Chile’s contemporary art fair, Ch.ACO, was created in 2009 to promote the market of art and the emerging local collecting. This year, from Estacion Mapocho Cultural Center, a patrimonial building located in the heart of Santiago, 30 galleries from 11 countries organized a tour that invited viewers to know works created by artists from Chile, USA and Europe, as well as institutional projects and new strategies, including independent publishing companies, magazines on art, architecture and design, curated installations and video arte, talks with acclaimed national and international figures, such as Massimiliano Gioni (artistic director of 2013 Venice Biennial), Apsara DiQuizio (commissioner of the Berkeley Art Museum and the Pacific Film Archive) and Gerardo Mosquera (Cuban curator that co-founded Havana Biennial).
With less galleries than previous years, the Fair, headed by Irene Abujatum and Elodie Fulton (directors of AFA gallery), bet on quality instead of quantity, thus organizing a small event within the international circuit, an event boosted by a special energy, which has attracted projects such as Artur Fidalgo (Brazil), Arroniz (Mexico), Bendana - Pinel Contemporary art (France), Casa sin Fin (Spain), DPM (Ecuador), Fernando Pradilla (Colombia), Gachy Prieto Gallery (Argentina), Lamontagne Gallery (USA), Gallery Soa (Uruguay) and Vertice (Peru), among other.
Chile was represented by Patricia Ready, Isabel Aninat, Artespacio, La Sala, XS, AFA, Die Ecke, Barros, L’Atelier (one-of-a-kind in the region) and projects that turned out to be innovations within the itinerary given to typically commercial galleries, like Plop! (dedicated to cartoon stories, comic and illustration), Local Contemporary art (experimental art), Metales Pesados Visual (a bookstore that maintains annual curatorship in a small hall of the head office) and Bloc (a space for workshops and art tutelage).
The tour included several emerging and renowned Chilean artists. This is how the fair becomes a spreading platform for the numerous authors that coexist in a prolific local scene, where there is lack of exhibiting, circulating and selling opportunities. Some examples of outstanding proposals were those presented by Johanna Unzueta, Alvaro Oyarzun, Sebastian Preece, Carolina Ruff, Paz Errazuriz, Catalina Bauer, Juan Davila, Tomas Rivas and Julen Birke, among others. Local artists usually attract some attention due to their seriousness, meticulousness and lucid context conceptualizations, although they shy away from humor and informality. Perhaps that was the reason of the surprise atmosphere around works created by Francisco “Papas Fritas” in Heavy Metal –paintings with collage strategies that satirized the politic history, economic system, shows and religion– and the participation of Local Contemporary art, which tried to encourage links instead of sell with an installation in which visitors stood on a huge dais and exhibited their own posters with different messages, mostly related to politics and social life.
Chilean viewers not always have the opportunity to admire the most contemporary practices from the international scene. There aren’t many international artists and showcases coming to our exhibition spaces. This is why the Fair represents an update opportunity, although it always follows a market format. Some of the most outstanding spaces in terms of new trends were Casa Sin Fin (Spain) and the pictures of Alvaro Perdices and Javier Codesal; Vertice (Peru) with Rocio Gomez’ performance pictures; Gachi Prieto (Argentina) and Carolina Magnin’s object work; Arroniz (Mexico) and Agustin Gonzalez’ paintings; Artur Fidalgo (Brazil) with Fernando de la Rocque’s mural participative proposal; or La Montagne (USA), and Daniela Rivera’s installation.
COLLECTING AND EDUCATION
2012 Ch.ACO gathered over 43,000 visitors, including the unexpected arrival of North American photographer Spencer Tunick to commemorate ten years of his showcase in Chile, which caught the attention of the mass media.
736 works of contemporary art were showcased during the four-day fair, and the total value surpassed 2,000,000 USD. “This year we went beyond our own expectations, since we had a better call if it’s compared to the previous edition that gathered 40,000 people. Over the 60 % of artworks were sold. The event was a slam dunk for visual arts as the city vibrated during the whole week”, Irene Abujatum said.
Nevertheless, Chilean galleries were favored by the sales. “Local collectors usually play safe, and prefer renowned spaces and artists”, Fernando Pradilla commented on the Fair.
“I believe that there are tons of energy and wishes in Chile, as well as many interesting projects, but there is not much collecting. People like to play safe when it comes to risking and betting. Coming from outside is very complicated because investments expenses are very high. The sales weren’t that high if we compare other fairs, such as ARCO, Pulse Miami, Art Chicago or Art Cologne”, Nerea Fernandez, director of Nieves Fernandez gallery in Madrid, noted in an article published on Artishock website. The gallery owner decided to attend Ch.ACO to get some fresh air away from the depressed European market.
“I finally believe that we have reached an international fair standard, with fine galleries, editorial representation and business. In other words, it’s a true platform to promote the industry of visual arts in Chile. Of course, buying art is also about culture and heritage valuation, as well as alliances with museums and companies”, Abujatum declared to the website.
Today’s art fairs have been “biennialized” and not only include commercial tours, but experimental spaces and proposals that promote reflections; and Ch.ACO follows the system’s needs in Chile.
