Five Things To Know Before Hitting Expo Chicago
By Amy Cavanaugh in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 20, 2012 4:00PM
Los Carpinteros Tumbonas de Madera IV, 2012 watercolor on paper 113 x 200 cm © Los Carpinteros
I attended Vernissage/the media preview at Expo Chicago Wednesday night and was completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount to see. After spending more than three hours taking in art, I took a few things away that will help you navigate the first-time art fair this weekend.
1. It's the first year.
Expo is an attempt to get Chicago back on the art fair map. The city has had major art fairs through the years, but the past few years have been gloomy. In February of this year, the Art Chicago fair was abruptly cancelled after 31 years. It was founded in 1980 as the Chicago International Art Exposition then turned into Next Art Chicago in 2011 after joining forces with Next, a show of up-and-coming artists. Director Tony Karman headed up the effort, and he's not messing around. We spoke with him earlier this month, and he said, "We have an earnest pledge to make sure it's about quality, not quantity. We limited the number of dealers to 120, with 100 stands… Limiting the size is an important signal to art fairs that we're serious. Additionally, we worked with Jeanne Gang to create an interior environment that I hope befits the work." Karman said that scheduling the fair for September was a conscious decision, since it coincides with Gallery Weekend Chicago and makes the fair a kickoff to fall art exhibitions.
2. There are big names and people you've never heard of.
The fair focuses on modern and contemporary art, and you'll see work by artists you recognize—there are Calders, de Koonings, Pousette-Darts, Lichtensteins. But dig deeper and find artists you don't know, artists you wouldn't get a chance to discover without fairs like Expo. You could also go and spend half your time at Chicago booths, but you can also see galleries from Copenhagen, Paris, and Pamplona, as well as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Madison.
3. There's something for everyone.
Whether your tastes fall toward painting, photography, sculpture, or video, you'll find work you want to check out. Barry Friedman Ltd. has stunning Michael Eastman photographs of empty interior spaces in Havana and Lisbon. Keliy Anderson-Staley shoots tintype photographs, and she's making some of them at the Catherine Edelman booth during Expo. I gravitate towards photography, but I fell hard for paintings by Franziska Holstein and aluminum sculptures by Liam Gillick. At the NRDC booth, Maya Lin has a pin sculpture of the Chicago River that's worth checking out.
4. Cover the whole floor. Twice.
You're probably going to be overwhelmed when you first get there, so start slowly. I did an initial tour of the space, stopping only to look at works that immediately caught my eye. Then I did another tour and moved more slowly, stopping at more galleries and talking to more people. I was more comfortable with the layout on my second tour, and saw more than I would have on a first go.
5. Wear your glasses.
The top accessory at Expo wasn't copies of The Art Newspaper—it was funky glasses. Keep that in mind as you're getting dressed for the fair.
Tickets to Expo are $20 for one day, or $65 for a four-day pass. You can get them online or at the fair. Expo runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.