Chicago has had a large art trade fair every spring since 1979. This year it has three — without a corresponding increase in benefits for viewers.
The three fairs — Art Chicago in the Park, Chicago Contemporary & Classic and Nova Young Art Fair — taken together give pretty much the same impression that used to be made by one, and that one had been diminishing in size since the 1990s.
So why see any? Because for people willing to look carefully, there always have been objects of quality and interest, no matter how degraded the fairs were said to have become. And that is again true this year, though the process of discovery has been made more difficult by having the works more spread out.
First, however, you have to get over the decade-long idea that a Golden Age of contemporary art expositions happened in Chicago. That was the hype that turned into legend. A small number of high-end contemporary dealers had a good run of business here, and because what they sold was approved by a tiny network of curators and critics, the collectors who bought also received the sought-after cachet of being a player.
Those dealers and collectors — together about 3,000 people worldwide — have since moved on to fairs elsewhere in America and abroad, which means the buzz they created is gone. What remains are many solid galleries that never were touted during the boom years because buying the work they offer held no social cachet and would not get you onto the boards of museums. These galleries now are joined by several showing more decorative works and a few representatives of alternative, not-for-profit spaces.
Art Chicago in the Park, which used to be the only game in town (at Navy Pier), is presently in two adjoining tents in Grant Park. Where it long had a contingent of modern dealers showing masterworks from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, those now have gone over to a new competitor, Chicago Contemporary & Classic, in half of Festival Hall at Navy Pier.
Neither fair has many international galleries or big-name dealers from Manhattan. Both are more conservative than in years past, though in part that is a reflection of a more conservative contemporary art climate. Dealers showing master photographs, a strength at Art Chicago the last two years, have virtually disappeared, owing to how the dates for the fairs coincide with photography auctions in New York.
Art Chicago’s emphasis remains contemporary and includes a few large outdoor sculptures, shown to excellent advantage in Grant Park. Painting is represented to a higher degree than it is on the contemporary scene as a whole; videos and installations — both difficult to sell — are underrepresented. A current emphasis on drawing is felt mainly in galleries showing younger artists, some of whom used to be included off-site in Art Chicago’s complementary venture, the Stray Show. The past practice of inviting “cutting-edge” galleries also continues, though the number is fairly small.
Chicago Contemporary & Classic promised a range from antiques to contemporary, but its greatest strength is in modern work, chiefly shown by dealers who’ve defected from Art Chicago. Antiques are scarcely better represented than the single dealer showing antiquities. However, what’s there is on a high level, likely to match in quality the works at the weekend’s Merchandise Mart antiques fair. Contemporary pieces again emphasize painting, though there also is a group of “projects” by individual artists that prove more exploratory.
Nova Young Art Fair, in the West Loop gallery district, is an outgrowth of the Artboat that in recent years made runs off Navy Pier. It presents 11 galleries in a small tent and 40 projects (some sponsored by not-for-profit organizations) in a second-floor space across the way. The results are, in the main, raw and irreverent. As usual, the effort has as much to do with its organizers’ bid for attention in the young art community as with the works presented. Nevertheless, another venue for untested talent is another venue deserving of encouragement.
The following pieces are worth seeking out:
– John Szarkowski photographs (Art Chicago, Peter Fetterman, Booth No. A106).
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– Charles Metton “Debussy’s `Poissons d’Or,” box construction with projection (AC, Forum, A200/B201).
– Ancient art of the Americas (AC, Douglas Dawson, A 206).
– Anne Wilson assemblages (AC, Boyd, B100/C101).
– James Drake “City of Tells,” charcoal drawing (AC, Arthur Roger, D101).
– Zhi Lin “Five Capital Executions in China: Starvation,” painting and screen print (AC, Koplin Del Rio, F. 108).
– Gregory Jacobsen dark fantasy paintings (AC, Zg, F217).
– Art Nouveau posters and ceramics (Chicago Contemporary & Classic, Jason Jacques, 148).
– 19th and early 20th Century Viennese furniture (CC&C, Rita Bucheit, 248/349).
– Frank Lloyd Wright design for a country club (CC&C, Marion Meyer. 320/421).
– German expressionist works on paper (CC&C, Worthington, 344).
– Peter Voulkos ceramics (CC&C, galerie yoramgil, 404/505).
– Sean Scully “4-1-93,” a 1993 pastel (CC&C, Hackett-Freedman, 316/417).
– John Beasley watercolors (NOVA, Bucket Rider, tent).
– Dianne Kaufman expressionist paintings (NOVA, Ashley, tent).
– Michael x. Ryan prints and drawings (NOVA, upstairs).
Art Chicago in the Park runs noon-8 p.m. Saturday and Monday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday in Grant Park, 201 S. Columbus Drive; 312-226-4700; $15, $12 students, seniors. Chicago Contemporary & Classic runs noon-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, noon-6 p.m. Monday at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.; 312-447-0430; $15, $10 students, seniors. Nova Young Art Fair runs noon-8 p.m. Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday at 840 and 850 W. Washington Blvd. $5. 312-421-2227.
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