#art-fairs

#art-fairs

The announcement that Frieze will take over the existing Abu Dhabi Art (ADA) fair may have come as a surprise to some key players in the Gulf art scene but, according to Frieze's chief executive Simon Fox, the plan was "considered for a reasonably long time". The evolution of Abu Dhabi's art ecosystem has been "many years in the making", he adds, and now the "stars have aligned".

We presented Gianpietro Carlesso's mammoth, monumental work Torre di Saba (2009) at Frieze Sculpture in 2020. It weighs over 200kg and stands an imposing 268cm high, but the artist wanted the piece to be one with the nature that surrounds it, so he chose to not present it on a traditional plinth. Mtec, who handle the logistics for Frieze Sculpture, had to dig a hole, pour a concrete base in and add hidden pins, then put topsoil and new turf to match the surroundings of the park and hide the concrete. It required a structural engineer for the foundations and wind-load calculations. To install it were three technicians plus Carlesso and me, and the equipment included a lorry-mounted crane, a mini digger, a telehandler and a wacker plate [to compact the soil]. To complicate matters further, installation was done on a heavy rainy day! But by the end, the Lebanese tree wood of the sculpture really felt as if it grew out of the ground-a

This month's multiple whammy of Friezes London and Masters, swiftly followed by Art Basel Paris, and accompanied by the inevitable plethora of adjacent events and satellite art fairs, is never good news for the environment. And in these twitchy times, when there is so much else kicking off-both economically and politically-across the globe, it is especially challenging to keep the attention of the art world on the ever-escalating climate and environmental crisis that faces us all.

This is a strategic arrangement designed to enhance S.E.A. Focus's prominence and strengthen its value propositions,

The exceptional quality of this year's projects is powerful proof of Art Basel Paris's magnetism-and of the central role Paris and France continue to play on the global art market and the world of culture at large,

The Outer Sunset Farmers Market & Mercantile offers a free event all day as part of Bank of America's Museums On Us Free Museum Weekend.

"It was kind of a shock for Art Basel themselves, that there would be a young, progressive and fresh perspective on art, and that a whole new fair would be founded," Dietrich says.

Art fairs, while temporary, face significant sustainability challenges which differ based on location and logistical structures used for each event.