called the weather incident “an act of God”, several show attendees say the site’s construction and electrical components left their stands unprotected from the elements, with some describing a “nightmare” experience.
Based in Washington, D.C., Zenith Gallery founder Margery Goldberg said Hyperallergic that as a first-time fair attendee, she paid around $20,000 for her 10-by-20-foot booth and was amazed to find that the entire fair was spread over three to four tents on a gravel field on the Southampton Elks Lodge property.
Goldberg claimed that the tents were built on plywood at ground level rather than on risers above ground as would be seen at other art fairs. Another gallerist who preferred to remain anonymous corroborated Goldberg’s claims and alleged that the gallery walls were also not flush with the floors, calling it a “recipe for disaster”.
Friedman, who has been involved in the Hamptons art market for more than a decade, refuted those claims, saying Hyperallergic that the floors of the pavilion were “built about five inches above the ground” and the gallery walls touched the floors, but “the downpour which occurred only once in ten years” produced about six to seven inches of water on the grounds, so that the height of the flood was higher than the ground in some places. “When you have water outside higher than inside, it finds a way in,” Friedman said.
Regarding damages, insurance and liability, Friedman said the incident was a “force majeure” situation beyond anyone’s control, and that the exhibitor agreement “strongly recommends” that attendees have their own property insurance policy. He added that the agreement’s force majeure clause states that while the fair endeavors to protect the artworks, it “does not bear ultimate responsibility”.
In addition to her dismay over the flooding, Goldberg also shared that she informed Southampton’s fire marshal of her concerns about potentially dangerous power lines throughout the space, describing “hundreds of lines for lights and air conditioning running along the floors” that were submerged in water when the flooding began, repeatedly knocking out power.
According to an official notice to Friedman and other organization personnel shared with HyperallergicFire Marshal John Rankin closed the event completely because there was “standing water on walking surfaces” and “water had submerged and impinged on electrical cords and connections”, determining that patrons and attendees risked “health and safety issues” and “potential electrical shock”.
In a telephone conversation with Hyperallergic, Rankin pointed to the heavy rainfall and alleged that the power lines on site were likely supplied by both independent contractors and electrician services. Friedman added that all of the electrical work done by modular power company Aggreko “was excellent under normal conditions” and that the installation was typical of a 70,000 square foot venue like the one at the fair.
When it came time to uninstall the booths on Monday, July 17, after the fair ended early and the storm subsided, Goldberg said there were no lights or air conditioning. “It was so hot and horrible that I poured a bottle of water over my head,” she said. “How can you pack millions of dollars of work in these conditions, without light?”
Emmanuel Fremin of Fremin Gallery also said that “the smell of mold was all over the fair” during the uninstallation, adding that he thought it was an “extremely dangerous situation”.
“I don’t think the city will ever allow fairs in this location again,” Fremin continued, though he noted he was able to make sales even after the power went out.
friedman said Hyperallergic that he was under strict instruction from Rankin and the Fire Prevention Department not to turn the power back on under any circumstances. “Rankin made this decision in the best interest of safety,” Friedman said.
A Midwestern artist whose work was on display at one of the booths, who preferred to remain anonymous, was unconvinced by the whole affair and said many others were too.
“I’ve been doing shows like this for years and I’ve never seen such poor production, especially for the cost of these shows,” they said. Hyperallergic. “I know many galleries were upset and have every right to be. In my opinion the show was poorly organized and cheaply produced.
Friedman took a more positive view of the aftermath of the storm, sharing that the venue was secured by armed guards after the evacuation, no one was injured, the fair had record attendance, and the antiques gallery MS Rau, which had a booth at the fair, “sold its dramatic Picasso painting for $5.5 million over the phone to an attendee during the storm’s standstill.”
But Goldberg and the anonymous gallerist believe the fair’s administration “disclaimed liability and wrongdoing” through their contract and simply asked attendees to “contact [their] insurance,” allegedly without an apology.
“If they had built it correctly, it wouldn’t have happened,” Goldberg said, saying she would reach out to affected participants to see if they could pursue next steps together.
