The Sydney Contemporary Art Fair has gone from baby to behemoth in just three editions, generating $40 million in sales and attracting 75,000 local and international visitors since it launched (initially as a biennale) in 2013. "It's a tremendous shot in the arm for artists and galleries," says its director, Barry Keldoulis.
Keldoulis, along with an advisory council that includes actor and philanthropist Rachel Griffiths, former Lord Mayor of Sydney Lucy Turnbull and corporate communications whiz Sue Cato, has overseen the selection of 87 galleries from Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia to be assembled at Carriageworks, Redfern, from Thursday through to Sunday.
"When I first took an artist to an art fair in the early 2000s they were shocked," says Keldoulis. "They felt like I'd taken them to a meat market."
In their early incarnations, art fairs were considered somewhat vulgar altars to Mammon, travelling roadshows to offload dormant stock. But today, with some 260 fairs around the world, they've become destinations in themselves, a permanent circuit of engaging ideas in the form of video, photography and performance as well as painting and sculpture.
KAI WASIKOWSKI
Sydney-based Kai Wasikowski works in photography and multimedia installations to explore ecological awareness and connection to place. His lush photography conveys messages about the effects of technology and human activity on the natural environment. Deliciously dystopic. Wasikowski was awarded the 2017 Schenberg Art Fellowship.