THE INCREASING attendance enjoyed by art fairs is both blessing and bane for gallerists, who have to keep reminding visitors not to poke, prod, or — in the case of floor pieces — step on the art.
At Art Basel Hong Kong, Mona Hatoum’s Turbulence was a repeat victim as oblivious visitors walked over the floor piece and subsequently slipped on the unanchored glass marbles arranged into a circle. The attendant crash followed by the chorus of gasps became familiar sounds over the course of the fair.
To protect Ms. Hatoum’s €250,000 work, Galleria Continua went against the Lebanese-born Palestinian artist’s wishes and added a square border made of red tape to the installation. When that wasn’t enough of a warning, stanchions were erected. Mario Cristiani, co-founder of Galleria Continua, didn’t hesitate in identifying the cause of this rampant unmindfulness among fair-goers: “It’s because people are always on their cellphones.”
At Silverlens, Patricia Eustaquio’s Shifting In, Sifting Through fared no better. Made from floor tiles, Ms. Eustaquio’s work was strolled over numerous times, to the ire of Silverlens co-founder Rachel Rillo. Commented Ms. Eustaquio: “For the art fair crush, it is a given that the work will be battered.”
The Instagram-ready appeal of art fairs (and exhibitions, in general) appears to have made matters worse. Intent of taking selfies, visitors sometimes accidentally grazed paintings and other wall-bound works (a risk that increased if said selfie-taking visitor was wearing a backpack).
But what really gets a gallerist’s goat is the deliberate molestation of a piece. That is, knowingly picking at a deliciously thick impasto painting, or knocking on a print mounted on aluminum (to check if it really is mounted on aluminum — yes, it is).
Fair organizers have requested patience from the galleries: attracting new audiences is the first step, educating them is the next. — SLM
