Each September, 4heads will open the Governors Island Art Fair (GIAF), featuring work by 100 new and returning artists presented in the historic homes on Colonels Row.
When 4heads launched GIAF in 2008, the artist-run nonprofit was among the first cultural organizations to recognize the tremendous potential of Governors Island as a must-go cultural destination. Over the last eleven years, as interest in and the redevelopment of Governors Island has grown, 4heads has remained committed to activating the diversity of buildings and sites across the Island, providing at once a dynamic presentation platform for today’s working artists and bringing attention to the historic significance of the structures the fair occupies.
GIAF is organized entirely by artists and volunteers, and is guided by a hands-off curatorial approach that invites each exhibiting artist to freely interpret the atmospheric and physical experience of the spaces, and to engage with the historic narratives of the Island. In doing so, 4heads has cultivated a range of artistic visions, breathing new life into the once abandoned spaces.
For the 2017 edition, GIAF had once again expanded its exhibition platform to include the rarely seen spaces of Liggett Hall, a massive institutional building cutting most of the way across the island. The 4heads team is constantly on the look-out for more unique and compelling environments for the purpose of artistic reinterpretation.
Artworks shown below are canvas, and site specific wall painting done in WizardSkull's "no straight line" style. The site specific wall paintings were painted all white at end of month/fair in preparation for the next years artist installation.
