As the following listing of international art fairs and biennials in the second half of 2008 shows, the calendar remains as thickly populated as ever. Several big events launched last year are coming back for a second go-round (the Salzburg World Fine Art Fair, ShContemporary), while a number of smaller art fairs are venturing out for the first time (Art Hamptons on Long Island) or testing new markets (Bridge in Berlin, Red Dot in London). And the popularity of biennials, which boost local and national pride on a global stage, remains undiminished -- the latest city to launch its own is Brussels.
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Still, some trepidation remains that all this buoyancy might be some kind of bubble. Just what is the current status of the global art market? Despite anecdotal reports of some softness at the low end of the business, life at the top is rich, very rich (a glossy balloon flower sculpture by Jeff Koons, bought for $1.1 million in 2001, just sold for $25.7 million at auction at Christie’s London). Art observers are certain to spend the rest of 2008 watching the market carefully -- at these very events.
JULY
Art Santa Fe
July 10-13, 2008
More than 50 galleries and eight nonprofits show their stuff at Santa Fe’s El Museo Cultural in this popular Southwestern event, which was launched in 1995 and held every two years until this year, when it was made an "annual." Participating dealers include J. Cacciola, Nancy Hoffman, Marlborough, Kathryn Markel and Mary Ryan from New York, as well as Artco from Lima, ChinaSquare from Beijing, William Shearburn from St. Louis and Linda Durham from Santa Fe. This year’s keynote speaker is Dean Sobel, director of the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.
Art Hamptons
July 11-13, 2008
The emphasis in this new fair is on "local" artists, from William Merrit Chase and Childe Hassam to Jackson Pollock and Eric Fischl. The show is organized by longtime Hamptons resident Rick Friedman (and partly sponsored by Artnet -- for a free pass, click here). More than 50 galleries set up in a custom-built 12,000 square-foot pavilion next to the Bridgehampton Historical Society.
Embrace
July 17-20, 2008
A small fair of about 25 galleries, including ACA and Bill Hodges from New York, held in conjunction with the 20th annual National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta. The show, now in its third year, is organized by Atlanta’s Mason Murer Fine Art.
Manifesta7
July 19-Nov. 2, 2008
The peripatetic biennial art show, which changes locations every go round, is located this year in four towns in Trentino-South Tyrol in Northern Italy. Given the tagline "100 miles in 100 days" in reference to its four different locations, the event presents works by almost 200 artists in a series of shows -- including "The Soul," "Scenarios," "The Rest of Now," "Principle Hope" -- organized by Adam Budak, Anselm Franke, Hila Peleg, the Raqs Media Collective and others.
Scope Hamptons
July 24-27, 2008
Now in its fourth year, Alexis Hubshman’s Scope Hamptons brings 65 galleries from more than 20 countries to the 25,000-square-foot East Hampton Studios, located in the woods about a mile from the beach. A special feature this year is the "collector mentorship auction," in which new collectors can bid for sage advice from seasoned art veterans like Beth Rudin DeWoody and Adam Lindemann (to benefit the Scope Foundation). Pitching in is Salomon Contemporary in East Hampton, which presents "More Than This," a show organized by Andréa Salerno, in conjunction with the fair.
Melbourne Art Fair
July 30-Aug. 3, 2008
Over 80 galleries from across Australia (and the Pacific Rim) assemble in Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building for this fair, which was established in 1988 and is restricted to contemporary art made after 1970. The program includes special project rooms and commissions, and a program of lectures and guided tours.
AUGUST
Salzburg World Fine Art Fair
Aug. 9-17, 2008
Now in its second year, this tony fair of antiques, art and jewelry brings 44 invited exhibitors from Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom to the Baroque Residenz Palace in Salzburg. Dealers range from Bernheimer Fine Old Masters (Munich) and Galerie Budja (Vienna) to Christopher Sheppard (London) and Heribert Tenschert Antiquariat Bibermuhle (Rotthalmünster). The fair is organized by Bruce Lamarche and Teresa Jedina.
