• Issue
  • Jan 01, 2023

Art Fairs: Race for Recovery

HA CHONG-HYUN, Conjunction 17-301, 2017, oil on hemp cloth, 291 × 218 cm. Photo by Sang Tae Kim. Courtesy the artist and Kukje Gallery, Seoul / Busan.

In most parts of the world, in-person art fairs returned in more-or-less full scale, particularly in the second half of 2022. Art fans and collectors also seized the chance to visit global art events in person, in the mode of “revenge travel,” especially around the rare June alignment of the Venice Biennale, Art Basel, and documenta fifteen in Europe. By September, galleries and collectors were back to busy itineraries, traveling to places including Seoul, Sydney, and New York; then London and Paris in October; perhaps Tokyo, Kyoto, or Abu Dhabi in November; and Miami in December. Many fairs had success in sales, including in Asian destinations that are one step behind in reopening borders.