Wherefore art thou

During the recent Art Chicago relocation crisis, the quote that got the most play in the media was from Natalie van Straaten of the Chicago Art Dealers Association, who, like many others, considered the mess a civic embarrassment: “To the world, this is the face of art in Chicago.”

While one weekend does not make an art scene, our face wasn’t looking pretty until the Merchandise Mart stepped in and gave it a last-minute makeover. (To recap: The fair was to be in a tent in Butler Field, but organizer Thomas Blackman ran out of money to pay workers to finish the tent, and dealers arrived unsure where to go.) Ultimately, Art Chicago and Nova (held in a hotel in Lakeview) were great fairs, though perhaps more for viewers than sellers.

There was no doubt the Mart did an amazing job. “It was like turning an ocean liner in the middle of the sea at a moment’s notice, and they did it with good grace,” says Robert Fishkoff, director of Forum Gallery in New York and Los Angeles. Still, Fishkoff was unable to show all the work he brought, and not in the manner he had intended.

Will the galleries come back? “It is much more than just a question whether the walls are in place,” says Fishkoff, who has been coming to Chicago fairs for 20 years. He says the success of a first-class fine-art fair depends not so much on who’s running it (Blackman sold the fair to the Mart, but will stay on a year as a consultant)—but rather on whether the best art dealers in Chicago decide to participate. Without them, it’s unlikely that collectors in the region will come.

In past years, Art Chicago attracted the high-flying crowd of monied collectors and curators from around the world. The traffic gave local galleries and artists exposure, and cash trickled down. Art Chicago is no longer attracting the global art market, and has morphed into more of a regional collectors’ base.

Chicago gallery owner Susan Gescheidle, who took a space in both Art Chicago and Nova, is clear on what she’ll do next year. “I’m not doing Art Chicagoagain,” she says. “I’ll put [artists’ work]…where people like my edgy work.” And that means younger fairs like Nova. Gescheidle represents more experimental artists and she did not sell well at Art Chicago. With the show in the Mart, with its home furnishing vendors, some dealers fear the environment will not be the best place for nontraditional art.

While Nova exhibitor Billy Shire Fine Arts from L.A. reported low sales, director Annie Adjchavanic says that the gallery will “absolutely” return, and is traveling with Nova to Miami’s Art Basel in December. Coming here allowed her to meet a few collectors in person, and Adjchavanic says she has faith in Chicago. “Nova has great potential,” she says.—Ruth Lopez