contemporary art fair straight from the big apple
independent brussels Fair deal
EN | With the arrival of yet another player, we might just have to start wrapping our heads around the idea of Brussels’s very own “contemporary art fair scene”. A sneak preview of Independent Brussels, the first European branch on the tree of New York’s finest. kurt Snoekx
O
nce upon a time…Art Brussels reigned supreme. Off fairs like Off Course and Poppositions have been offering a modest challenge to that supremacy over the past few years. And now, also Independent, New York’s buzzing “art fair that works very hard not to look or feel like an art fair” – as The New York Times described it last year – is launching its first European edition in the Vanderborght building in Brussels. “Well, we are an art fair,” laughs Olivier Pesret, together with Liv Vaisberg the duo of co-directors managing the Brussels edition. “It is a commercial event, and the galleries are here to sell. But there are important differences to other fairs. Since the beginning, we have been a curated fair, meaning we work by invitation only. There is an expanding network of gallery holders at the foundation of the fair, and it is through this network that we try to find like-minded galleries. That shared vision is key to us. The quality of our galleries
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is our brand, it is the thing people come for.” Liv Vaisberg: “That long-lasting relationship between the galleries results in a tailor-made fair. We talk and we listen. When it comes to architecture, for example, we don’t have white cubes. Not to be different, but because we’re looking for the best platform to show the artists. This first Brussels edition has 70 participants, of which twelve are collaborating and sharing a booth. It is really a conundrum to find the best solution, and we spend a lot of time on the floor plan, making sure that the galleries get what they need: quality walls, good lighting, a booth that literally fits their needs. And no numbers. We don’t do numbers. Galleries just have a floor, a map, and a name. It makes visitors feel like they are in an exhibition or a biennale rather than an art fair.” Olivier Pesret: “Normally, what you see when you walk into an art fair is aisles and people. You don’t see art. At Independent, there are no aisles and you walk through the art. You have to go everywhere, and you’re
going to see someone like David Zwirner right next to a gallery that only opened six months ago. That would never happen at other fairs.”
Talk Talk A surprise connection, between works of art, galleries, or the public and the fair: that seems to be Independent’s unique selling point. Part of which has been noticeable in the fact that they already set up shop in Brussels months ago in Regentschapsstraat/rue de la Régence, with a space used as a gallery residency. Olivier Pesret: “We don’t want to grow bigger. We branch out, we create new projects. A place like this, for example. We’re currently the only fair in the world to have a yearlong permanent space. We’re not here to eat up the market. We’re dedicated to Brussels and the region. What we find in Brussels is support and backing for an initiative like ours. In addition to the great collectors, all the artist-run spaces, all these international