Art Taipei
Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2008
Founded in 1992, Art Taipei brings 113 galleries from around the world to the Taipei World Trade Center in the city’s cosmopolitan Xinji district. The majority of the exhibitors hail from Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia; galleries participating from New York City include Sundaram Tagore and James Cohan. According to the fair, sales totaled $13.6 million in 2007, up over 250 percent from 2006.
SEPTEMBER
The 7th Gwangju Biennale
Sept. 5-Nov. 9, 2008
For "Annual Report: A Year in Exhibitions," artistic director Okwui Enwezor is not assembling his own contemporary art survey, but rather restaging shows that have taken place elsewhere in 2007, including the Whitney Museum’s Gordon Matta-Clark retrospective and David Adjaye’s "African Cities" show at Harvard. Eighty-six artists are participating in all, with special commissions and new group exhibitions, dubbed "Position Papers," slated for the biennale’s five different venues.
Art Beijing 2008
Sept. 6-9, 2008
For its third installment, this largely Asian fair brings 120 dealers from 20 countries to the China National Agricultural Exhibition Center, in a show mounted subsequent to the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Busan Biennale
Sept. 6-Nov. 15, 2008
This famously tripartite show -- a contemporary art exhibition titled "Expediture, Art, Culture," a "sea art festival" dubbed "Voyage without Boundaries" and a sculpture project named "Avant-Garden" -- is organized by Hongik University prof Kim Won-bang and features works by 183 artists from 34 countries at South Korea’s Busan Museum of Modern Art and other venues.
ShContemporary
Sept. 10-13, 2008
For its second year, ShContemporary -- this time organized by former Art Basel head Lorenzo A. Rudolf without the help of the Geneva dealer Pierre Huber, who co-founded the show -- brings over 100 galleries from 20 countries to the Shanghai Exhibition Center. New this time around is "Best of Discovery," a museum-style exhibition of 30 emerging Asian artists selected by a group of 11 curators.
Shanghai Biennale
Sept. 9-Nov. 16, 2008
Curator Zhang Qing and his team have selected more than 40 artists for this show, dubbed "Translocalmotion" and focusing on the effects of migration, economic growth and social change on Chinese culture. Located at the Shanghai Art Museum, the exhibition boasts mini-retrospectives of three older artists as well as works sited in the adjacent People’s Square. Other public spaces, such as the central train station and the international airport, are also housing works in the biennial.
20/21 British Art Fair
Sept. 10-14, 2008
Celebrating its 21st birthday, the lone art fair specializing entirely in modern and contemporary British art brings 60 dealers to the Royal College of Art in London.
Singapore Biennale
Sept. 11-Nov. 16, 2008
For its second installment, this government-sponsored exposition -- optimistically titled "Wonder" -- brings 50 artists from Asia and the world to a new Shigeru Ban-designed pavilion at the city’s Marina Bay development as well as to City Hall and several other venues. The selection of artists, which shows director Fumio Nanjo’s taste for new talent, ranges from Tarek Talat Al-Ghoussein (UAE) and Shirin Aliabadi and Farhad Moshiri (Iran) to Ben-David Zadok (UK) and Sima Zureiket (Jordan).
Yokohama Triennale 2008
Sept. 13-Nov. 30, 2008
Artistic director Tsutomu Mizusawa, whose curatorial team includes Daniel Birnbaum and Hans Ulrich Obrist, has selected "Time Crevasse" as the theme of this exhibition, which presents works by more than 60 artists at several sites along the city’s waterfront. "Art shakes up our everyday perceptions," Mizusawa writes, adding that it "gives us glimpses of the abyss we normally fail to notice." Among the artists are John Armleder, Matthew Barney, Cao Fei, Paul Chan, Elmgreen & Dragset and Douglas Gordon.
Geisai #11
Sept. 14, 2008
Takashi Murakami’s one-day Geisai art fair caters directly to individual artists, who man their own booths in a hall at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. This year’s installment is expected to draw 1,000 participants. Jurors for the show, which hands out a variety of prizes and awards, include Jack Bankowsky, Alison Gingeras, Philippé Segalot and Marc-Olivier Wahler.
