2014 Silicon Valley Contemporary Opening Night Highlights and Photos April 12, 2014 (San Jose, CA) — Last night, April 10th, 2014, Silicon Valley Contemporary opened its inaugural edition at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, in the heart of Silicon Valley. At the VIP Preview Party, Bay Area art professionals as well as the area's tech executives and programmers flocked to the fair to see the cutting edge in contemporary art presented by over 50 international galleries. The festive evening was just the first phase of what will be a weekend that will showcase San Jose as a world-class art fair destination. The fair drew a large opening day crowd of over 2,000 VIP attendees from the local arts and tech communities. Noted among them were executives from Apple, Adobe, Cisco and Applied Materials, as well as attendees from Bay Area arts institutions including San Jose Museum of Art, SFMoMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and ArtSpan. In addition,  Mayor of San Jose, Chuck Reed, presented the “2014 Art Patrons of the Year” award to Yvonne and Michael Nevens amidst a standing room only crowd. The local collectors received the commendation for their patronage and commitment to building and bettering the visual art scene of the city. The VIP crowd was active and engaged and opening night sales were brisk—a good omen for the first year fair. Exhibitors were enthusiastic about their prospects for the weekend and many reported initial sales including a Jasper Johns for over $20,000, and a painting by Jack Stuppin at ACA Galleries. A Mark Flood Untitled painting sold for $80,000. KM Fine Arts sold a Hans Hofmann, as well as a piece by Dana Louise Kirkpatrick for more than 40 Bitcoins, the first known sale in the currency at an art fair. Bash Contemporary also saw two sales. View opening night images here, and for rights to exclusive use of additional images, contact lainya@aopublic.com About Silicon Valley Contemporary Silicon Valley Contemporary is the first art fair in the heart of California's technology industry mecca, connecting select international exhibitors with this highly desirable market through innovative programming and events. Silicon Valley Contemporary will bring together innovators and influencers from the worlds of art and technology, including curators, collectors, museum directors, international artists and art dealers, CEOs, and angel investors. The fair offers the public an opportunity to see the how the newest technological innovations are impacting art practices around the world. http://siliconvalleycontemporary.com Silicon Valley Contemporary Exhibition Dates and Times: Thursday, April 10, 5-7pm | BLACK CARD ‘First Look’ Thursday, April 10, 7-9:30pm | VIP Opening Night Preview Friday, April 11, 11am-8pm Saturday, April 12, 11am-8pm Sunday, April 13, 11am-6pm Location: San Jose McEnery Convention Center 150 West San Carlos Street San Jose, CA 95113 Tickets: Day Pass/$25 Three Day Pass/$40 VIP Pass/$125 BLACK CARD/$250 Tickets available at the door and online: http://siliconvalleycontemporary.com/tickets/ Silicon Valley Contemporary Contact: HEG – Hamptons Expo Group 223 Hampton Road Southampton, NY 11968 Main Office: 631-283-5505 Fax: 917-591-5415 info@hegshows.com Follow Silicon Valley Contemporary on Social Media: Facebook.com/SVcontemporary Twitter @SVcontemporary Instagram @SiliconValleyContemporary #ArtValleySVC Press Contact: Lainya Magaña | A&O PR (p) 415.577.1275 | (e) lainya@aopublic.com #fineartmagazine