This year, the main dishes became extra-commercial activities, such as Project Room’s exhibition Dialogos entre Valparaiso y San Francisco: dos ciudades puerto. Curated by Apsara DiQuinzio and Chilean Isabel Garcia Perez de Arce, it put together audiovisual works and experimental movies produced by important artists from Chile and USA, including Juan Downey, Raul Ruiz, Eugenio Dittborn and Raul Zurita on one side; Martha Rosler, Lucy Raven, Julio Cesar Morales and Alfred Young, on the other side. The talks put crucial topics on the table, related to new practices of visibility and circulation, the rescue of historic pieces in curatorial projects of contemporary art, independent editorial models, collecting and educating policies, and research and archive networks, among others. This section, also coordinated by Garcia Perez de Arce, was attended by curators Massimiliano Gioni, Michel Blancsube (Jumex collection, Mexico), Pablo Leon de la Barra (Mexico), Amilcar Packer (from Capacete Residencias, Brazil), Laura Garbarino (Philips de Pury Auction House, Italy), Francesca Bertolotti (Italy), Rodrigo Alonso (Argentina) and Christian Viveros-Faune (Chile - USA), among other guests.
As the only event on international contemporary art, the Fair promises to carry out a “country mission”, also trying to promote educative projects, such as program Ch.ACO Se Moviliza, which this year benefited 180 students from three municipalities in Gran Santiago. With special guided visits, it didn’t catch much of attention during the event.
ORGANIZED OUT OF THE FAIR
In 2009 several Chilean cities hosted the 1st Visual Arts Triennial, which counted on international curatorship headed by Paraguayan Ticio Escobar. Within the framework of the Republic’s Bicentenary, the idea was to activate situations of peripheral scenes and put Chile on the international art map. However, the event didn’t reach a second edition. Following the vanity of the government in that time, there was no interest in carrying it out again. Several sectors affirm that today’s cultural policies trend to promote the market, show projects or events of mass impact. Ch.ACO would follow that line. That’s the reason why this year’s special attraction was placed out of the fair, it was the parallel organization of OFF Chacoff, a tour through 53 independent spaces and self-managed authorities that kicked off with special activities for free in three municipalities of the capital: Santiago, Providencia and Ñuñoa.
OFF (Organized Out of the Fair) showed the existence of an emerging circuit that gathers young artists, multidisciplinary projects and new gallery formats with interests that are not necessary related to the market, but to the experimentation, reflection, spreading and connection with the community.
It was also visited by the group of VIP guests, who were precisely interested in getting to know the latest trends on Chilean art.
“Fairs are opportunities to admire national and international art, but the possibility to explore Santiago was what attracted me the most. The fair catalyzes a lot of energy to give visibility to the art system, even for artists from non-commercial galleries, and that’s what happens with this OFF event. It’s a door not only to the market sphere, but to other kinds of spaces and reflections”, M. Gioni pointed out.
Without counting viewers (the website registered 53,000 clicks during OFF days, September 26 – October 1), most of the exhibition spaces were crowded and animated, specially due to the creativity of artists who accepted the challenge of opening this touristic and cultural tour that wasn’t thought to be the opposite of Ch.ACO, but to add and generate a true contemporary art party in the city.
Despite of the existence of negative opinions issued by some sectors that described the event as a weird marriage with the Fair, and criticized –for instance– the participation of non-professional spaces, the organizers of OFF (a group of local artists and communicators) believe that they have succeeded in terms of shedding light on new spaces, out of the Fair and Biennial format, carried out through a self-management exercise that counted on limited funding and institutional support.
“We showed that there are plenty of exhibition spaces, and generated a platform to reflect on what’s going on with art institutions. OFF represents a contribution to the debate on the lack of spaces, critic, market, since the motivation and interest are aimed at doing things, generating proposals and calls for artists and collectives. It’s a critic to the official system and –although it reveals ancient rows– it is an answer that invites to re-think the scene, to create more democratic, transversal and participative authorities. It’s an attitude! It represents a new energy, where the ‘independent’ is real. Artists and visual agents organize their own territories. It encourages the coexistence of several strata and gallery systems. Far from established circuits, and without the place’s habits, these are new circuits that install and redefine the visual style of creators, spaces and agents that weren’t so massively materialized before OFF. We believe that the best contribution has been the fact of showing the world that Chilean visual arts are more powerful than what they look, what is exhibited, sold and believed”, the organizers of the project pointed out.
Espacio Barroco, Galeria Armada, Arteusable, Galpon Chileno de las Artes, Local Project, Rattha Gallery, Hall, Colectivo La Union, Galeria Callejera, El Iris, Cellar, Alugar, Yono, Piso Dos, Galeria Centro, Blanqueado Capital, Cian, Perrera Arte, Espacio Opening, Caja Negra, Kinoki... are already marked on a map that redefines Chile’s artistic scene.
“OFF is identified by alternative and emerging spaces that might not be interested in attending a fair or Biennial, since, just as Pablo Leon de la Barra expressed during a talk held at Ch.ACO, Biennials are disguised as fairs and entail a vicious circle. OFF is under, is a different proposal, with another kind of circuit”, they reaffirm.
The “out-of-the-fair” event establishes a dialogue with Ch.ACO, taking advantage of the effervescence it gains with its national and international call. It’s expected to continue in time, taking into account the need for curatorial work, and the power to effectively reach new enthusiasts out.
In these times of intense offers in terms of contemporary art, we should highlight the action of one of the most locally emblematic alternative spaces, which stood away from the fair-of-fair circuit: Galeria Metropolitana. With over ten years of experience since Pedro Aguirre Cerda, a peripheral municipality of Santiago, the space took a thinking role in and united a sector of artists, agents and intellectuals who –right after Ch.ACO and OFF came to an end– promoted a seminar and a collective exhibition titled Trienal de Chile 2. The irony was pertinent, and the debates carried out targeted a system in which collecting isn’t the only important issue, but the redefinition of cultural policies, the relation between art and market, and the role played by independent and self-managed spaces in a conflictive system, that is especially animated by extra-institutional interests.
Related Publications