Venice Biennale Architecture
Sept. 14-Nov. 23, 2008
"Out There: Architecture beyond Building," directed by Aaron Betsky, head of the Cincinnati Art Museum, goes "toward an architecture liberated from buildings" via site-specific installations, manifestos and other elaborations of "utopian, dystopian or hererotopian visions," sited in the Padiglione Italia and the Arsenale. Participants include Diller Scofidio+Renfro, Droog Design, Philippe Rahm, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Zaha Hadid, Asymptote and Atelier Bow Wow. Also on view: the results of the online "Everyville 2008" competition; "Upload City," a suite of vids from YouTube and elsewhere; and a "paradise garden" by Kathryn Gustafson. A record 65 national pavilions are also participating.
Liverpool Biennial
Sept. 20-Nov. 30, 2008
The fifth installment of the festival, under the direction of Tate Liverpool director Lewis Biggs, features 40 works by 30 artists on the theme of "Made Up," for a focus on the power of myth, fantasy and the artistic imagination. The show takes place at multiple museum, gallery and public sites across the city. Participants include Ai Weiwei, David Altmejd, Guy Ben-Ner, Jesper Just, Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, Royal Art Lodge and Sarah Sze.
OCTOBER
International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville (Biacs3)
Oct. 2, 2008-Jan. 9, 2009
For "Youniverse," the third installment of the Seville biennial, 150 artists address the notion of "technology as man-made nature" via such subjects as nonotechnology, hydraulic engineering and quantum physics. The show is organized by Peter Weibel, Wonil Rhee and Marie-Ange Breyer and takes place at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville as well as at additional sites in the area.
Toronto International Art Fair
Oct. 2-6, 2008
Canada’s major art fair, overseen by Linel Rebenchuk, brings almost 100 dealers to the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Among the special attractions are "The News at Five," a series of shows organized by Canadian Art magazine editor Richard Rhodes.
Art.Fair 21
Oct. 3-5, 2008
Now in its sixth year, the "fair for 21st century art" brings about 60 galleries to Expo XXI in Cologne’s city center.
The International Art + Design Fair, 1900-2008
Oct. 3-8, 2008
Anna and Brian Haughton’s annual show of 20th-century art and design presents 34 dealers at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan. The opening night preview party on Oct. 2 benefits the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture.
Scope London
Oct. 15-19, 2008
The fourth Scope London presents solo shows and thematic installations from 75 dealers from around the world. The event is located in a 42,000-square-foot, multi-leveled glass box pavilion sited at Lord’s Cricket Ground, within walking distance of the Frieze Art Fair.
Contemporary Istanbul
Oct. 16-19, 2008
Now in its third year, this Istanbul art fair features contemporary art from 76 exhibitors, about half from Turkey. The show is overseen by Ali Güreli and held in the Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Center.
Bridge Art Fair London
Oct 16-19, 2008
For its second year in London, Bridge brings more than 50 galleries to the Trafalgar hotel in Trafalgar Square. Special features include an exhibition of African artists.
Frieze Art Fair
Oct. 16-19, 2008
About 150 galleries are taking part in the sixth year of the Frieze Art Fair, which boasts $400 million in art sold in 2007. Neville Wakefield is curator of this year’s "Frieze Projects," which includes works by Cory Arcangel, Pavel Büchler, Ceal Floyer, Tue Greenfort, Sharon Hayes, Jeppe Hein, Allen Ruppersberg, Andreas Slominski and others.
Red Dot Fair London
Oct. 16-19, 2008
Strategically located in London’s West End at the Radisson Edwardian Grafton Hotel, Red Dot is within walking distance of the Frieze and Zoo fairs. The event, taking place in London for the first time (after launching in New York and Miami Beach in 2007) is overseen by Colleen Theis and New York art dealer George Billis.
Year_08
Oct. 16-19, 2008
About 60 galleries set up in London’s Old Sorting Office in the third installment of the self-proclaimed "front-runner of progressive art fairs."
Zoo Art Fair
Oct. 17-20, 2008
Founded in 2004, Zoo brings about 60 dealers to the Royal Academy of Arts.
