The Armory Show Clarifies Alleged Dispute

I asked Giovani Garcia-Fenech, the communications director for The Armory Show, if they would you like to make a more formal comment regarding the alleged “threats” of legal action, if The Armory would take any legal action against any galleries that drop out, and if relationships with those galleries were severed or still on friendly terms.

Mr. Garcia-Fenech was kind enough to provide the following statement.

The Armory Show can’t make a blanket statement because we try to work out these issues with galleries on a case-by-case basis, and what might work with one exhibitor won’t with another. But I can say that rather than threatening to sue galleries that try to pull out after our deadlines, we prefer to offer them payment plans, the option of getting a smaller booth size, sharing their booth with another exhibitor, etc. In particularly difficult or late cases, we remind exhibitors that their signed contract stipulates penalties for late withdrawals.

The claims of two anonymous galleries put us in an awkward position because we can’t respond by pointing to examples of exhibitors that we have worked out solutions with, as those exhibitors might find it embarrassing.

And we have definitely not severed relationships with galleries that choose not to exhibit with us! Our fair is only as good as the galleries that participate in it, so our main concern is making sure that we put up a great show every year.

Tags: art fairs, Art Law, art litigation, gallery contracts, the armory show