The Messe Berlin

At the preview and opening night of the 13th edition of Art Forum Berlin, titled “Desire,” there were high energy, lots of sales, and plenty of big collectors, although mostly European ones. The fair featured 127 exhibitors from 26 countries, but the group was somewhat weighted toward the local scene with 63 German galleries and 28 from Berlin. Housed in a large, austere hall on the exhibition grounds of Messe Berlin, the fair felt insulated from the economic situation that had plagued recent auctions and art fairs. But the event was not without some controversy; as local journalist Conny Becker told ARTINFO, quite a few European galleries were not pleased with the fair's new schedule. Historically, Art Forum runs in late September and early October, making it the first European fair of the season, beating out Frieze, which took place in mid-October in London this year, and FIAC, held last week in Paris. Art Forum opened today, after the other fairs, due to a scheduling conflict with the exhibition hall. As a result, more than one gallery decided to skip the fair entirely, said Becker, as it was difficult to de-install a FIAC booth and set up shop in Berlin just a few days later.

Although Art Forum was no longer first out of the block, as Bruno Delavallade of the Paris/Berlin gallery Praz-Devallade noted, “Berlin was never Basel,” referring to lower expectations overall for sales. The mood at the fair was much like Berlin itself, with a more youthful, laid-back attitude, especially compared to that of Frieze and the Armory Show in New York. As New York collector Michael Hort confided, “Berlin is more cheerful in economic terms. Frieze is more somber, while Art Forum is a very regional fair. At Frieze it was an achievement if they sold anything. Berlin is insulated from that.”

Hort was not the only visitor at the fair who stressed the youth factor. Whether it was young collectors, dealers, or artists, everyone seemed to think this spirit helped the overall mood — and sales. An example could be seen at the booth of Berlin’s September gallery, one of 30 first-time galleries at the fair, where the floor and walls were painted an attention-grabbing neon yellow. As of 5 p.m. at yesterday’s professional preview, September had sold ten works, including an untitled 2008 black monochrome work on paper by German artist Carsten Fock for €1,200 ($1,530), to the German government. September partner Frank Müller said he looks for younger collectors — “people like me” — and that it doesn’t make sense for him to try to sell works for €300,000.

Many galleries reported that works in the several-thousand-euro price range were selling well. Delavallade said this is the second time he's done Art Forum and that he's had big collectors this year from France, Switzerland, Belgium, and the U.S. Praz-Delavallade had already sold several of Los Angeles-based artist Andrea Bowers’s mixed-media works on paper from her “Workers Rights Posters” series from 2008 for €1,500 each, including Raise Less Corn #1. The gallerist also reported a lot of interest in work by Sam Durant and Jim Shaw. The fair, he said, “is not a flop.”

Also selling reasonably priced works was the New York/Leipzig-based Pierogi gallery, which last did Art Forum six years ago. They brought along their well-known flat files, containing a large number of works on paper and photographs that collectors can peruse. The gallery reported selling Lynn Talbot’s Vermillionaire (2008), priced at €2,200, and said that several pieces by Karla Knight had gone to a Berlin collector. The largest and most impressive work at their booth was American artist James Esber’s acrylic-on-PVC-board painting Scrum (2008), priced at €13,600, which had not sold during the preview. Owner Joe Amrhein, himself an accomplished artist, said had he spotted plenty of the usual collectors, and several Americans, including John Friedman from New York, but said they are holding back and waiting to see what happens before spending again. “Maybe it’s good that things slow down a bit,” he added. “The best art is done in a more depressed market.”