Just a few weeks ago, as the New York Art Fairs in May were fast approaching their opening this week, Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly had yet to decide whether or not to hold their biennial event. Spring/Break Art Exhibitionknown for its original and affordable offers.
But with lightning speed, the husband-and-wife artist made the quick decision to return to the independent fair’s original location at St. Patrick’s Old School in Soho with works by 124 artists.
“We put out a call about two and a half weeks ago,” Kelly told Artnet News. She and Gori decided to organize a new edition of what they call “Spring/Break Immersive”, an event in the style of a group exhibition, rather than an art fair with individual booths.
It’s a testament to the community of artists and curators that Spring/Break has built over the past 11 years that the exhibition was able to come together so quickly. Dubbed the “Secret Show,” its veteran participants, including longtime Spring/Break regulars such as Chris Bors, Anne Spalter, Marie Salome PeyronnelAnd Maureen Sullivan— were eager to make it even amidst other projects.
Janet Loren Hillwho participated in previous editions as an artist and curator, was working hard to complete eight pieces of his solo exhibition “Origin Story”, which opened at Tribeca’s Kapow Gallery on May 5, when she learned that “Secret Show” was happening. She ended up contributing her own work to the impromptu edition of Spring/Break, along with pieces from eight artists she works with, including Farwa Rizvi, Deric Carner, Becky BaileyAnd Courtney Stock.
Work at the Spring/Break “Secret Show”. Photo by Sarah Cascone.
“Amber and Andrew said ‘if you want to organize more than five people, just submit the form multiple times’. I love that they are so confident,” Hill told Artnet News. a moment of contemporary art – it’s genius.”
Thomas Martinez-Pilnik, meanwhile, brought work to the Old School straight from his recent senior thesis exhibit at the University of Connecticut. He learned that the show was going from Taylor Lee Nicholson—the two had stalls side by side at the last Spring/Break Los AngelesNicholson’s hosted by Hill.
Their work was nearby again in New York, on the second floor of what Martinez-Pilnik had dubbed “the room of vices” because of the preponderance of works featuring cigarettes. There were his larger-than-life crochet sculptures, each priced at $750, and Nicolson’s tiny glazed ceramic cigarette butts stacked on a patch of artificial grass for $200, as well as sculptures of Mary Gagler And Emilie Marchand.
Taylor Lee Nicholson, cigarette butts. On sale for $200 at the Spring/Break “Secret Show”. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Spring/Break is such a community, and they do a really good job of bringing people together,” Martinez-Pilnik said. “It’s a fun little variety show.”
For Nicholson, there had been no doubt about making the trip from North Carolina, freshly pulled sculptures in tow, even on short notice.
“This is the first time I’ve been to New York in five years and the first time in an artistic context,” they said.
Meanwhile, the curator Ben Finerof Kishka Gallery and Library in White River, Vermont, had already planned to make the trip to New York this week for personal reasons when he got the call from Gori and Kelly. His stand with Megan Bogonovitch had been one of the hits at Spring/Break’s 2022 show in New York, with 95 of its 98 Seussian porcelain ceramics finding new homes.
Work at the Spring/Break “Secret Show”, with sculptures by Megan Bogonovich in the foreground. Photo by Sarah Cascone
Naturally, he was happy to bring some of his newer and larger works with him.
Then Gori and Kelley asked exactly how many sculptures Bogonovich had ready to go. Bringing in the 30s, along with the workbench tables on which to display them, became something more than a production, but Finer’s van was thankfully up to the task.
art dealer Claire Foussardmeanwhile, is based in New York, but works primarily with Inuit artists, which she presented at Spring/Break Los Angeles in February.
“When Andrew and Amber were talking about this, I was like, ‘I sure can’t get so much out of the Arctic so fast.’ So I arranged studio tours with New York artists that I was working with or wanted to work with,” she told Artnet News.
Tim Pitsiulak, ᐊᖕᒐᑯ ᐊᖕᒋᕋᖃᑐᖅ ᓇᒥᑐᐃᓇᖅ (“Shaman has a home everywhere”), 2007–08. Curated by Claire Foussard, this drawing is on sale for $2,500 at the Spring/Break “Secret Show”. Courtesy of the artist’s estate.
It ended up showing three New York artists…Claire Gemima, Sei SmithAnd Jiwon Rhie—and Inuit artists Pitseolak Qimirpik And Tim Pitsiulaka famous community leader and artist who died of pneumonia at just 49 in 2016, due to poor access to healthcare in the Arctic.
Director Sarah Drivermeanwhile, had just made a studio visit to Bushwick with Catherine Pasquarelli at the suggestion of a friend, the artist’s aunt-in-law, and was blown away by her surreal paintings of knocked down houses.
Cate Pasquarelli, House with ladder (2020). Curated by Sara Driver, this painting is on sale for $4,500 at the Spring/Break “Secret Show.” Courtesy of the artist.
A Spring/Break curator since 2014, Driver emailed Gori and Kelly to share the work of the recent Cooper Union graduate. Next thing Driver knew, Pasquarelli was in the “Secret Show” range and Gori hopes to show more of the artist’s work, priced here at $1,700-$4,800, during the main edition of the fair in september.
“Secret Show” marks the second time Spring/Break has revisited the Old School, which hosted its first two editions in 2012 and 2013 before the building was sold and its classrooms converted to condos. But Kelly and Gori have always kept in touch with the church – which maintains a community space in the building – and held a pop-up show there during their Armory Week main event in 2018.
Rhonda Wall, Chips don’t grow on trees (2021). Curated by Renee Riccardo, this collage painting is on sale for $2,800 at the Spring/Break “Secret Show.” Courtesy of the artist.
The show has forged a unique identity by taking over unused real estate, whether empty office buildings, a former post office or a former market terminal. Unusual places can be a challenge for artists and curators, who must transform the space. By comparison, “Secret Show” was a low-rise affair, with artists and curators dropping work and trusting Gori and Kelly to do the rest.
“I love the spontaneity of what Ambre and Andrew do,” curator Renee Riccardo, who showed tech-inspired collage work by Rhonda’s Wall for $2,800, said. “They have a super eye. It’s almost like a potluck where everyone throws something together, and it turns out to be magical in the end.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay one step ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news, revealing interviews and incisive reviews that move the conversation forward.
