BY GUEST WRITER LINDA MOORE

Art fairs are juried events like biennales. Instead of countries, galleries submit a portfolio of their artists’ works and a jury of art cognoscenti issue invitations to galleries that will attract serious art aficionados to their fair. Some of the titans of the contemporary art fair universe include Art Basel (Basel and Miami), Frieze Art (London), TEFAF (Maastricht), ARCO (Madrid), FIAC (Paris), and fairs in more remote places including Buenos Aires and Dubai.

Art fairs differ from Biennales in that they are opportunities for collectors to view and purchase art from a variety of international galleries vetted by a jury of other gallerists, museum directors and curators.

The Linda Moore Gallery first fair exhibition was at the Los Angeles Art Fair. A cancellation opened and our application got approved from the wait list. Our team scrambled to put together a presentation of mostly unknown artists from the Southern Cone of South America. We met collectors who became life-long friends, Madonna visited our booth(!) and I brought a painting to the home of famous rock band guitarist. He apologized for the toys left around by his toddlers and we connected as parents. Yes, he acquired the painting.

Our gallery exhibited at art fairs around the world: Madrid, Buenos Aires, Bogota and more. The 1991 Bogotá fair became the basis of my art novel Five Days in Bogotá (May 2024). At that fair, I not only chatted with Colombian President Gaviria, but I was thrilled that Gabriel García Márquez accepted our invitation to view a California artist works inspired by One Hundred Years of Solitude. The exhilaration, the exhaustion, the contrast between the grubby art installation and elegant cocktail parties, the stress of making the finances work, all came back to me while writing the book.,

Art fairs offer an extraordinary opportunity to view contemporary art from all over the world in one city. It’s a costly endeavor for a gallery but meeting other gallerists and placing your artists in their galleries for future exhibits helps spread the word about these artists and develop their careers. Being chosen to participate demonstrates an acceptance to a circle of important galleries.

Savvy collectors buy tickets (or their gallerist invites them) to the VIP opening to nab the best work before the public fair opens. Motivated collectors reach out ahead of the fair to be listed as gallery staff to enter while installation is underway. Those early sales go on exhibit marked sold and the fair audience can know what is being collected.

The international art press attends, comments and reviews. If you are a veteran or a newbie, art fairs provide a window into the inscrutable world of contemporary art.