How many art fairs are there

A particularly bitter comment on the increasingly financial art world by curator, professor and author David Hickey reads:. Art editors and critics — people like me — have become a courtier class. All we do is wander around the palace and advise very rich people. So how does the art fair model fare for dealers — recipients of said windfall profits?

Mid-sized galleries have to choose wisely: fairs significantly increase overhead, but skipping a prestigious fair might significantly harm reputation and sales. The ingenuity of the art fair model is neatly summarised by The Nation :. Gisler said:. So how do galleries choose their fairs?

Apart from the major international fairs, dealers tended to choose regional fairs with locations convenient to their client groups, while galleries with a medium focus such as photography gravitated towards medium specific fairs. Responses were mixed when dealers were asked if there were too many art fairs in the scene today.

Even though the flood of fairs can be overwhelming, they do provide different specialisations and programming thrusts. Kept busy with booth duties, not too many of the surveyed galleries at Art Basel Hong Kong had time to visit neighbouring debut satellite fair Art Central at the time of interview. Most wished the new fair well and do not view it as competition.

Not every gallery can get into Basel after all, and Art Central seems to fill an important niche in the Hong Kong market. Also satellite fairs are always a good thing — it creates a festive atmosphere in the city and draws more visitors to the city. Image courtesy Art Central. A representative from a Japanese gallery had an opposing view, however, exclaiming that the frenzy of events quickly becomes too much of a good thing:. There are definitely too many fairs, and not just in Hong Kong.

Speaking of the public, e-flux reminds us that the art fair is not just for buyers. Boris Groys writes:. Owing to the increasing hype and media attention, people who would not otherwise step foot in a museum might be motivated to sample their first dose of contemporary art. Furthermore, the diverse locations at which fairs are held contributes to intercultural exchange and art globalisation; Yuli Karatsiki , Gallery Manager of Kalfayan Galleries , told Art Radar :.

Art fairs are among the most important platforms for reaching out to an international audience. Despite the benefits of the internet and web-platforms, nothing can replace the personal contact between people and the interaction with the work of art in real life. Anny Shaw. Gareth Harris. Art fairs news. Catherine Hickley. Frieze Seoul news.

Anny Shaw and Tom Seymour. Frieze London news. Frieze London feature. The Art Newspaper. Dorian Batycka. Frieze news. Lee Cheshire. Anna Brady. Design Miami news. Tom Seymour. Art Basel news. Art Basel blog. Art Basel feature. Catherine Hickley and Tom Seymour. Art fairs interview.

Art market interview. Art market analysis. Art fairs analysis. The Armory Show feature. Art market blog. Linda Yablonsky. Paula Trommel. Scarlet Cheng. Anna Sansom. Wallace Ludel. Thankfully, the New York fair was able to go ahead and ran May. This event was smaller — there were around fewer exhibitors at the fair — and visitors were tightly controlled, with timed tickets. However, a substantial and considered digital programme accompanied the fair, including an Online Viewing Room OVR with additional exhibitors.

Frieze led the way into a new era of hybrid events. Art Basel cancelled all three fairs in and developed alternative digital events. Their first adapted their existing OVR format and gave the galleries for the cancelled Hong Kong fair an opportunity to show their works.

This digital fair received over , visitors — in comparison to the live event which attracted 88, visitors. Events included virtual tours, talks, studio visits and performances. They also ran two standalone, thematic OVRs. And although art fairs are high value, commercial beasts, there are some takeaways from their development that can be useful for the wider cultural sector — including not for profit organisations and those with more modest budgets.

OVRs were widely used by commercial galleries and were a high investment approach.