NEW YORK, NY.- With a robust roster of new and returning exhibitors, the inaugural Metro Show leaps onto the art fair circuit with a group of highly acclaimed fine and decorative arts specialists. The show opens on Wednesday, January 18 and runs through Sunday, January 22, 2012 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, in New York's Chelsea arts district.

Among the fair's newcomers in the field of 20th-century fine art and/or design are the New York galleries Barry Friedman Ltd., Cavin-Morris Gallery, Galerie St. Etienne, and Schillay Fine Art; Syracuse-based Dalton's American Decorative Arts offering American Arts and Crafts; Santa Fe's ethnographic specialist William Siegal Gallery; Chicago-based Worthington Gallery, which features European naïves, Der Blaue Reiter, and Bauhaus paintings, drawings and sculpture; the San Francisco-based tribal specialist B.C. Dentan; Joel Cooner Gallery, from Dallas, specialists in oceanic, tribal,
pre-Columbian, Asian and ancient artworks; and from Japan,Yukiko Koide Presents, with turn of the century Japanese woodblock prints.

"We are delighted to welcome these outstanding dealers to the Metro Show," said Show Director Caroline Kerrigan Lerch. "Their diversity expands upon the core group of original dealers from the former American Antiques Show."

According to Lerch, among those returning to the fold are: American Primitive Gallery, Jeff R. Bridgman American Antiques, Marcy Burns American Indian Arts, M. Finkel & Daughter, Allan Katz Americana, Garthoeffner Gallery Antiques, Gemini Antiques Ltd., Carl Hammer Gallery, Samuel Herrup Antiques, Hill Gallery, Just Folk, Lillian Nassau LLC, John Molloy Gallery, Steven S. Powers Inc., Ricco/Maresca Gallery, Stella Rubin, Gary R. Sullivan Antiques Inc., and Clifford A. Wallach Tramp Art, Folk Art & Americana.

"The Metro Show reflects the new attitude toward collecting in which a work is valued for its intrinsic qualities and the beauty of its design - not solely for its place in the historical continuum," said Lerch. "When visitors walk through the entrance, they will see the connections linking historic and contemporary arts and design in all its forms - whether it's pre-Columbian textiles, visionary paintings, Asian art, mid-20th-century studio design, Native American material, anonymous folk art or formal furniture."

With this in mind, The Art Fair Company invited interior designer Anthony Baratta, who is known for his signature look of bold and colorful patterns, to collaborate with video installation artist Sean Capone to create the mise-en-scène for the Metro Show. "Tony and Sean have been given the edict to create something provocative and unexpected," added Lerch.

In addition, a committee of prominent interior designers and collectors has been formed. Mario Buatta, Anthony Baratta, Ellie Cullman, Jamie Drake, Maureen Footer, Thomas Jayne, and Miles Redd will co-chair the Metro Show Collectors Circle.