What is an Art Fair? Here’s our quick Guide to the Contemporary City Art Fair around the world
Art fairs are somewhat of a modern phenomenon. Jumping from just 3 contemporary art fairs in 1970 to a staggering 269 in 2015, art fairs offer an alternative exhibition space to traditional venues like museums and galleries. These pop-up markets are held annually in different cities across the world, which include Cologne, London, Beirut and New York.
Like ‘biennials’ – large international exhibitions that take place once every two years – art fairs are made to look pretty, and to introduce its visitors to new and innovative works of art. Yet, behind their glimmering façades, art fairs are predominantly a market place, whose main aim is to sell their work and help power the global art market. In fact, in 2014 TEFAF – The European Fine Art Foundation – reported that the art market had reached its highest-ever recorded level – of a staggering 51 billion euros, with sales by galleries at fairs contributing to a large proportion of this through an increase of ten per cent between the years 2010 and 2014.
Art fairs come in all shapes and sizes, appearing in many different locations under different guises around the world. Some are highly established, clean and glossy. At these fairs galleries will pay thousands of dollars to secure a booth. Others are more experimental with offbeat artists and more affordable artwork for sale. Still, others are spin-off art fairs that pull artists and galleries only from a specific geographical location. The city art fair model has proven to be wildly successful because it brings the entire art world together under one roof: artists, gallerists, collectors, curators and academics, as well as the buying and browsing public. And, due to the sheer success of the modern art fair in recent years, some galleries are basing their business model wholly on art fair attendance as they can make more money from one art fair than in an entire year’s worth of traditional walk in traffic to their galleries.
The art fair of the twenty-first century is not just a place for art experts. Fairs are now almost as trendy and as important to the social calendar as the fashion shows of Paris, Milan and New York. The VIP events at fairs such as Art Basel Miami Beach and Frieze New York are attended by such pop-culture icons as Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Leonardo DiCaprio, meaning that you could grab a selfie with your favourite celebrity mere yards away from a genuine work of art by Andy Warhol or Pablo Picasso. Art fairs have become social events where visitors from the general public can mix with movie stars and arts professionals to view many different styles of work that they may struggle to find in any museum or commercial gallery. And in addition to exclusive VIP events, there are often also public lectures and events that anyone can attend, including film screenings and performances and pop-up restaurants.
So, which fairs should you be visiting in 2018? Art Dubai, Beirut Art Fair, Frieze London and Frieze New York should definitely be on the top of your agenda, but do not forget about the new art fair coming to Yerevan in May 2018!!
