In the second and final installment of our interview with Lorenzo Rudolf, he discusses the impact of the art fair boom on the global contemporary art market.
With the increasing numbers of art fairs that have appeared globally in recent years, how has this affected the art market, which has seen a fundamental change in the way that artworks are purchased?
I don’t see a fundamental change in the way in which artworks are purchased. Today, artworks are purchased either at auctions, galleries, through dealers and sometimes directly from artists. I don’t think that it is different from how it was 20 to 30 years before. What we surely have is that the volume of transactions is much larger and that there is an increase in the competition in the market. Art fairs are nothing more than the reaction and mirror of the reality in the art market. One thing is clear – art fairs, at least the international ones, have become events not only for elite, serious collectors, but more and more social events as well. In other words, there is a trend for art fairs, but there is no art fair that is directly involved in the market. An art fair is always a platform for galleries and, at the end of the day, it is the galleries that sell at the art fair and not the art fair itself. I would even say that art fairs are the partners of galleries. Today, many galleries in the world participate in numerous art fairs, as they see art fairs as opportunities to come into direct contact with many collectors whom they would have never met just being in their gallery spaces. International art fairs are the doors to the international market. Before, art markets were mainly domestic or regional; today, as a consequence of globalization, the art market has become global. But let us be clear, not all art fairs can function and succeed in the same way. As previously mentioned, we have a huge increase in the number of fairs – and most fairs are very similar and try to copy each other – and, logically, the collectors as well as the galleries select the fairs they participate in. No gallery nor collector can run from art fair to art fair throughout the entire year. If we look at the situation in the West, there are only a handful of fairs that have succeeded in having global importance. It is the same in Asia, where we have only two fairs that have a real international impact: one is clearly Art Basel Hong Kong, a branch of the biggest and most important fair worldwide, and the other is Art Stage Singapore, the stage for Southeast Asia to the global market. It is exactly like in the financial world. There are only two multicultural places that have become internationally-recognized centers in Asia hosting an important art fair: Hong Kong and Singapore. In other words, we have the chance to access the international art world here in Singapore like never before. But, to be successful, we have to fulfill international standards regarding quality and professionalism.
The multitude of new art fairs is certainly advantageous for the art market, but is their success detrimental to the business of commercial galleries, some of which have been selling artworks for centuries? Who do art fairs benefit and who are they detrimental for?
I have been in the industry for over 25 years and have never met a single gallery that has existed for centuries. A gallery is typically very closely associated with its owner; it is a very personal business. And every gallerist is usually very closely associated with the artists of his generation. It is already difficult for a gallery to survive two or three generations. But back to your question, I do not see how the multitude of art fairs could not be advantageous to the gallery market. Art fairs are the gallery market. The formula is quite evident: the bigger the market, the more galleries, the more art fairs. What is an art fair? An art fair is the culmination and concentration of galleries in one place. If an art fair is successful, it means that the exhibiting galleries are successful. In other words, art fairs are the marketplaces for galleries and it is absolutely not possible for an art fair to be successful while being detrimental to the (commercial) galleries. But one thing is clear: we have a massively growing market and competition in the art market because we have a lot of new art fairs that are based on even more new galleries – it is not possible to have new art fairs without a big growth of galleries – and that is the situation we have today. Globalization made the entire world a market and there are galleries and art fairs that are competitive and are able to take the step in this global market. There are also galleries and art fairs that are not able to do it. Today, if I am a gallery or an art fair, I constantly have to improve myself and adapt myself to the changing situation. If I don’t do this, I’m lost. Don’t forget also that the expectations of collectors and buyers are changing. Whether I like the situation or not, globalization is not stopping because of me; I am obliged to adapt myself or, even better, to see it as a chance. There are not only more competitors – the cake has also become bigger. Like in every competitive field, the winners are the ones who are able and willing to change, to improve and to adapt themselves to the (new) conditions and particularities of the market. That is exactly what is happening today amongst all the galleries and art fairs, and this on a local, regional and international level. On this note, I also have to say that Art Stage Singapore is not a platform that only looks for the most successful galleries. Being in Southeast Asia, we are committed to supporting Southeast Asian galleries, to give them a special platform to the global market and to bring them collectors they would have never met otherwise. We understand ourselves as a partner and supporter of the Southeast Asian and Singaporean art scenes, and we invest a lot of know-how, engagement and money in it. As a result, last year, we had over 40 galleries from Singapore and over 70 galleries from the entire Southeast Asia. In other words, we try to create for everyone a chance to grow in the market and to become successful internationally. That is the way Art Stage Singapore thinks and acts, and I don’t see any other art fair demonstrating an engagement comparable to what we do. We do everything to support the Southeast Asian art scene and to create for it the best possible platform and door to the international market – also by bringing to Singapore hundreds of important collectors and buyers – because we clearly know that an art fair is only successful if the exhibiting galleries are successful. It is not a competition – it is a complementary relationship and marriage – and that is how art fairs as well as galleries should function.Art tour at Art Stage Singapore 20
The new art fair model could mean that emerging artists and galleries are disadvantaged, as fairs are notoriously selective when choosing their exhibitors, meaning that lesser-known artists are often ignored to make room for their more established counterparts. How can young artists or galleries from emerging nations representing these young artists get their works noticed and accepted for an international art fair?
