pride month

June 3rd, 2023. The Denny Gallery, Manhattan New York — At 12:00 noon the Denny Gallery opened their doors to the eager guests that awaited the new exhibit inside. An intimate group of art enthusiasts, students, buyers, and media press representatives arrived for, Sean Fader’s newest exhibition, “Sugar Daddy: Dear Danielle”. The Denny Gallery, located at 39 Lispenard St, New York, NY, is an international contemporary art gallery located in both New York and Hong Kong. Their client roster includes museums, private ownership companies, influential art collectors, and private buyers.

The Denny Gallery hosts twelve exhibitions annually. The selected artist who showcases and features their art at the Denny Gallery has published works in major media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New Yorker, Artforum, New York Magazine, and more.

The current exhibition on display is a gallery inspired by the history of the original SUGAR DADDY, Adolph Spreckles, the owner of a sugar factory empire that dominated the western hemisphere, and his young, spritely wife Alma de Bretteville Spreckles (20+ years his junior); a woman with a rich passion for pleasure and art. Sean Fader, a queer artist and University professor at NYU Tisch has created an audio-visual exhibition that will run through the majority of PRIDE month,  which began on May 19th and will end on the evening of June 24th.

Sean Fader presents “Sugar Daddy: Dear Danielle” a collection of vividly creative, visually stunning, sensually self-indulgent (purposely so), and conceptually lighthearted portraits inspired by years of his conquest to learn more about the history of the sugar daddy, the mansion the original Sugar Daddy bought and built for his young wife, Alma; her social scene, backdrop, and escapades; in addition to Fader’s interaction with the world-renowned Writer,  Danielle Steel, who now resides in and owns the, then, Spreckles mansion. In Fader’s concentrated efforts to obtain access to the mansion for his initially inspired idea, his artistic adaptation of the life and times of the Spreckles Empire,  Danielle Steel, the literary Queen of steamy romance, declined the artist’s access to her residence and declined all tours of the property to Fader.

In a letter addressed as a reply to Sean Fader, Steel’s assistant stated that the famed novelist has poured her passion into her craft, writing over 200 romance novels in her lifetime, outputting 7 novels a year on her typewriter, all while sleeping only 4-5 hours a day and would therefore, not be available for questions related to his artistic project. The letter also mentioned Steel’s disinterest in any published photography of herself and offered, instead, several copies of a few bestsellers of her books.

Driven by his newly found inspiration, turned creative obsession, Fader spins various concepts highlighted through the life of the Spreckles’; the seemingly unequal wealth that transpired into a transactional love affair, the creation of the “sugar daddy” term, and the cultural echos their love affair inspired economically, socially, relationally and artistically; as proven in much of what tends to relate closely to the content found in Steel’s work. It should also be noted, that Alma De Bretteville Spreckles, became an avid art collector and created the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

What Fader’s exhibition gives us is a tangible expression of the genius we uncover when “following one’s own bliss”.  Following his creative trail of bliss, Fader remarkably fulfills his assignment to produce a showpiece for the Antenna Gallery and through his work, showcases the value and trust he has in his form of self-expression as a creative vessel. The gallery challenges the spectator and the art enthusiast to consider “what dreams may come” when we acknowledge our desires and delve into the sweet self-indulgence of ‘us’. That form of expression has the potential to produce new worlds and new life in the world around us.

What should be most admired about his art are the synchronicities that led to Fader’s “Sugar Daddy: Dear Danielle” exhibition; the unapologetic pursuits of our passions; and being mindful not to deny ourselves the freedom of honest, clear self-expression by remaining silent when we are ‘denied access’ to new dimensions of our artistic journies.

From Sean Fader’s ability to: trust his inner impulses by documenting and curating art on this journey of discovering the origin of the “sugar daddy“; Alma’s over-the-top antics, thoroughly documented love of martinis, carefree spirit; to Danielle Steel’s unapologetic hunger for her space, boundaries, room to create and be ‘her’ freely; to even my own mischievous curiosity to “take a peek” into the gallery that has my name plastered on its wall; the gems that remain with me from exploring this gallery and touring it with the warm and personable Sean Fader, hosting, granted me permission to be free as a creative, and thrust myself into what my heart loves with unbridled passion.

If you are inspired to explore the world of art in New York City and some of its best galleries, I highly recommend checking out the Denny Gallery, whose layout is spacious, open, and free-flowing in design. For art aficionados, I advise staying abreast of the works and releases from the brilliant and humorously insightful artist, Sean Fader.