Roxana Azimi_The Young section features lots of New York based galleries. The private Flemish collections exhibited in “Passions secrètes” at the Tripostal in Lille last fall placed as well a strong emphasis on American contemporary art. How would you explain this focus from the Belgians?
Katerina Gregos_American contemporary art has always had a dominant position in the art market, especially since the 1980s. From Abstract expressionism, to minimal and conceptual art, American artists have played a very important role in recent art history. As a great economic power, it is not a coincidence that art from America has consolidated itself on the global market. One need only think of the hundreds of galleries in New York alone… As far as the American focus in many Belgian collections, it is true that many collectors have a preference for American contemporary art, and I imagine that some of the attraction lies in the fact that a part of it has been quite trendy and high-profile for some time now. American contemporary art is also quite prominent on the art market, in comparison to other countries that have less developed art scenes. At the same time, there is a strong connection between New York and Brussels, art-wise. Solid American galleries like Gladstone and Clearing already have branches in Brussels, to be complemented by Elizabeth Dee's new space in Rue Royale; and Belgian collectors, who move around a lot and are very well informed, of course travel to New York for the art fairs and exhibitions. On the other hand, Belgian galleries like Office Baroque, have a very strong roster of almost exclusively American artists in their programme, while Xavier Hufkens represents more than 10 American artists for example. These are some of the reasons, I think, that explain strong interest in American contemporary art.
You often insist on the curatorial approach. What is a curated art fair ?
I would not go so far as to say that the fair is “curated”, because that would be forgetting that galleries are more-or-less free to present what they want at the fair. It would be more correct to say that there is a strong curatorial dimension to the fair and a curatorial thinking behind it. Remember, I also have a vote on the selection committee and so I bring another way of looking into the selection process, which does not only take into account market criteria, important as they are within the context of a fair. My understanding of curating within the fair context has to do with several things: firstly, the long-term strategy of the fair - what kind of identity we develop, for example in terms of artistic content and profiling; it has to do with all the complementary and side programming, which is essential today for all art fairs; with developing segments of artistic coherence and precise selection in the fair, in terms of the artistic content; down to important details such as the architecture and design of the fair, or the campaign, which I am also responsible for. As much as I can, and wherever I can, I try to bring in original artistic content which makes a difference within the general homogeneous framework of the fair; as for example, the Artists' Music programme this year - a series of concerts and musical performances by artists and their bands - which has never been done before by another art fair.
As well, you attach importance to associative structures. Why does a commercial art fair reaches out to structures with often limited means and poor visibility?
Art fairs are very important forces in the world nowadays, affording great visibility to artists and galleries. But they should also consider how they yield their power in terms of generosity towards those who are not a part of the art market or big institutional structures and politics and how they can be generous, in that respect, to those in the “art world” who do not benefit of either the same size, money, or visibility. We were the first fair to instigate a Not-for-Profit section, by offering free space to such initiatives and offering them a carte blanche to present a special artistic project. These spaces occupy a small but very important role at Art Brussels, as they present adventurous, original and experimental practices that would otherwise not be seen within the context of a commercial art fair. They also introduce a counter-balance and variety that complements the more object-based, commercially oriented work that one normally finds within the fair. In this case, I look for proposals that are of a more conceptual nature, that are more adventurous, sometimes immaterial, and who also engage with the economy of the art fair and the art market in a more critical way.
You are the curator of the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennial 2015. Will there be hints at the fair?
Yes, absolutely! Apart from Sammy Baloji (represented by Imane Farès) and Elisabetta Benassi (represented by Jousse Entreprise) who will be participating in the exhibition in the Belgian Pavilion, there will be many other artists exhibiting at Art Brussels who will be in Okwui Enwezor's main exhibition “All the World's Futures” as well as a diversity of national pavilions. Examples of artists participating in the main exhibition at the Arsenale or in the Giardini are: Barthélémy Toguo (Galerie Lelong), Maja Bajevic (Galerie Michel Rein), Ricardo Brey (Galerie Nathalie Obadia), Tiffany Chung and the Propeller Group (Galerie QUYNH), Marcel Broodthaers (Richard Saltoun Gallery), Walead Beshty (Galerie Rodolphe Janssen). In addition, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, who will be representing France, will be on view at Mario Mazzoli; Filip Markiewicz, who will represent Luxembourg, will be on view at Aeroplastics; Andreas Eglitis, who will represent Latvia, will be on view at Alma Gallery; Sean Lynch, who will represent Ireland, will be on view at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery; Tobias Zielony, who will be in the German Pavilion, will be on view at KOW and Lia Rumma; Zhanna Kadyrova (shown by Galeria Continua at the fair) will be in the Ukrainian pavilion as will Nikita Kadan (shown by Transit Galerie at the fair); Hrair Sarkissian (represented by Kalfayan Galleries) will be in the Armenian Pavilion; Chiharu Shiota (shown by Daniel Templon) will represent Japan; Nazgol Ansarinia (shown by Green Art Gallery) will be in the Iran Pavilion; Giuseppe Stampone (shown by Prometeogallery) will be in the Cuban Pavilion, among other examples. With this strong representation of artists in the fair exhibiting at the 56th Venice Biennial, we are organizing a free “Venice Biennale Tour” of the fair, every day at 4pm in English, French, and Dutch.
Next year, the fair Independent will inaugurate a Belgian edition during Art Brussels. How do you see the arrival of this competitor?
The arrival of Independent in Brussels only confirms how interesting Brussels has become as an international city of contemporary art. It has been several years now that the city has become an attractive destination for artists, gallerists and curators. The international profile of the city, the presence of a solid collectors base within Belgium and the wider so-called “euro-region”, has made Brussels an increasingly desirable location for networking and business. Through the years, Art Brussels has been and continues to be an important contributor to this landscape. New initiatives such as Independent only make Brussels artistically richer. That wouldn't, however, be possible without the framework that Art Brussels has put in place, not to mention the contribution of the many other spaces, institutions and initiatives in the capital, which have made Brussels into the promising place it is today, artistically speaking.
