UNTITLED, ART. Brian Boucher's Dispatch I San Francisco, January 16, 2020

Brian Boucher’s Dispatch | San Francisco, January 16, 2020

Dear reader,

Oh, hello there. I’m Brian Boucher. If you hadn’t heard, I’m the writer-in-residence for the fourth edition of UNTITLED, ART, San Francisco. I’ll be your guide to the fair, which brings together sixty galleries from a dozen countries on Pier 35 at the Embarcadero, from January 17–19. As a reporter for Art in America and artnet News, and currently as an independent writer, I’ve traveled the world to report on art fairs, from Dubai to Dallas and New York to Hong Kong. But it’s my first time serving as a fair’s very own writer, and as far as I know, no other fair has ever had a resident writer, so we’re all a little part of history here. (I’m following in the footsteps of my friend Osman Can Yerabacan, who was UNTITLED, ART’s writer in residence at the Miami edition, last month.)

What, pray tell, does a writer-in-residence at an art fair do? I’m glad you asked. You can follow me around the fair through daily dispatches published in the fair’s newsletter and on Medium, where I’ll highlight artists, dealers, and events at the fair. I’ll also contribute to the fair’s Facebook and Twitter, posting from the sales floor as well as from other spots around the fair and maybe the city.

What I thought might be helpful would be to put on my reporter’s hat (mine is kind of a burnt orange, and I got it at J. Crew) and pose a few questions to the fair’s organizers, namely Founder Jeff Lawson; Executive Director Manuela Mozo; and Kamal Zargar, Director of Strategic Development for the fair’s San Francisco edition. They collaborated on the answers below.

Could you characterize in a sentence or two what makes UNTITLED, ART, or the San Francisco edition in particular, special? What does it offer that other fairs perhaps don’t?

The fair was founded in direct response to the proliferation of the mega fair. The concept is a curated, disciplined approach with a focus on international galleries spanning emerging, mid-career, and historic work showcased in an architecturally-designed space. More simply, a fair that is easy to navigate and focused on a carefully selected group of galleries. The mission of UNTITLED, ART San Francisco, is to create not only a space where art is sold, but also a space to encourage the education and discovery of artists represented by an international roster of galleries. Moreover, our intention is to create an inclusive space. We accomplish this by working with a broad group of art institutions in the Bay Area, from local museums and nonprofits, as well as commercial partners, ranging from large multinational companies to smaller, local artisanal brands.

What makes the “regional” art fair, if you think of your fair that way, just as crucial for the ecosystem as the Art Basels of the world?

Currently, with the glut of fairs globally, regional fairs are becoming increasingly important. Fairs can no longer count on the same group of collectors to travel the globe, supporting a long list of galleries and fairs. It is critical for fairs and galleries to develop new collectors in regional markets. Regional fairs often reflect regional interests. We work closely with our galleries and our local cultural partners to put together a selection of curated fair presentations that we feel reflect those regional market and institutional interests so that our galleries are best positioned for commercial success.

There’s an old joke that says everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it. People are always talking about “fair-tigue,” but we all keep marching on. Maybe there’s just one very obvious answer, but what do you do to keep galleries and visitors coming? Maybe you simply put on the best fair you possibly can, but can you offer any more on that?

Fair fatigue is real, which is why you have to continue to push the fair in new and different directions. I believe we have an advantage because we work with curators. These curators are not always focused on the obvious in our marketplace, which provides us the opportunity to take risks. Hopefully, more times than not, those risks allow us to produce a more compelling fair. For example, in our last Miami edition Jordan Stein curated a special section featuring an essentially unknown artist named Dick Jay. This was Jay’s first public showing of our works and one of the first things visitors saw when they entered the fair — it proved to be a hit, and Jay, who is in his eighties, had his first sales at the fair. That isn’t something you see at other fairs.

With Australia and California burning and coastal cities under threat from sea water rise, climate change is on everyone’s lips, and many people are asking how art fairs can curb their appetite for jet fuel (not to mention gas for Ubers and Lyfts). How are you thinking about this? Have you taken specific measures to address the fair’s carbon footprint?

We are absolutely focused on this. We believe strongly that every little thing you can do is moving in the right direction. We moved away from physical VIP cards before any other fair; we moved our catalog online in 2014, and we purchased furniture which is reused over multiple years. There are other examples and we’re continually re-evaluating what else can be done. However, I have to note that an international business such as ours has many challenges in regards to a carbon footprint that I’m not sure anyone has a good answer to yet.

This one is partly obvious, of course, due to different cities, climates, etc., but how does the flavor of the San Francisco fair differ from the one in Miami? How are different dealers chosen for the different editions? How do the tastes or collecting habits of collectors and curators at the two fairs differ?

The first imperative is to stick with the ethos of UNTITLED, ART, which is a curated fair focused on the connection between curation, architecture, and space. From there, the fair is built out of those key tenets. In Miami Beach, we focus on the beach and the light. In San Francisco, the focus is on the historical cues related to shipbuilding and manufacturing. That is why Miami Beach is presented on the beach and San Francisco in a ship terminal.

What’s your biggest ambition for the fourth edition, or, if you wanted to phrase it this way, the biggest challenge you face?

Our primary goal is not simply to engage the existing collecting community, but to bring new audiences into the fair and the art world, to get educated about art and to start collecting!

You’ve moved around a little bit, but it seems you’ve found a home for a second year at the piers. What does the pier offer the fair that the other locations didn’t? What do the dealers like about it?

We have moved around. We always aim to produce the most exciting and compelling fair that focuses heavily on curatorial concepts and inputs interspersed with architectural design and structures. Fortunately or unfortunately, when trying to achieve this, your standard trade show space simply does not work for UNTITLED, ART. As a result, there is sometimes trial and error. People thought we were nuts when we first produced a fair on the beach, but it has grown into something that people look forward to visiting year after year. In San Francisco, our goal is to accomplish the same result, and therefore we will continue to push forward until we get it just right.

I’m excited that the fair is hosting the blues musician and artist Mike Henderson for a concert on Friday night. I’ve hardly ever attended a fair with a concert before. What a great idea! Tell me how this came about.

Again, we are always striving to produce the most interesting fair, and performance is something we have focused on since the inception of the fair. To us, a concert is just another example of that.

The performance with Mike Henderson was done very consciously as there was a lot of synergy around it, connecting to multiple organizations. It was organized with Cheryl Haines, who founded FOR-SITE Foundation, one of our nonprofit exhibitors, and founder of Haines Gallery, which exhibits in Miami Beach and represents Mike Henderson. We had recruited Michael Rosenfeld Gallery to present a booth of artists included in the Soul of a Nation exhibition as it would continue to be on view at the de Young Museum during the fair week. Moreover, we knew Mike was going to have a very strong season here, with a show at the San Francisco Art Institute and Haines Gallery, is being included in the de Young’s iteration of Soul of a Nation — and was also just awarded the Artadia award for San Francisco. So having Mike perform allowed us to highlight his work and the strong moment he is having, Soul of a Nation at the de Young, and highlight two of our exhibitors, FOR-SITE Foundation and Michael Rosenfeld Gallery simultaneously. In addition, having a musical performance at the fair also helps us draw new audiences that may come for music, but stay for the art!

UNTITLED, Art.

www.untitledartfairs.com