Basilica Hudson chosen as site for New Art Dealers Alliance gathering
HUDSON — NADA–the New Art Dealers Alliance–gets around. The not-for profit, invitation-only collective of professionals working with contemporary art has presented an annual December art fair in Miami Beach for eight years. Next April NADA is off to Cologne, Germany, for an international art fair. And this weekend NADA comes to Hudson.
It’s coming to Basilica Hudson, 110 South Front Street, where 51 projects will be presented by NADA members and affiliates. These will fill the 8,000 square feet of the Basilica indoors, more than 10,000 square feet outdoors and the Basilica theater.
Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. the exhibition is open to the public, free of charge.
Bill Stone, a co-owner of the Basilica, put the event together with James Fuentes, whose Delancey Street gallery represents Stone’s large, witty sculptures.
“I showed James this space and said, ‘somebody’s got to do something here,’ and James brought in NADA,” Mr. Stone said earlier this week, speaking from a scaffold as he helped set up the exhibition at the 19th century brick industrial building on the Hudson waterfront. It has been cleaned up and remodeled over the last few years to include performance and presentation spaces.
The combination NADA and Basilica Hudson does seem natural. NADA was founded in 2002 with the missions of supporting dealers in contemporary art and enhancing the public’s interaction with that art. At the Basilica Hudson, co-owners Melissa Auf der Maur, Tony Stone, and his parents, Bill Stone and Nancy Barber-Stone, seek to offer a home to the artistic and cultural community at large, with a wide range of events.
NADA is a major arts presenter, Bill Stone said. “There are major dealers in this show, and everyone in the arts world knows that NADA is presenting this exhibition in Hudson.
“In terms of the art world,” he said,” it puts Hudson very much on the map.”
Among the NADA presenters are galleries from New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Istanbul, Milan, London and, not incidentally, Hudson’s own (hi)story labor(atory).
Zach Feuer, proprietor of an eponymous gallery in New York’s Chelsea district and a cofounder of NADA, is one of the exhibitors. Mr. Feuer, 33, opened his first gallery in college and his current one 10 years ago. He’s also been a part-time resident of Claverack for eight years and is exhibiting regional artists at the Basilica: Dan Seward of Hudson, the proprietor of John Doe Records and Books on Park Place); Johannes Vanderbeek, a part-time resident of Stockport; and Jim Krewson of Catskill.
What Hudson gives NADA, Said Mr. Feuer, is “an easy way to do a project out of town,” in a huge space just two hours from New York City. For the newer, smaller galleries, this is particularly important, he said, offering a chance to experiment without the financial and space constraints of Manhattan or Brooklyn. And summer shows can be more flexible, said Stone, with less wall art, more sculpture and freestanding pieces.
Performance art is also part of this weekend, with various artists, sponsored by their galleries, scheduled at the Basilica from 1 to 6 p.m. both days. “Bunnybrains” (aka Dan Seward) winds up the show at 6 p.m. Sunday.
On Saturday the art continues well into the evening, with the BeLo 3rd Gallery Stroll from 5 to 9 p.m. (belo3rd.com) and a NADA Basilica reception at Club Helsinki, with live entertainment, beginning at 8 p.m. (helsinkihudson.com).
For more information, visit newartdealers.org or basilicahudson.com. NADA Hudson is sponsored by Perrier.
