Going to the Outsider Art Fair
26 August 2009 International art fairs are big business. Over the past ten years, art fairs have become the top way for art of all kinds to be wheeled out for the collectors, the curators and the curious.
Stuart Shepherd writes about his experience of representing New Zealand artists in the international marketplace.
An art fair brings an enormous amount of artwork to a single venue. It generates global media attention and makes attendance essential for any serious players in the art world. It can also make a fun spectacle for the casual viewer; an entertaining outing for parents with kids.
The bottom line of art fairs is sales. If sales don’t happen, the fair won’t come back; nor will the dealers. And all the associated business will not happen: the art handlers, the truckers, the framers, the gallery assistants, the photographers, the printers of catalogues, the writers, and finally, the artists won’t get paid.
With the recent global recession, a lot of uncertainty hangs over the art fair circuit. Art fairs have become a barometer for the economy. Each year, there are hundreds of art fairs internationally and anywhere between 20 and 200 dealers at any one of these fairs. They tend to be clustered in the northern hemisphere winter,
My first official outing
In February this year, I rented a booth at the 17th Annual New York International Outsider Art Fair. This was the first time artwork from New Zealand had ever been shown as a group at this fair. it was also my first official outing as an international art dealer.
Not just anyone can rent space at an art fair. The organisers are very careful to maintain standards of quality. If an art fair gets a reputation of showing weak work, all the dealers will suffer and the fair organisers will lose their business. So most fairs have a committee made up of their most established dealers. You must be approved by this group before you’re invited to exhibit. I had been taking self-taught art work from New Zealand to New York for several years. I had given a talk at the American Folk Art Museum in 2006 as part of its annual Outsider Art Week. I knew most of the committee. I was a safe bet.
I also received the impression from various dealers that there is growing interest in work from this part of the world. The “outsider” art field is well-established and thoroughly mined in North America and Europe. Interest is turning to unknown work from further afield ... Asia, the Pacific, Mexico, India.
This is one of the few countries in the world without its own folk art museum, and our museums, universities, schools and dealer galleries have neglected this sector of the local art world. Part of my mission in taking work to this marketplace was to use it as leverage back here for the artists and their artwork.
Art of cultural value
There is confusion about what is funny Kiwiana, what is kitsch, what is backyard tinkering, and what is significant vernacular art of real cultural value.
As a visual artist and educator, I want to live in a community that is open to greater diversity of visual expression. By exposing the work of these marginalised artists to established international collectors and curators, I want to motivate our local institutions and the wider community to take notice and expand the established and tightly guarded canon of legitimate New Zealand art.
The booth was manned by volunteer New Yorkers – friends who believed in the project. It did very well despite the worst economic conditions in 30 years. We got special mention in some of the world’s top online art reviews; we were invited back and the fair organiser bought work from our booth for his personal collection; and we received a multitude of invitations to other art fairs.
One of the artists, Jim Dornan, was picked up for inclusion in a major exhibition at the American Visionary Art Museum and is the first New Zealand artist to be shown there.
Andrew Blythe was collected for the Museum of Concrete Poetry in Florida while Martin Thompson was bought by a major British collector based in London. Colin Korovin’s work was picked up by the curator of an established New York dealer for a show featuring an exhibition of artists’ books later this year. Ray Ritchie’s work sold well while Robert Rapson’s work sold out twice and orders for more of his work cannot be filled.
All the connections
It took a very big effort to get myself and the work to New York and I won’t be going in 2010. I Instead, I plan to work from New Zealand and follow up on all the connections I made. I also want to consider another expedition to New York in 2011 but right now, I’m focussed on disseminating the work through publishing.
I believe all my efforts and planning have paid off. Te Papa has expressed a real interest in what I’m doing, and a number of top dealers in New Zealand are also interested in the work of the artists I represented in New York. Finally, these artists are getting some overdue respect and acknowledgement for their role as unique and valuable contributors to the community.