Since the ’90s, art fairs have functioned in the same way – there is no new fair model. The big change in art fair model happened in the ’90s with Art Basel when I was the director of the fair. One of the key components of the new fair concept was exactly the opening of the fair towards new art, new artists and young, economically weaker galleries. For the first time, a fair introduced platforms for young emerging artists and galleries and gave them the possibility to showcase themselves in an attractive and spectacular context, and this at very special price conditions. And, since then, many art fairs all over the world have followed this example. Today, there is no quite fair that goes further than Art Stage Singapore. For example, participation in the Southeast Asian platform costs a gallery only a percentage of a regular booth. Being a fair in an emerging region, Art Stage Singapore takes responsibility for being a support and catalyst for the region. We have created and invested a lot into new fair formats. To mention only one, the Southeast Asian platform, a museum-like curated sales exhibition where each artist is represented and sellable by his gallery, and where galleries can participate with an absolutely minimal financial contribution. We really do everything we can to support the galleries. Hence it is wrong, at least concerning Art Stage Singapore, to say that art fairs disadvantage emerging artists and galleries. Many art fairs today are the catalysts and partners of galleries, especially young ones. Many young artists now kickstart their careers through art fairs, as they are the place where they are discovered by an international audience. A wonderful example is when I first created Art Statements at Art Basel, the first time in the world where an art fair or commercial institution created a platform for young galleries and artists. We offered every year 25 opportunities to young artists – all of them presented by their galleries – to present themselves with spectacular special projects. Looking back, just from the first selection, participants like Ernesto Neto (Brazil), Ugo Rondinone (Switzerland), William Kentridge (South Africa) or Kara Walker (USA) became global superstars from their first appearance at the fair. Why? Because the fair supported them. The same happens at Art Stage Singapore: the fair supports strong and promising emerging art, artists and galleries. It is surely one of the fairs with the biggest support of and investment in young art worldwide.
How can younger art fairs in countries where the international art market is less developed compete with more established fairs in Europe and the United States?
You have a wonderful example in Southeast Asia: Art Stage Singapore. It is a fair that is a baby age-wise, a fair that is in a region that is far less developed as compared to the rest of the world, a fair that has succeeded in being part of the global art scene, a fair that is recognized all over the world and a fair that attracts collectors from as far as the USA and Europe to come to Singapore. It is a fair that became the market platform of Southeast Asia and the door to the global art market for its artists and galleries. It is a fair that is the flagship of the entire Southeast Asian region, especially for Singapore. You just have to be professional, serious and knowledgeable about the market, honest to yourself and have a clear strategy on how you want to grow step by step and succeed in the global art scene. That is what Art Stage Singapore has been doing. I remember when we first started the fair in 2011, we needed side events of professional standards, but there were none in Singapore then, so we had to create them ourselves. As an art fair, you have to take your job and business seriously. You have to analyze the market and to understand how it functions, locally, regionally and globally. You have to know how the art world functions and matchmake the exhibiting galleries with collectors and buyers, as well as with curators, museum directors and the media. That is the way to build up a fair. At the same time, you have to create a social get-together with a special and good mood so that people want to buy art. If you know these mechanisms and understand the art world, then there is almost no place where there isn’t a chance for a new fair to be successful. But, as mentioned before, we are in a time where there is a proliferation of art fairs. There are too many (similar) art fairs and not every fair can be successful; there is tough competition and you must know what you are doing to succeed. We are proud and glad that after only a few years, Art Stage Singapore has become one of the top two fairs in Asia, a globally-recognized and respected brand, the flagship and an important catalyst for all of Southeast Asia that marries the region with the global art circuit.
