Art+Auction - March 2016_

BLOUINARTINFO.COM | MARCH 2016 ART+AUCTION

FROM LEFT: ROBERTO CHAMORRO AND THE ARMORY SHOW; THE STUDIO, DUBAI; ART BASEL. OPPOSITE, FROM LEFT: LORAINE BODEWES; TIMOTHY LEE PHOTOGRAPHY

ART DUBAI

L a u n c h e d i n 2 0 0 7 b y a r t d e a l e r J o h n

Martin and investment banker

Benedict Floyd in partnership with the

Dubai International Financial Center

(difc), the Gulf Art Fair—now known

as Art Dubai—was the irst con tem-

porary art show in the United Arab

Emirates. Now in its 10th year, the fair

p r e s e n t s a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l l i n e u p o f

roughly 90 galleries across three

programs: Contemporary; Modern,

which focuses on artists from the

Middle East, Africa, and South Asia;

and Marker, a curated section devoted

to a speciic theme or location. The

2016 Marker section will focus on

Manila. Art Dubai also has the largest

education programming of any art fair

globally. Programs include Campus

Art Dubai, a curriculum of symposia

and workshops, and Forum Fellows,

a fellowship for curators and writers

from Arab countries, among others.

WHERE Dubai

DATES March 16–19

FAIR DIRECTOR Antonia Carver

FIRST EDITION 2007

PARENT COMPANY Art Dubai Fair llc, a

joint venture between the difc and

Middle East Fairs Ltd., under the

patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin

R a s h i d A l M a k t o u m , v i c e p r e s i d e n t

and prime minister of the United

Arab Emirates, and ruler of Dubai

ATTENDANCE IN 2015 25,000

NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS IN 2016 94

EXHIBITOR SELECTION PROCESS Eligible

galleries must be established for

at least two years and are required to

submit a detailed exhibition proposal

to a selection committee of ive

gallerists and guest curators with a

particular interest in modern art

of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Applicants for the Modern section

a r e r e q u i r e d t o s u b m i t p r o p o s a l s

with a focus on a speciic period or

theme within an artist’s career.

SATELLITE FAIRS Design Days Dubai,

Sikka Art Fair

ART BASEL HONG KONG

In 1970, three Basel gallerists—Ernst

Beyeler, Trudi Bruckner, and Balz

Hilt—organized the inaugural edition

of Art Basel and drew more than

16,000 visitors to the Swiss city to see

the offerings of 90 galleries and 30

publishers. Within ive years, the fair

reached its current size of roughly

300 exhibitors and attracted 37,000

attendees, becoming a leading plat-

form for established and emerging

artists of modern and contemporary

art. In 2002, the fair debuted in Miami

Beach, and 11 years later an Asian

outpost was acquired in the region’s

art hub, Hong Kong, bridging the art

scenes of the East and West. Today,

half of the exhibitors at abhk are

from Asia and the Asia-Paciic region,

with the remainder coming from the

Americas, Europe, and beyond. Art

spanning the 20th and 21st centuries

is exhibited, including drawing,

sculpture, installations, photography,

and video art.

WHERE Hong Kong

DATES March 24–26

FAIR DIRECTORS Marc Spiegler, global

director; Adeline Ooi, director for Asia

FIRST EDITION Art Basel began in 1970;

abhk, in 2013

PARENT COMPANY mch Swiss Exhibition

(Basel) Ltd.

ATTENDANCE IN 2015 60,000

NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS IN 2016 239

EXHIBITOR SELECTION PROCESS The

selection committee, a panel of

esteemed international gallerists who

serve multiyear terms, reviews each

application over a weeklong period.

The committee is composed of eight

members and three sector experts.

SATELLITE FAIRS Art Central, Asia

Contemporary Art Show, Asia Hotel

Art Fair

THE ARMORY SHOW

In 1994, art dealers Colin de Land,

Pat Hearn, Matthew Marks, and Paul

Morris founded the Gramercy

International Art Fair, held at New

York’s Gramercy Park Hotel. Five

years later, the fair relocated to the

69th Regiment Armory and was

renamed the Armory Show, taking

its title from the 1913 exhibition

credited with introducing modern art

to New York. Today the Armory

Show—held annually on Piers 92 and

94 on the Hudson River, with a focus

on modern and contemporary art—

is the city’s leading international art

fair, hosting more than 200 galleries

each year. The invitational Focus

section, now in its seventh edition,

spotlights new and emerging artists

from a speciic region. This year,

Focus: African Perspectives, curated

by Julia Grosse and Yvette Mutumba,

showcases international artistic

production from contemporary

African viewpoints, including those

of curators, galleries, and institutions.

WHERE New York

DATES March 3–6

FAIR DIRECTOR Benjamin Genocchio

FIRST EDITION 1994

PARENT COMPANY Merchandise Mart

Properties, Inc.

ATTENDANCE IN 2015 65,000

NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS IN 2016 202

EXHIBITOR SELECTION PROCESS Partici-

pants submit applications for the

modern and contemporary sections.

Six members make up the selection

committee for the modern section on

Pier 92, and seven make selections for

the contemporary section on Pier 94.

SATELLITE FAIRS Volta, I ndependent,

Pulse, Scope, Art on Paper, Moving

Image, Affordable Art Fair

TEFAF

ADAA’S THE ART SHOW

THE ARMORY SHOW

ART DUBAI

ART BASEL HONG KONG

NUMBER OF

EXHIBITORS IN

2016

250

200

150

100

50

0

TEFAF

ADAA’S THE ART SHOW

THE ARMORY SHOW

ART DUBAI

ART BASEL HONG KONG

NUMBER OF

VISITORS IN

2015

70,000

40,000

60,000

30,000

10,000

50,000

20,000

0