Art fair accused of forgetting its roots
Published May 1st, 2006
DIRECTORS of two Scottish galleries excluded from this year’s Glasgow Art Fair (GAF) have called for a public consultation over the event’s future.
Frances Lowrie, who runs the Art Exposure Gallery in Glasgow, and Tracey McNee of neighbouring Tracey McNee Fine Art in the city’s Parnie Street, have complained that this year’s fair, held earlier this month, favoured London galleries and big-name artists at the expense of local talent.
The four-day show, which received £100,000 funding from Glasgow City Council, featured work from the likes of British artist Damien Hirst through to pieces by Pablo Picasso and the Scottish colourists.
But despite enjoying huge success in previous years, with sales of more than 800 paintings, Lowrie said the decision to grant her gallery, and that of McNee, only an information stand at this year’s event would have a drastic “knock-on effect” for the city’s artists.
“The selection for this year’s show caused an unfair playing field and it definitely sends out a worrying signal,” she told the Sunday Herald. “This is meant to be a Glasgow art fair so my obvious gripe has to be that the artists of Glasgow are not given the opportunity to show their work.”
Though continuing to champion the art fair, Lowrie said she would now petition Glasgow City Council – a major investor in the event – to hold a full public consultation.
“The people of Glasgow should have an opportunity to state their opinion on the art fair and what they think,” she added. “We should ask whether people perceive the fair as a place to look at high prices and big names or a place to go and actually buy something they like.”
Of the 44 galleries participating at this year’s event, 16 were from London while only nine were from Glasgow. Sixteen galleries from other parts of Scotland were also represented as were two from elsewhere in the UK and one from France. Glasgow Art Fair organisers have said they want to raise the quality of the spring event, taking inspiration from successful art fairs in Basle, Miami and London.
McNee said that event bosses were suffering “delusions of grandeur” and pointed to the success of her gallery at previous fairs.
“They’ve forgotten the fact that the fair has a mission statement to benefit the economic growth of art and artists in Scotland,” she said. “We took 10% of the total sales last year so clearly the public have a taste for the kind of work we show. Trying to bring in headline pullers is a fantastic idea but it shouldn’t be at the expense of Scottish artists.”
Glasgow artist Gerard M Burns described the inclusion of so many London galleries as “an interesting case”.
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