Dallas Art Fair’s success marks a step toward normalcy

When the Dallas Art Fair opened its doors on November 11th, no one knew what to expect. This year’s show would be smaller in the number of exhibitors – about 30% fewer – and likely smaller in the number of visitors as the COVID-19 protocols would be strict: vaccine cards or proof of negative tests were required along with your entry ticket. However, it was unclear how this would affect potential sales or network building activities, two of the most important reasons for attending a trade fair.

When the fair closed on Sunday evening, most galleries reported that expectations – albeit mostly low expectations – had been exceeded.

For some gallery owners, this was a small step towards normalcy amid a pandemic. The entrance to the Fashion Industry Gallery, in which the fair was housed, was marked by a large-format neon piece by the Denton-based artist Alicia Eggert, appropriately characterized by a combination of the words “It is my time” and “It is your time “turned”, “It is our time” and “It is time”.

For most years, Dallas Art Fair Week is the busiest time on the visual arts calendar. It’s one of the centerpieces of Dallas Arts Month each April, which means it’s packed with activity – parties, collection tours, exhibition openings, and galas. But in 2020, just weeks after a national lockdown, the Dallas Art Fair canceled its in-person exhibit and switched to a 10-day online sale. Galleries that registered to exhibit that year were offered credits for future expenses in lieu of refunds. This year the fair was postponed from April to November.

The entrance to the Fashion Industry Gallery, which housed the Dallas Art Fair, was marked by a large-format neon piece by Denton-based artist Alicia Eggert, which is characterized by a combination of the words “It is my time” and “It is your. turned time ”,“ It is our time ”and“ It is time ”.(Nan Coulter / special contributor)

After more than a year and a half of social distancing and precautionary measures, Conduit Gallery’s Danette Dufilho says having 58 galleries in one room is “stimulating”.

“Our expectations were different,” says Dufilho. “But one of the great things about the show every year is connecting with a mix of people we know and people we don’t know. This weekend, sitting together with people we hadn’t seen in a long time, was really something special. “

The artist Aliyah Cyndonia, 19, turns away from Emily LaCour’s “All That I’ve Ever Loved”, a work with pastel, acrylic and oil on canvas.(Ben Torres / special article)

Other gallery owners shared similar views. For experienced galleries, this year’s fair will be remembered as a kind of reunion for artists, gallery owners, collectors and amateurs. For newer galleries like PAO Projects, which opened in Expo Park this year, the scaled-down fair was the perfect introduction to the city’s art market. Gallery owner Peter Augustus Owen is no stranger to art fairs as he worked in marketing for Perrotin, an international art gallery chain. His first Dallas Art Fair was exactly what he was hoping for.

“It was great to see how people collect in Dallas. You don’t really get that from openings, ”says Owen. “And it allows me to think about what I’ll show next time, which will be curated more closely for the Dallas audience.”

Owen and the handful of other gallery owners I spoke to said the weekend resulted in on-site sales, database building, and even potential commissions. Early official sales reports were strong. Highlights included New York’s Half Gallery, which sold its stand of Mark Yang’s paintings and drawings, Dallas-based Erin Cluley Gallery, which sold more than six works and refreshed the works on display on day three, and Dallas-based Olivier François Gallery selling a Brandon Thompson painting. Artwork from six galleries, including one from the Conduit Gallery, were selected through the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program, which brings works to the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art. The acquisition of works is of course the aim of an exhibition at an art fair, because a gallery is essentially a business.

Other goals of participating in an art fair are rather nebulous and were allegedly less realized this year. What distinguishes an art fair from a more general fair is often the presence of international dealers, curators, consultants and gallery owners. This year, due to complications with international travel and shipping, less than 25% of the galleries came from outside the United States. Gallery owners told me that the majority of the trade show visitors they encountered were regional or local.

The Dallas Art Fair was a hive of activity on November 11th, a hopeful sign for a local scene looking to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.(Ben Torres / special article)

Show director Kelly Cornell says this could actually be a reason to be hopeful about the future of the Dallas arts scene. She notes that the audience was more diverse than in previous years and seemed to reflect the influx of new residents into the city. According to this summer’s U.S. census data, the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s population rose 120,000 during the pandemic.

“Lots of new collectors came through, people who just moved here. [We are] grows and expands as the city grows, ”says Cornell. “It’s a really positive outlook for the Dallas Arts community and a really positive outlook for April.”

And a positive outlook for April is what the Dallas Art Fair, and perhaps the art world as a whole, needs in 2022. Cornell says the show is well on its way back to its full size, with plans to continue work on differentiating the show as a target event, not just a hometown affair. But if the past 18 months have taught us anything, it is that we have no idea what to expect.

Artist Chloe Chiasson’s mixed media piece “A River Runs Through It” was on view at the Dallas Art Fair’s opening night on November 11th at the Fashion Industry Gallery in Dallas.(Ben Torres / special article)

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