How to Plan an Art-Filled Day Trip from NYC to the Hamptons
The East End welcomes a multitude of inspiring exhibitions and cultural destinations worth exploring this summer
This weekend, the annual Hamptons Fine Art Fair returns to the Southampton Fairgrounds, offering the perfect motivation for a day trip to the East End. But with its multitude of art spaces in Southampton, clusters of small galleries along the Main Streets of both Westhampton and East Hampton, and notable outliers like Galerie Sardine in Amagansett and The D’Amico Institute of Art in Napeague, there’s many reasons to explore the Hamptons all summer long.
Now in its 19th year, the Hamptons Fine Art Fair comprises 140 galleries representing post-war, contemporary, and emerging artists. New this year is a collection of indoor sculpture, “SculptureHamptons,” hosted by the 16-acre LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton where over 20 galleries will display works of glass art, small sculptures, metalworks, ceramics, pottery, and wood turning.
Outside the 70,000-square-foot pavilion complex, the independent galleries along Jobs Lane in Southampton present myriad opportunities to discover work by established and up-and-coming talent. Don’t miss the Peter Marino Art Foundation, which is currently showing photography by German artist Wolfgang Tillmans, and the Southampton Arts Center, where there is a collection of abstract contemporary outdoor sculpture, and later in July, an exhibition of emerging artists from the collection of Christine Mack.
Southampton village also offers plenty of upscale late-lunch spots, including a charming Sant Ambroeus outpost, Le Charlot, and Dopo Argento with the original Tate’s Bake Shop the perfect destination for an afternoon treat.
Ready for a drink? Head out to the Duck Walk Vineyard for a quick wine tasting, either before or after visiting the adjacent Parrish Art Museum. Designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron to resemble the area’s vernacular barn structures, this world-class arts center founded way back in 1898 now brings international artists into its unique space in Water Mill.
On view this summer is an exhibition of abstract works by Sean Scully, which examines how a summer spent in Montauk in 1982 altered the course of his practice, and a showcase of portrait photography by Shirin Neshat—her first in the New York area in 20 years—that brings together four bodies of work.
Over at The Watermill Center, the current exhibition “Upside Down Zebra” curated by Brian Belott and Noah Khoshbin, explores the artistic value of children’s imagination and its influence on contemporary art. Works from the Rhoda Kellogg International Child Art Collection are shown alongside responses from contemporary artists. Visits are by appointment, and guided tours are available upon request.
In Sag Harbor, the Eastville Heritage House Museum is hosting a group exhibition titled “Mami Wata,” presented by Superposition Gallery and curated by Storm Ascher. Named for the goddess and water spirit from African and Afro-Caribbean mythology, the exhibition invites 16 artists to embody the complexities of this mythological symbol, prosperity and fertility to chaos and misfortune.
At The Church, a community art center founded by Eric Fischl and April Gornick, there is a show curated by Fischl comprised of 50 animal sculptures by some of the most celebrated artists of the past century, including Louise Bourgeois, Maurizio Cattelan, William Kentridge, Bruce Nauman, Kiki Smith, Sherrie Levine, Joan Brown, and many more.