What is an art fair?

Art fairs are temporary spaces where galleries from all over the world bring contemporary art work to sell. The art can be bought by people visiting the fair, but is mainly sold to dealers, collectors and gallerists. It is then taken to other galleries, collections or museums after the fair has ended. Art fairs are now an essential part of the global art market, but they are quite new. The first Frieze Art Fair was in 2003.

People don’t just come to an art fair to buy or sell, they also come to look. Each art fair has its own special nature. Frieze Art Fair is unusual. It features specially commissioned projects that aren’t for sale, but encourage more people to visit the fair. An art fair not only shows us an exciting range of contemporary art, it also exposes trends – which artists, styles of work or countries are popular, what new developments there are in ideas and materials. Everyone is looking for the next big thing.

Martin Honert's 'Riesen' (Giants) at Frieze Art Fair 2007

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An art dealer is someone who buys, sells or trades in art. He or she might work for themselves, represent an artist or have a gallery. They may do all of these. A dealer can also be a collector, and a gallerist, and they may deal directly from their own home.

A collector is a person who collects art. This might be for pleasure or money - art can be a good financial investment if the collector is clever, or lucky. They might buy directly from an artist, through a dealer or from a gallery. Their collection may be on their walls at home for private enjoyment, housed in storage, lent out to exhibitions around the world, or be shown in its own dedicated space.

A gallerist is someone who runs a gallery. The work they show might be by artists they represent, who have signed a contract with their gallery, or by non-represented artists. Gallerists do not always own the work they show. Sometimes they act as agents between the artist and the person buying the art work, and take a commission on what they sell. They may also be a collector, a curator and a dealer.

Curators organise exhibitions in galleries, or look after the collection of a museum. They might go to an art fair to find new talent, or check out the works of an artist they are already following. Most art shows you go to in museums and galleries will have been researched and brought together by a curator. They might work freelance (be their own boss) or be employed by an institution.

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What about artists and the art fair?
It can be tricky for an artist to establish and maintain their career and it is important for them to keep up their profile. Art fairs are important in this process as they can bring artists’ work to attention of people from all over the world. Many artists find art fairs a weird environment. They may have a private relationship with their work when they are making it, and it may seem strange to see it in public – almost as though it no longer belongs to them. Some artists embrace working with the public and even use this relationship to create art. At 2006’s Frieze Art Fair, the artists Jake and Dinos Chapman set up a booth in which they painted portraits of members of the public who had paid £4000. These were no ordinary portraits – the subjects ended up with distorted, humorous or grotesque faces. Most people went away happy though – as they now owned a unique painting by the Chapman brothers.