Stories From The Press

Paulson Fontaine Press has joined the ADAA

April 12, 2023 By Rhea Fontaine

The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) today announced the addition of 13 new members from across the country: Nicelle Beauchene Gallery (New York), Canada Gallery (New York), Catharine Clark Gallery (San Francisco), Anat Ebgi Gallery (Los Angeles), Eric Firestone Gallery (New York), Gitterman Gallery (New York), Mignoni (New York), Ortuzar Projects (New York), Parker Gallery (Los Angeles), Paulson Fontaine Press (Berkeley), Perrotin (New York), RYAN LEE Gallery (New York), and Skoto Gallery (New York). With these additions, the Association now surpasses 200 members, furthering its reputation as the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for fine art dealers and galleries. Membership in the ADAA attests to a gallery or dealer’s achievements in artistic connoisseurship, intellectual rigor, and professional distinction. Offering crucial services to member galleries over the last 60 years, the ADAA continues its dedication to providing members with technical, legal, and business resources, as well as guidance regarding the ever-evolving nature of the art market.

“This milestone is an exciting moment in the history of the ADAA,” said Executive Director, Maureen Bray. “We continue to strengthen the support for our members, helping them navigate the challenges of the current market. ADAA offers a unique community that members can look to for encouragement and solidarity across all aspects of their business practices.”

The Association’s 13 new members represent a wide range of mediums, specializations, and curatorial approaches. To guarantee that new members share the ADAA’s commitment to industry best practices and advancement, candidates undergo a year- long application process that begins with a nomination by an existing ADAA member and includes a thorough vetting procedure. The membership votes on the slate of new candidates, before receiving the Board’s final approval. All new members must have been in business in the United States for at least five years, demonstrate a record of accomplishment, and have made significant contributions to the art community through activities such as organizing exhibitions, generating scholarly publications, and actively engaging with museums.

“This new class of ADAA members represents the dynamic spirit of contemporary American galleries. The wide variety of programming approaches, artist representation, and exhibition styles shown by our Class of 2023 demonstrates the innovation within the industry that our organization seeks to champion,” said Robert Grosman, ADAA Membership Committee Chair.

“The rigorous peer review process of being admitted to the organization ensures a high level of connoisseurship, engagement, and diligence that all members bring to their trade,” says Anthony Meier, ADAA President. “This stellar cohort of new members, who have already helped shape the landscape of the art market, will add to the vibrancy of the organization as a whole.”

Full Press Release

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In The Gallery: Wholesome Encounters

February 16, 2022 By Rhea Fontaine

Untitled (Future Inner Limits), 2021

Wholesome Encounters explores themes and motifs present in Paulson Fontaine Press’s newly released edition by William Scott, Untitled (Future Inner Limits). Scott’s extensive painting practice includes portraits and cityscapes that imagine Black figures—mainly celebrities, civil rights leaders, and members of the artist’s community—in a more equitable society. Scott develops alternative realities and visions for the future centered around the mission to “promote peace on earth and good wholesome human behavior.” In Untitled (Future Inner Limits), Scott depicts a group of people aboard a train and describes the passengers as “wholesome, humorous, peacemakers building a better world for the 21st century. No more scary people, monsters, horrors.” While his works are hopeful projections for a bright future, Scott simultaneously confronts the viewer with a reminder that in our current society, the inequality, tragedy, and loss that the passengers are escaping still exist.

To expand on the vision William Scott puts forth, presented are prints from a variety of artists whose work, in one way or another, embodies his alternative ideal future. Each piece in the show touches on a form of utopia, escape, or idealism, doing so with an enticing color pallet and inherent otherworldliness. These prints point toward a bright future and the dawn of a new generation. Depictions of fresh flowers, a pristine home, and energy bursts contribute to this sense of optimism. These prints don’t deny the existence of the messy, complicated, unjust, and even scary facts of life, in fact, they are more powerful because of them.

David Huffman’s Basketball Pyramid confronts the duality of basketball and it’s symbolism. On one hand, the sport represents African American dreams realized and community for young men and women, and on the other, the objectification and exploitation of those same bodies. In Spencer Finch’s Back to Kansas, a colorful abstraction of the film The Wizard of Oz, the vivid colors of Oz and Munchkinland are placed next to the green of the Wicked Witch and the gray of smoke that billows in her presence. As a passenger aboard William Scott’s Future Inner Limits, the viewer of Wholesome Encounters is ushered in by Chris Johanson’s Energy 1, a burst of positive intentions and infinite possibilities. As we move into the future these works choose beauty, peace, comfort, compassion, and community because imagining a brighter future is the first step in attaining one.

-Lucy Stark

Spencer Finch, Back to Kansas, 2015