17th Annual American Fine Art Show
Oct. 17-19, 2008
Approximately 45 galleries participate in this event, an annual fundraiser for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Among the dealers in the 2008 installment are Adelson Galleries, Dolan/Maxwell, Forum Gallery, Godel & Co. and Gerald Peters Gallery.
Brussels Biennial 1
Oct. 19, 2008-Jan. 4, 2009
The very first Brussels Biennial features 40 artists in a show "developed and curated by a network of visual art organizations," ranging from the Belgian Argos in Brussels, MuHKA in Antwerp and Witte de With in Rotterdam to L’appartement 22 in Rabat (a strategy also adopted by curator Lance Fung for "Lucky Number Seven," the Site Santa Fe biennial, June 22, 2008-Jan. 4, 2008). The Brussels biennial takes place in two derelict buildings along the Brussels North-South railway -- a former postal sorting center and a below-ground space in a Brussels metro station. It is overseen by Barbara Vanderlinden, a lecturer at the San Francisco Art Institute.
FIAC 08
Oct. 23-26, 2008
France’s own art fair is split between two sites, the Grand Palais and the Cour Carrée de Louvre, with additional public projects and sculptures in the Tuileries. More than 180 galleries from 19 countries are expected to be on hand.
28th Bienal de São Paulo
Oct. 26-Dec. 6, 2008
Director Ivo Mesquita, a professor at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, has already drawn much criticism for announcing that this year’s bienal would have no art at all, but rather host a cycle of conferences and performances at the show’s traditional venue, the pavilion Ciccillo Matarazzo in Ibirapuera Park. Dubbed "In Living Contact," the usual exhibition space is going to be left empty, under the title of "The Void." "The great exhibitions are so look-alike to one another," he said. "We should ask, to where will all these images lead us?" Among the artists he cited as possible performers or lecturers in a long interview with Art International are Marina Abramovic, assume vivid astro focus, Fischerspooner, Andrea Fraser, Peter Freidl and Jeff Wall.
IFPDA Print Fair
Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2008
A highlight of New York’s Fine Art Print Week, the International Fine Print Dealers Association presents 88 dealers at the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side.
Editions/Artists Books ‘08
Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2008
Prints, multiples and artists’ books from over 60 contemporary art publishers and dealers, who set up in the Tunnel on 11th Avenue in New York’s Chelsea art district. The opening night gala on Oct. 30 -- "the Trick or Treat Edition" benefits P.S.1 and its internet radio station, Art Radio WPS1.org. The fair catalogue features a cover designed by Marcel Dzama.
Bridge Art Fair Berlin
Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2008
The Bridge Art Fair empire expands into Berlin with the first "apartment building art fair," to be held in the 19-room OTA Berlin.
Art Forum Berlin
Oct. 31-Nov. 3, 2008
For its 13th installment, on the theme of "Desire," Art Forum Berlin presents over 120 galleries from 25 countries (including, for the first time, galleries from India and Romania)at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. Hans-Jürgen Hafner has organized the show’s special exhibition, titled "Difference, What’s the Difference?" which focuses on the conflict between art market and art exhibition. Berlin dealers in the fair include Arndt & Partner, Buchmann, Mehdi Chouakri, Contemporary Fine Arts, Crone, Eigen + Art, Johnen, Kicken Berlin, Kuckei + Kuckei, Christian Nagel, Peres Projects, Michael Schultz, Wohmashine and Zwinger.
NOVEMBER
Turin Triennial
Nov. 6-Jan. 18, 2008
The second installment of this new international show. titled "Fifty Moons of Saturn," is spread between three venues -- the Fondazione Sandretto de Rebaudengo, the Castello di Rivoli and the Palazzina della Societa Promotrice delle Belle Arte. Curator Daniel Birnbaum has split the show into two sections, the first displaying the work of 50 young artists, and the second focusing on two mid-career artists.
Nov. 7-10, 2008
Sanford L. Smith’s Art20 brings about 60 dealers in 20th-century painting and sculpture to the Park Avenue Armory. The gala preview on Nov. 6 benefits Planned Parenthood.
