Georgina Adam asks in The Art Newspaper whether art fairs need to worry about the growing trend for low-cost gallery weeks sprouting around the globe. Here she makes the case against art fairs:
For decades, dealers have been looking for ways to make their voices heard above the noise of the auction houses. They constantly need to find ways of attracting new clients, meeting other dealers, discovering young talent and keeping abreast of trends. Art fairs seem to have proved the answer. But their proliferation across the calendar (and the globe) has meant that serious art collectors have less and less time and energy to fit old-fashioned gallery-going into their schedules.
The downsides are that fairs are expensive to do, create considerable upheaval for the smaller gallery, and can in no way convey the depth and range of a programme. Others argue that the profusion of satellite fairs around the most successful (Art Basel Miami Beach attracted 19 concurrent fairs last year and the Armory had nine this March) has created a confusing overdose, reducing the clarity and focus of the main fairs.
Should fairs feel threatened by gallery weeks? (The Art Newspaper)
