The Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair returns Thursday to West Palm Beach, bringing hundreds of world-class artworks to the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
Now in its eighth year, the event will feature 76 galleries from 18 countries, amounting to an extensive catalogue of nearly 1,000 artists, including Alex Katz, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Julian Opie, said Nick Korniloff, the fair’s director.
“You will have pretty much every movement of the modern contemporary art market available for collectors to add to their collection, or for those who are looking to start a collection,” he told the Daily News.
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair opens Thursday, and will feature a special exhibition from photographer David Yarrow, presented by Palm Beach’s Holden Luntz Gallery. Picture above: David Yarrow, “Million Dollar Cowboy Bar” (Color), 2025.
The fair, presented by Art Miami, runs through Sunday. It opens at 5 p.m. Thursday with the invitation-only VIP preview to benefit the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens. It opens to the public Friday.
Demand for fine arts continues to grow, said Korniloff, who has organized art fairs in Palm Beach County since 2001. However, collectors are not clamoring for the major names in art like they used to, he said.
“It’s about the next wave of who the new discoverable artists will be,” he said. “So, more emerging, mid-career, cutting-edge contemporary art — people are reinforcing their collection with those artists, that’s the trend we’re seeing.”
That’s in part due to the growing number of younger art collectors, Korniloff said.
“They’re stepping away from the antiques and bound furniture, and they’re really integrating themselves into the movements of the contemporary art market,” he said.
For those looking to start a collection, Korniloff said gallerists will be on hand ready to deliver “the knowledge and expertise to develop a collection.”
Exhibitor highlights include Indianapolis-based Long-Sharp Gallery’s “The Line” exhibition, which explores the evolution of the line as a form of artistic expression through the works of Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Annie Albers, Tarik Currimbhoy, Rachel Hellmann, Patrick Hurst, Julia Ibbini, Amy Kirchner, Oliver Marsden, Daniel Mullen, Jason Myers, Pablo Picasso and Cha Jonh Rye.
As part of the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair, Long-Sharp Gallery will be presenting “Radiance BTC,” a sculpture over 30 feet tall from artist Jason Myers.
Long-Sharp Gallery also is presenting a massive over 30-foot-tall sculpture at the convention center’s north entrance. Created by Indiana-based artist Jason Myers, “Radiance BTC” symbolizes the role of decentralized cryptocurrency in the world of finance, through the incorporation of LED lights that lead to the illuminated Bitcoin beacon.
“It’s beautiful, and it was a feat to pull off,” Korniloff said. “But it’s a tremendous effort by Long-Sharp Gallery to bring Jason’s work to us.”
Palm Beach’s Contessa Gallery will feature a selection of works from American artist Rob Pruitt that explore the theme of climate change.
The Ann Norton will be a satellite venue of the fair, with a complimentary shuttle available between the fair and the sculpture garden.
The ANSG also host the debut of Alex Katz special exhibition “Portraits and Landscape Through the Season,” presented by Sponder Gallery. The ANSG’s artist-in-residence exhibition, Jane Manus’ “Old Friends,” will be on display.
At the fair’s entrance, guests will be welcomed with a special exhibition from photographer David Yarrow. Presented by Holden Luntz Gallery, the exhibition showcases Yarrow’s cinematic and emotive approach to photographing wildlife, landscapes and people.
A percentage of all Yarrow sales will be donated to Tusk, a conservation group that aims to combat poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict in Africa through initiatives that fund local groups and organizations at the forefront of conservation.
David Yarrow’s “Frozen Mountain,” 2024, will be part of a special exhibition presented by Holden Luntz.
Yarrow will make an appearance Saturday at the VIP lounge during the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Talks. During the lecture Yarrow will give attendees a behind-the-scenes look at his photographing process.
Also slated for Saturday is a discussion between art critic and artist Bruce Helander and artist Tyler K. Smith on the latter’s work that will be on display at the Tequesta-based Lighthouse ArtCenter booth.
The VIP lounge will also be home to New York City-based Taglialatella Galleries exhibition JETER, a collaboration between pop artist Russel Young and Major League Baseball, which features diamond-dusted prints of famed New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.
A percentage of the JETER proceeds will be donated to Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation, which supports programs to turn young people away from drugs. Proceeds also will support the Perry J. Cohen Foundation and its efforts to advance the arts, wildlife education, teenage entrepreneurship and boating safety education.
Participating Palm Beach County galleries are:
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Blinkgroup Fine Art Gallery
If you go
What: Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary
Where: Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday, VIP preview, invitation only; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Cost: $40 for a single-day ticket; $73.50 for a multi-day ticket; $28 for a single-day ticket for ages 62 and older, and for students ages 12-18. Group sales are available. VIP passes are $225.
Information: artpbfair.com/visitor-info
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary returns Thursday to West Palm Beach