Even among Frieze New York’s satellite fairs, Esther (until 16 May) is off the beaten path at Estonian House, an historic émigré cultural centre on East 34th Street. But it was a hive of activity during Tuesday’s opening, with at least two galleries selling out their presentations on the first day of the fair’s third and final iteration in its current form.
Esther was founded by the Estonian gallerists Olga Temnikova and Margot Samel. They have foregone conventional stands, making the most of Estonian House’s Beaux-Arts, 19th-century interior. Displays by the 22 participating galleries plus three bespoke projects are arranged like a museum show. One of the special projects, by the Estonian artists Darja Popolitova and Madlen Hirtentreu, is displayed in the basement and turns beauty-industry equipment into installations that look like torture devices.
The fair spans the building’s vault-like basement, grandiose wood-panelled entry, first-floor café and pool room, second-floor blue salon with white columns and a grand piano, plus two top-floor rooms and landings resembling an artist’s garret. One of the rooms was taken over by Kogo Gallery from Tartu, Estonia, and the Montréal-based gallery Pangée. Kogo Gallery is showing framed, iced cookies by the Latvian artist Elīna Vītola, priced at $4,500 each.
The blue salon, shared by three galleries, is a microcosm of Esther’s style and range of offerings. Temnikova’s Tallinn-based gallery, Temnikova & Kasela, is showing sculptures inspired by early artificial intelligence, an aesthetic the dealer describes as: “Is it cute or is it zombie?” The presentation includes works by Katja Novitskova and a sculptural dress by the Latvia-born, Georgia-based artist Thea Gvetadze.
The Brooklyn-based dealer Laurel Gitlen, who has participated in all three editions of Esther, is showing textile compositions by Jill Goldstein and sculptures by the Chicago-based artist Max Guy, who explores themes of identity. Alongside Gitlen in the blue salon is the Portland, Oregon-based gallery Adams and Ollman, which is showing paintings by the Pennsylvania artist Bethann Parker priced between $2,000 and $9,000, including nature scenes that resemble textile works.
The Budapest-based gallery Longtermhandstand is showing works by the young sculptor Kata Tranker in the large hall. Péter Bencze, the gallery’s founder, describes the big fairs as “overrun”, while at Esther gallerists co-operate and “share clients”. As a gallerist from Hungary, emerging from more than a decade of Viktor Orbán’s strongman rule, he says he has often been asked by buyers what was happening in his country. “I don’t deal with politics,” he says. “We have to make success on our own. We did a lot. Since 2013, I realised more than 150 exhibitions around the world with no state funding.”
The New York-based gallerist Thomas Erben, showing in Estonian House’s large hall, sees Esther as an opportunity to promote three-dimensional works by Mike Cloud, whom he has represented for years. His presentation, with works priced around $18,000, coincides with Cloud’s solo exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Erben describes Esther as “a nice counterpoint to the more institutionalised” fairs and expresses hopes for new alternatives.
Samel pointed to a commemorative plaque marking Esther’s three-year run, installed on one of the Estonian House café bar stools, below a row of Estonian pastries, as proof that the run is over. Temnikova intimated that something might be brewing, while at the same time expressing concerns about the American art market turning inward, Estonia being threatened by Russia and foreign galleries taking fewer trips to the US.
In addition to Adams and Ollman and the New York gallery Management (showing works by Willehad Eilers) selling out their presentations, Shanghai’s Bank Gallery reported selling one work each by Alice Gong Xiaowen and Florian Meisenberg to “influential local collectors” during Tuesday’s preview.
