Navigating an Art Fair.
“An art fair is like a carnival in that there’s a lot of excess noice, visual informationand people yelling over each other. But an art fair is acrually a clearing house for art-works, a pow-wow of dealers, galleries, curators and collectors that’s part tribe meeting and part shopping mall”
Whilst art fairs have become largely popularized over the past ten years, commercial art fairs are not a new phenomenon. Art Basel for example was conceived in Basel, Switzerland in 1970 by gallerists Ernst Beyeler, Trudi Bruckner and Balz Hilt. In it's inaugural year, the Basel show attracted more than 16,000 visitors who viewed work presented by 90 galleries representing 10 countries. Thirty art publishers also participated. Today, four international shows are staged annually in Basel, Switzerland, Miami Beach, Florida ,and Hong Kong in China, attracting millions of people - not only those who working or assosciated within the realm of art, but also the general public.
The rise of celebrity culture, and the inevitable advance of the requirement of 'social media presence' in nowdays commercial-anythingness has also shaped the importandess of art-fairs on yearly calendar for the who's who in contemporary society. Take ArtBasel Miami for example; where you can find a plethora of parties, performances and activities - and is undoubtedly the hotspot in terms of celebrity-sightings.
Chayka, makes a good point in his article "WTF is...an Art Fair" (2001) where he details the need to "separate an art fair into two subsections: the sales and the schmoozing." - The collecting side to art fairs begins and ends with the VIP Preview, or 'Collectors Circle', whereinhigh profile collectors, or advisors wander amongst the booths either buying a work outright or putting them on reserve before the fair is open to the public.
“Do not think the ‘VIP’ on a VIP card necessarily means a ‘Very Important Person.’ It can as easily mean ‘Vague and Ill-Defined Person,’ ‘Vastly Implausible Person,’ or a whole lot of other things. Such as ‘Very Inquisitive Presshound. ”
After the VIP and Media previews (yes we must not forget the media need space to get in ahead of the manic which occurs in the next 4 days) regular civilians are permitted entry - at a cost! We must realise that the public side of the art fair, unfortunately so, is perhaps the least exciting. Most average-joes with a slight interest in art, obviously head to see their what their favorite galleries have selected to exhibit. It is often a chance for them to perhaps check out artist talks, engage in interactive exhibitions, and Instagram the hell out of everything!