Those who know say that crises are a window of opportunity. Due to the uncertainties generated by the fourth wave of infections due to the omicron variant in Mexico, between last December and January, the Material Art Fair, which with seven editions until February 2020 had become not only the second most important meeting of the Art Week but in a fair with its own identity, with the most rebellious, purposeful and even provocative proposals, will take advantage of the health and economic crisis, which is not yet completely over, to reposition itself on the art market map in the country, with a new venue and new dates, at least for this year.
In an interview with this newspaper, Brett Schultz, co-founder and artistic director of Material, acknowledges that the last few months were not the best for the organization of the meeting, whose plans for February and in the already successful venue of the Frontón México began to falter last November. until definitively canceled and postponed from April 28 to May 1, in addition, with a new venue.
The fair will now have its home in a former textile factory from the first half of the 20th century, at Sabino 369, in the Atlampa neighborhood, with a red brick and volcanic stone facade cataloged by INBAL, a few streets from Santa María la Ribera, colony that has positioned itself as an active point of art in the city and home to different artists’ studios.
“Each edition of the fair is a risk,” acknowledges Schultz. “We are still coming out of the pandemic, but we think it is a good year to experiment. Some of these decisions were forced, but in the end we were happy with the new venue and these dates, separating ourselves a bit from all the noise of Art Week in February. We think it could work very well for our exhibitors. It is another rhythm and the gallery owners will have time to get to know the visitors, collectors and curators better”.
If it works as expected, declares the co-founder, Material could no longer return to February and continue in April as a unitary fair that triggers a second cycle for the activation of art in the first half of the year. It will be a window of opportunity.
The edition will have 60 participating galleries, among the international ones: Anonymous Gallery, from New York; Art: Concept, from Paris; Climate, from Milan; Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles; Crisis, from Lima, Peru; et al., of San Francisco; Institute of Vision, from Bogotá; PIEDRAS, from Buenos Aires, and Zeller van Almsick, from Vienna, to name a few; as well as national galleries such as Chérpiri, from Cherán; Collector, from Monterey; Landslide, from Tijuana; Tiro al Blanco Gallery, from Guadalajara or the Olga and Rufino Tamayo Foundation itself.
“The good news is that Mexico this year will have another week of art in April, because Mexican galleries need another time to activate, another opportunity for visibility and sales. They are finally still recovering from two years of pandemic where exposure channels have been completely limited, ”he declares.
To the question about whether he sees it possible to return to the Frontón México as a venue, he replies: “it is a complicated situation, but I do not see it as feasible to return to the Frontón. But we will see how it goes in this edition”.
The adventures of a Ukrainian gallery
The organization decided to make room in its distribution to invite a Ukrainian gallery to the fair. This is the Voloshyn Gallery, from kyiv, which represents a large number of artists from the country that today is in a state of emergency due to the invasion of the Russian army in its territory.
“Voloshyn is one of the most important galleries of contemporary art in Ukraine. They were in Miami, participating in the fairs last year, but they contracted covid-19, so they had to stay a while longer in the United States, when the threats of Russian invasion of Ukraine began and they decided to stay and take advantage of this scenario of fairs in this region of the world to continue supporting its artists. So we got in touch with them and extended the invitation to have a free stand. We deeply wish that its artists can continue living from their art”, concludes Schultz.
Material Art Fair
60 participating galleries
From April 28 to May 1
Location: Sabino 369, Atlampa
Thursday April 28, by invitation only
From April 29 to May 1, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Know the details of the event:
https://bit. ly/3KmKJUk