Not a Cheap Affair

A reader on another thread asked the following:

I've always wondered about art fairs...unless you are participating in a seriously blue chip fair, it must be pretty tough to make a profit, as it costs a fortune to fly 2 or more people, put them up, meals, socializing, etc. in an expensive city.

of course there are other benefits, like exposure for your gallery and for your artists, later sales, etc...but I would be curious to know your take on sattelite fairs in miami, london, NY... money well spent or just something one is expected to do?

It varies, of course, but there's no doubt about it that participating in an art fair is a seriously expensive venture. Add in overseas shipping and travel, and making a profit from one becomes pretty tough indeed. Here's an interesting chart from Art & Auction [via artinfo.com] that breaks down the expenses for a bluer chip gallery than we are, but more or less covers what we're shelling out.

Here's what A&A estimated a booth at Frieze costs for a New York Gallery of decent size:

• Booth itself: $30,940
• Booth extras (electrical outlet, extra wall, etc): $2329
• Crating: $5000
• Shipping to Fair: $12,500
• Shipping back to NY: $12,500
• Empty Crate Storage: $1000
• Art Handlers (to install the booth): $3000
• Air Travel (for gallery staff of 4): $2000
• Hotel for staff: $5600
• Food during fair for staff (sandwiches, etc): $720
• Dinners with clients after fair: $2500
• Cell phone service (amazing roaming charges): $1500
• Car service (if you're gonna visit East End galleries, you're gonna need some help): $400
• Massage for director (OK, so this illustrates the difference nicely between a gallery at our level and those selling blue chip work): $290
• Party for clients: $20,000
• Total: $100,279

These estimates are not at all unreasonable to me. The party might seem like an extravagance, but your competitors are throwing one, so you might not see it as such after their booth gets mobbed the next day or your collectors tell you how much they're beginning to like that other gallery after such a shindig.

Our costs for London (we participated in the satellite fair Year 07 Art Projects) were a fraction of this. We had only two staff members, a much cheaper hotel, a much less expensive booth, no car service, certainly no massages, we installed the work ourselves, and didn't quite pay as much for shipping (I think...that bill has yet to come actually). Then again, whereas the imaginary A&A booth at Frieze must have had close to $300,000 dollars worth of art to sell in it to make a profit, we had considerably less expensive art in ours.

Of all the costs, the most annoying is shipping (and the stupefying charges for empty crate storage). Not that shippers don't earn their money, mind you, but for any artwork that doesn't sell, the idea that you've paid tens of thousands of dollars to move it from one location to another and back again does begin to grate on the nerves.

As to whether it's money well spent or not, that depends on your original strategy. I don't know anyone who feels they simply have to have a presence at a fair (at the expense of other considerations, that is) because it's something they are expected to do (expected by whom? I would ask). You go into one generally to (try to) make money, to increase your profile, or to build a new client base via that location. There are certain fairs notorious for low sales, but which are so carefully "curated" (if you will) and highly respected that being accepted into them is seen as worth the costs. Other locations, like Miami, are mostly about selling art, although you'll still see galleries taking big chances with a solo installation or incredibly tough-to-sell work there because getting attention in Miami can pay off the whole year round.

There are a few galleries that refuse to do art fairs (and at least one famous one that used to refuse, but now participates, which indicates the power of them), and virtually every gallerist I know would much prefer to sell out of their own space than subject themselves to the boot-camp-esque exercise that an art fair can be if you're counting your pennies (I know dealers still bruised and exhausted from London). Then again, the more fairs we do, and the more gallerists from other cities we become friends with, the more I thoroughly enjoy getting together to hang out with them, bitch about shippers or airlines or security guards, rave about our artists (OK, and/or sometimes bitch about artists), and learning that the problems I thought we were the only gallery in the world to have were rather common.

I don't mind pointing out that there was a time when new satellite fairs were considerably less expensive than the main fairs they orbit, but some of the newest ones in Miami, for example, are considerably costly for an event with little history or prestige. I'm not sure if that's because it simply costs that much to produce one or whether they're mainly seen now as a money-making venture (and of course, why shouldn't they be?) with a captive client base.

I suspect we'll see some rethinking on how many fairs any city can support after Miami this year (are there any hotel rooms that aren't reserved for the galleries and their staffs left for collectors?). I'm not pessimistic about it for us, mind you (we love being in Miami and we're bringing a kick-ass booth of art), but as an observer of a phenomenon that would have been beyond any rational expectations just a few years ago, I'm in awe of what's happening there and simply can't believe it's sustainable. Will slow sales spell the end for certain fairs if things cool off this year? Stay tuned...