Survival Strategies
New and veteran fairs alike are continuously tinkering with their formats and programs, trying to maximize their chances of securing high-quality works and, more importantly, big-spending collectors. Fairs in Beijing, Sydney, London and Seoul presented a range of strategies for helping the bottom line.
Beijing
Art fair fatigue appears not to afflict the Chinese capital, which saw the inauguration of yet another fair this year, Beijing Contemporary (August 30–September 2), after JINGART launched in May. A total of 32 Chinese and international galleries participated in Beijing Contemporary’s two gallery sectors, while the other sectors highlighted design, fashion and lead organizing partner Cadillac’s new luxury SUV.
Beijing’s Ink Studio offered works by prominent ink (1994) to a Chinese buyer. Galerie Urs Meile (Beijing/Lucerne) sold Xie Nanxing’s oil-on-canvas triptych depicting wisps of smoke, (2018), for USD 230,000. Boers-Li Gallery (Beijing/New York) brought an eclectic array of works, including Ulay and Marina Abramović’s video installation (1976), priced at USD 200,000, and Ou Jin’s wood, linen and acrylic composition (2018), on offer for USD 30,000. Beijing Commune’s solo booth of Zhao Yao focused on his 2018 photographs of snowy mountains in Yushu, with a number of them going to Chinese private collectors for under USD 10,000 each. Chambers Fine Art (Beijing/New York) sold Yan Shanchun’s mixed-media depictions of natural landscapes and Guo Hongwei’s watercolors of different colored stones for USD 3,000–6,000.
