I interrupted my European travel report once for a piece on the "Korosu-na Haku" event, and now I'm back to write about my trip to Spain, where I went after visiting the transmediale in early February. I went from Berlin to Spain, primarily to attend the ARCO art fair in Madrid (2/10-14).
Back: Wakabayashi Ryo and gallery owner Mizuma Sueo. Front, from left: artists Kurashige Jin, Tenmyoya Hisashi and Aoyama Satoru
ARCO is the biggest contemporary art fair in Spain. Other silimar art events in Europe include Art Basel in Switzerland, Frieze Art Fair in the UK, and FIAC in France, but in terms of visitor numbers ARCO outshines them all. Art Basel for example counts an average 50,000 visitors in one week, while this year’s ARCO was attended by roughly 180,000 people in five days. Although tickets for the last two days were sold for less than those for the first half, with EUR 24 (EUR 17 for students) were surely weren't cheap, which makes the high number of visitors even more remarkable.
and artist Bae Joon Sung
The Spanish King and Queen as well as the President of this year’s guest country, Mexico, were greeted by the Bask Separatist Movement ETA with a terrorist attack just before they appeared in an opening ceremony. There were "only" injured people but no casualties so we were lucky things didn't turn out worse, but due to these circumstances I had to get off the taxi and walk the last bit to the venue. It is said that the strike was a revenge for the arrests of ETA members the week before, in other words the festival’s quality as a "national festivity" made it a target for the anger of dissidents.
Among the approximately 300 participating institutions were Mizuma Art Gallery and Tokyo Gallery from Japan, Korean pkm Gallery, and Hang Kong’s 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, whereas naturally guests from European and South American countries were in the majority. They all come to ARCO to sell their products, so each booth is filled with enthusiastic people, and although the atmosphere was relaxed there was a pleasant feel of tension in the air. A visit makes even people like me who are not infested with the collection fever feel like buying something. Offered are works by artists ranging from stars to newcomers from all corners of the world, so there’s in fact something interesting and affordable for everyone.
What amazed me most was the fact that the organizers took great care also of aspects other than sales at the event. On the program were more than 50 symposiums with curators and critics from several different countries (scattered over 5 days). Asia was represented by Mori Art Museum director David Elliott, Kataoka Mami (senior curator, Mori Art Museum) and four others who appeared in a panel discussion entitled "Curating for Today’s Museums and Art Spaces". Also at the venue - although not actively participating - was Artsonje Museum’s chief curator Kim Sun-jung, the commissioner of the Korean pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale.
Next to booths by commercial galleries, this year’s ARCO featured also the "Black Box", a corner dedicated to displays of video art (and partly interactive art). The works shown there were selected by media art experts such as Ars Electronica director Gerfried Stocker. Considering that works of video and media art are generally hard to sell, the inclusion of the "Black Box" in this otherwise rather commercially-driven festival was indeed a revolutionary decision. Something like this is of course only possible when the budget is right, but anyway my impression of the festival was that it was prepared well and with careful attention to the current state of the advanced art scene.
Not that they don't have any problems, but what I can say for sure is that, like in the cases of Basel, London, Paris and other European major city, the event in Madrid benefited from its long history’s stable foundation. Madrid is home to the Museo del Prado, the Museo de Arte Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. These aren't exhibiting only Velazquez and Goya, but a great range of classical paintings from Italy, Flandre or Germany, as well as pieces of contemporary beginning with "Guernica". Compared to Asian museums I feel like calling the vast amounts of these outstanding collections an overwhelming "flood" of fine art. Artists and art fans in Europe by necessity grow up with such massive works of art, may they approve them or rebel against them.
In this respect, thinking about the clear inferiority of the non-European zone makes me sigh unwittingly. Put-on theories like "Superflat" for sure can't compete with the historical weight on the European side, and I have the feeling that the only thing we can do to make up for the lack in time resources is to cooperate on a spatial level. Unfortunately though, there is still few solidarity and alliance among us Asian countries, and I wonder if the "Art Fair Tokyo" and the "Yokohama Triennale" opening later this year will be occasions to improve this situation…
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO