Unseen Amsterdam, the Fair for New Photography, Announces Participants and Program for 2017

In its sixth edition, the fair will feature a 'Photo Pleasure Palace' as well as a presentation of never-before-seen works.

Unseen Amsterdam, 2016 -® Iris Duvekot

From September 22-24, the photography-focused art fair Unseen Amsterdam will again return to the Dutch capital in its sixth edition with a roster of 53 galleries hailing from 14 countries.

The number of participants is roughly on par with last year’s iteration (54 galleries took part in 2016), indicating that the boutique fair is continuing to enjoy success in its current model, which, in addition to the main sector, also includes bonuses such as the Unseen Exhibition, Unseen Living Room, which hosts the talks program, and Premiere Works, where never-before-seen works are offered. In addition, there are three awards and a residency whose recipients will be announced after the fair’s opening.

In a first for Unseen Amsterdam, the Living Room will be co-curated by the London’s Barbican Center and the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) in Tucson, Arizona. The area is conceived to offer a relaxing and informal atmosphere that fosters discussion, with an extensive program of talks, artists’ presentations, and interviews. Slated to participate this year are the winner of this year’s Prix Pictet Richard Mosse, Edmund Clark, and Anthony Downey, as well as Broomberg & Chanarin, Nadav Kander, Vasantha Yogananthan, and Liz Nielsen, among others.

DAISY 1, from the series Last Child in the Woods © Melanie Bonajo/AKINCI/selection made by Unseen

Unseen Amsterdam focuses on the new—not only by emphasizing the practices of emerging photographers, but also by commissioning artworks specifically for the Unseen Exhibition, as well as debuting previously unseen works. As such, the fair positions itself as the premiere destination for discovering the most current and significant photographers working in the field today.

Among this year’s highlights is “Photo Pleasure Palace,” an installation-turned-exhibition curated by artists Erik Kessels and Thomas Mailaender that is designed to encourage visitors to engage with photography in a unique and playful way. The curatorial pair of artists, who both focus primarily on the appropriation of images and have a tendency to lean towards the absurd, have framed the immersive work in the format of a carnival; “Photo Pleasure Palace” is outfitted with a Photo Fortune Teller and Giant Peephole as well as numerous other mysteriously-named activities such as a “Smash Gallery,” “Toilet Obscura,” and “Jump Trump.”

Alexandra Lethbridge <i>(Mis)Direction from the series Other Ways of Knowing,</i> (2016). ©the artist

(Mis)Direction from the series Other Ways of Knowing, 2016 © Alexandra Lethbridge

In the Premiere Works section, a mix of 87 emerging and established artists have contributed to the pieces on view, including rising stars Momo Okabe of Japan’s Gallery Naruyama and TILO & TONI from METRONOM in Italy, as well as seasoned veterans like Gregory Halpern, who is being presented by the US’s Aperture Foundation, or Jacqueline Hassink, represented by Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen from the Netherlands.

A full list of the 2017 exhibitors follows below:

A.I. Gallery (UK)

Ag Galerie (IR)

andriesse eyck galerie (NL)

Aperture Foundation (USA)

Bernard Knaus Fine Art (DE)

BILDHALLE (CH)

Galerie Binome (FR)

Camara Oscura Galeria de Arte (ES)

C&H gallery (NL)

Christophe Guye Galerie (CH)

CINNNAMON (NL)

Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière (FR)

Danziger Gallery (USA)

Dürst Britt & Mayhew (NL)

East Wing (QAT)

Espace JB (CH)

Flatland Gallery (NL)

Flowers Gallery (UK)

G/P gallery (JP)

Galerie Alex Daniëls- Reflex Amsterdam (NL)

Galerie Bart (NL)

Galerie Caroline O’Breen (NL)

Galerie für Moderne Fotografie (DE)

Galerie Gabriel Rolt (NL)

Galerie Janine Rubeiz (LB)

Galerie Les filles du calvaire (FR)

Gallery Naruyama (JP)

Galerie Rond Mandos (NL)

Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen (NL)

IBASHO (BE)

ILEX Gallery (IT)

Intervalle (FR)

Kahmann Gallery (NL)

LhGWR (NL)

Matèria (IT)

mc2gallery (IT)

METRONOM (IT)

Mirko Mayer Gallery / m-projects (DE)

NEWWER (MX)

Purdy Hicks Gallery (UK)

Red Hook Labs (USA)

Rianne Groen (NL)

Seen Fifteen (UK)

Stieglitz19 (BE)

Stieglitz19 (BE)

Stigter Van Doesburg (NL)

tegenboschvanvreden (NL)

The Merchant House (NL)

The Photographers’ Gallery (UK)

The Ravestijn Gallery (NL)

TJ Boulting (UK)

Tristan Hoare (UK)

Van der Mieden Gallery (BE)

Webber (UK)


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics