We may not have the climate of Miami or the star power of New York, but Thursday night’s
opening party for the second ever (e)merge art fair proved DC has the ability to throw
a heck of an arty shindig nonetheless.
This year’s fair returned to the Capitol Skyline Hotel, where it made its debut in
2011. Local institutions (Connersmith, G Fine Art, WPA, Flashpoint) were well represented,
but representatives from galleries also flew in from as far away as Austria, Amsterdam,
and Havana to showcase their artists. New York’s
Ethan Cohen, who proudly told us he was the first American dealer to represent
Ai Weiwei, said the timing was auspicious,
since he could attend (e)merge and the opening of
the Hirshhorn’s Ai Weiwei
retrospective
the very same weekend.
Performance art highlights from the weekend included
Andrew Wodzianski floating on top of a wooden coffin in the middle of the hotel’s pool for 36 hours,
David Smith inviting attendees to join him in improvised karaoke, and
Holly Bass asking people to wash her hair. For more on Thursday night’s opening party, read
our recap,
and click through the slideshow for photos of the super-stylish guests.