Artissima 15
Nov. 7-9, 2008
Located in the Northern Italian town of Turin, opening simultaneously with the Torino Triennale, this year’s installment of Artissima is organized by Cecilia Alemani, Michael Ned Holte, Thibaut Verhoeven and Aurélie Voltz.
SOFA Chicago
Nov. 7-9, 2008
The 15th International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art brings 100 galleries from around the world to Chicago’s Festival Hall on the Navy Pier.
Abu Dhabi International Fine Art and Antiques Fair
Nov. 12-15, 2008
The second art fair in the Arab emirate takes place at the newly constructed Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Paris Photo
Nov. 13-16, 2008
The illustrious 11-year-old photo fair brings over 100 dealers and photo publishers to the Carousel du Louvre.
Pinta 08
Nov. 13-16, 2008
For its second installment at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York, this Latin-American fair presents 50 dealers from South America, Europe and the Unites States in a show timed to coincide the Latin-American art auctions at New York’s big auction houses. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros is the fair’s honorary chair.
Modernism: A Century of Style and Design
Nov. 14-17, 2008
Almost 50 galleries are expected at the Park Avenue Armory for Sanford Smith’s annual show of 20th-century design.
Art Paris Abu Dhabi
Nov. 17-21, 2008
An offshoot of the Paris-based modern and contemporary fair of the same name, this fair, now in its second hear, brings about 45 dealers to the Emirates Palace.
DECEMBER
Art Miami
Dec. 3-7, 2008
The 19th edition of Art Miami features about 100 galleries from some 20 countries in a custom-made pavilion on NE 1st Avenue in Miami’s Wynwood Art District.
Design Miami
Dec. 3-7, 2008
This year’s installment of Design Miami, the sister fair of Art Basel Miami Beach, presents 27 galleries (11 from New York) in the Miami Design District.
NADA Art Fair Miami
Dec. 3-7, 2008
The New Dealers Alliance once again hosts its ever-popular fair of hot new art at the Ice Palace in Miami’s Wynwood Art District. About 90 galleries participate.
Red Dot Miami Beach
Dec. 3-7, 2008
Red Dot Miami Beach takes place at an as-yet-unannounced location in Miami’s Wynwood Art District. The fair is co-produced by Llana Vardy and George Billis.
Scope Miami
Dec. 3-7, 2008
Celebrated for its air of good-natured esthetic sprawl, Scope brings more than 80 exhibitors to a 60,000-square-foot custom-made pavilion in Roberto Clemente Park in the Wynwood Art District.
Aqua Art Miami
Dec. 4-7, 2008
Once again occupying two locations, the Aqua Hotel in South Beach and a converted warehouse space -- the Aqua Wynwood -- in Miami’s Wynwood Art District, this fair originally hailed from the northeast, and one-third of the 48 participating galleries are from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Art Basel Miami Beach
Dec. 4-7, 2008
Now in its seventh year, the big dog of Miami art fairs once again settles into the Miami Convention Center, presenting a lineup of 220 top modern and contemporary art galleries from around the globe (the fair may expand next year to a fourth hall at the sprawling venue, so stay tuned).
Art Now Fair
Dec. 4-7, 2008
Located at the South Seas Hotel on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, this fair, now in its second year, promises affordable art by unknown artists.
Bridge Miami
Dec. 4-7, 2008
Located at the Catalina and Maxine Hotels on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach (across the street from Bridge), Bridge Miami promises a focus on Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
Ink Miami 2008
Dec. 4-7, 2008
The International Fine Print Dealers Association sponsors this elegant fair, held at the Suites of Dorchester Hotel in Miami Beach.
Photo Miami
Dec. 4-9, 2008
The three-year-old show of contemporary photography brings about 60 dealers to a spacious tented pavilion in the Wynwood Art District.
PULSE Miami
Dec. 4-7, 2008
Known for its range of special art events and installations -- in 2007, Pulse hosted the inaugural Geisai Miami -- Pulse returns to the SoHo Studios in the Wynwood district for the second year in a row.
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