Some Thoughts on NEXT and Art Chicago, 2009 by William Dolan
I love the idea of the Chicago art fairs being housed at the Merchandise Mart. It’s an impressive building. It’s massive and elegant. It is an important historical landmark. It’s very accessible by whatever means of transportation you choose. When I was involved with The Artist Project, I found the Mart People to be professional, courteous, helpful and friendly at all levels; from the dock workers, to the office, to Chris Kennedy. They run a smooth operation and they are generous with the free passes. I want it to be a big deal.
However, I felt that something was lacking this year. The last two years had more fanfare. There was more excitement in the air. At the opening parties there were long lines at the elevators.
This year it seemed that it might have been easy to miss. There wasn’t a lot of media attention. There were no big tent functions outside. Big white tents, with their fancy plastic windows, always indicate that Something Important is going on. There was no excitement. It just felt like an ordinary industrial trade fair. Getting a ride in an elevator wasn’t a problem.
As far as the art goes, the stuff at Art Chicago was like any other year. There was everything from boring to good, a little bit of everything for everybody. It’s always too much and you have to find what you like. You’re more likely to become bored from too much work than exhausted from sensory overload from really exciting and engaging work.
The strongest work was from Asia. The figurative work was raw and dealt with important sociological and political issues. The abstract work was emotional, either in a calming meditive way or in a primal scream sort of way.
I got the feeling that I wasn’t welcomed in many (but not all) of the booths. The people manning these booths looked like they weren’t having any fun and were possibly miserable. It was like the old days in River North when I would visit the galleries and felt like I was interrupting something, as the person behind the desk glared at me. The same thing happened here. Was it because they weren’t doing well? Was it because there wasn’t much traffic and they were bored to tears, or was it because my crappy (but comfortable) shoes indicated I wasn’t there to buy anything? I was wearing my Kenneth Cole glasses and nice leather to compensate, though.
NEXT on the other hand, was a little more exciting. The gallerists were more engaging and friendly. Most seemed proud of the work they were showing and happy to talk about it. It took up half the area that it did last year, but there seemed to be more packed into what was left. As a painter, I was happy to see more of an emphasis on objects than conceptual installations this year, but that’s just me. Like last year there was plenty of free Grolsch to be had, if you had the hook-up.
There was a Curbmaster van that was converted into a heavily armed ice cream truck. The artists were giving out free ice cream during the opening party, which was nice. Since it had no drive train and was relatively light, I had a strong urge to push it around the fair.
I don’t know how successful the show was, but I hope it did well for the exhibitors. Others are calling for a different model than the art fair, but in lieu of anything better, I want the art fairs to succeed. When the fairs are successful, at least there is some excitement about art in Chicago, if only for a couple of weeks. Hoping for its demise is counterproductive. However, I would trade the art fairs for an ongoing vibrant art scene. For that to happen, maybe we do need something else. But first, can we drop the Artropolis name please?
Category: Articles, Essays, Reviews 4 comments »
May 7th, 2009 at 8:51 am
The lack of energy surrounding the show last week is one of the reasons why I just didn’t feel like attending. I’m sure, as is the case every year, there was good stuff and bad stuff. I get to see a lot of art during the year so I feel like I didn’t miss much.
Others have been calling for a different model art fair and a different model for the gallery system. My question is what would that model be?
May 10th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Art In America article:
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/finer-things/2009-05-08/art-for-all-at-chicagos-fairs-/
May 10th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Bill I am so sorry to hear your experience of Art Chicago and Next was not fulfilling, and I’m sorry you didn’t go Norbert. My experience was totally different. I loved every second of the show and felt the energy was better than the previous two years I’ve been. Maybe because I moved here from Atlanta, and because Atlanta doesn’t have an international art fair, I am always excited and feel lucky to go.
I found the Art Chicago floor livelier than expected and the majority of galleries eager to talk about the artwork and show. Several of the galleries had artists present and talking about their work, with one or two booths almost in party mode, overflowing into the halls. Only one gallery from Spain was particularly unapproachable, but the opportunity of seeing the paintings in their space in person, was worth enduring my cool reception.
I have read other reviews that also mention the lack of wow factor paintings, but for me there were plenty, and the overall cumulative effect I felt was the sense of a common creative bond and energy that we all bring to our lives and work.
I for one will keep my fingers crossed that the show was successful and that it will be here year after year.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:44 am
First of all, big shoutout to the CAW peeps! It’s been too long. Just checked the website; thought I’d add my two cents.
ArtChicago, as it alway does, generally overwhelmed in the bad areas and underwhelmed in the good ones. Very few pieces actually stopped me in my tracks, although I have to say the few gallerists who witnessed my amazement were more than happy to talk at length. Bill’s right: the best work was from Asia. Actually my favorite pieces were repeats from last year, but still amazing (the mulberry paper-wrapped moonscape assemblages of Kwang-Young Chun). One gallery from Charlotte had some very nice pieces, especially really late Beardens, and Carrie Secrist downright represented with that swirling bodies photo montage. As usual, the fancy armchairs and douchebags decked out with blueteeth and suits gave the whole shebang a white-collar meat market feel, but sadly that is to be expected.
NEXT was solid, I thought, and thankfully less Science&Industry than last year (the Death of American Muscle? Please.). The hipsters doing their ca-razy thang got to be a bit much (anybody catch the jello wrestling? how about the grubby caterwaulers from Heaven gallery, complete with sawyer?), but I suppose that adds to the fun of the whole thing. The actual art, I thought, was more consistently engaging at NEXT than ArtChicago, but the latter’s larger scale allowed for more, albeit sporatic, true delights. And did anybody count how many damn portraits of JFK and Lincoln there were? Sheesh.
I reckon I’m lacking some deep insight in my analysis here, but so be it. I enjoyed my 5 hour stroll. For those who went, did you catch Mike Rea’s giant wooden gun? Good times.