Mark Titchner, 'The World Isn't Working'
"That's only going to be good for three more days," I optimistically joke to John Kleckner at Mark Titchner's Peres Projects Berlin opening as I point to the massive block-lettered Titchner banner that proclaims, "The World isn't Working." "I think we might take it down if Obama wins," John quips back. "Or just add some wall text explaining that it was made in the pre-Obama's presidency dark days," I suggest before we turn back to the sombre subject pressing on most people's minds during Art Forum Berlin's openings: concern that the art world really has stopped working.
But in the end, the big thing really worked out and the days were not as dark as many feared at the 13th edition of Berlin's leading art fair. Sales were slow and many spaces lamented the excruciating trickles that replaced the easy flow of money that splashed around the Messe Berlin in previous years. But while there were far fewer red dots than before and many galleries expressed resigned disappointment, Art Forum proved to be a functioning selling ground and a possible role model for other fairs nervous about surviving the coming crunch.
Art Forum Berlin clearly worked because the organism inside Messe Berlin's severe and serious structure stayed small, regional and pragmatic; plainly aimed at German collectors and focused on showcasing local talent. Although 25 countries were represented, 63 of the 127 galleries participating were German and 28 of them have spaces in Berlin. Art Forum has never offered or aspired to the bubblicious delights of Frieze or Miami. And while the fair is held in Berlin with its feral, frisky art scene, Art Forum Berlin's sensibility is generally closer to Cologne's - whose grown-up atmosphere is Berlin's primary benchmark and competitor. This year the mood was also reminiscent of Basel's. The scale of the sales and the profile of the work were comparably modest, and the temperament was similar because the brass American and Middle Eastern vibes that energized previous fairs were not felt, and instead it was predominantly seasoned and sober collectors who bought work. In all, it was a mature and apparently stable environment where some very strong work found a solid platform and acceptance.
A melted Alice in Wonderland by Anne Wenzel for Belgium's OneTwenty Gallery
Neo Rauch, "Fluchtversuch" (2008), which sold for €500,000
Among the sizable sampling of conversational points was a €500,000 Neo Rauch painting which was sold by Berlin's Eigen + Art to a local private collection. But much of the eye-catching work was younger and on view in the 25 gallery-strong separate "FreeStyle" section. The 31 first-time participants in the fair were effective standard-bearers for the internationally held belief that Berlin is a vibrant experimental project scene for emerging galleries, even in the midst of today's globally risky economy.
And the fair's relative humility and stability provided a credible vision for regional fairs' future role in a diminished financial environment. Interestingly, one striking anachronism from recent headier days was the curated selection of works deconstructing the impact of fairs themselves. Since Art Forum felt less like a shaped phenomenon or event than a large selection of varied work for sale, the special projects thesis that curator Hans-Jürgen Hafner selected for the cryptically titled "Difference, what difference?" show that he scattered throughout the fair felt disconnected and a little ungenerous. In press material, Hafner's show was described as "focus[ing] on the meaning and assessment of artworks in the conflict between the art market and exhibitions." High-profile examples of institutional critique including pieces by Andrea Fraser, Sylvie Fleury, General Idea and Louise Lawler might hint at the more conceptual, less object-oriented work that could come from an ideas - not market - driven art world. But deconstructing and undercutting the market seems premature, since the market may be on the brink of doing that to itself, and the David vs. Goliath theme much of the work personified has questionable relevance today.
from 'Difference, what difference?'
Adrian Ghenie, 'The Collector'
In contrast, the sensibility of serious and steadfast collectors was admirably illustrated in one of the most striking works on view, thirty-one year old Romanian painter Adrian Ghenie's "The Collector 2," which occupied a wall of Berlin's Plan B Galerie booth. In the large-scale, vermilion composition, a powerfully built, middle-aged man sits in a room decorated with different-sized paintings, sunk deep in a sturdy leather chair while staring intensely at a canvas (apparently a Rothko) and clutching two others to his knees as apparent extensions of his own hearty body. Surrounded by his collection and protectively gripping the two frames, his intense emotional investment in the works around him is a palpable call to
arms on behalf of art's value in and of itself. Ghenie's powerfully painted canvas gives a contagious summons to intimate, contemplative, engagement with art, even amidst the buzz and flurry of a successful art fair.
Ana Finel Honigman
ANA FINEL HONIGMAN is a critic, PhD candidate in art history at Oxford University and Senior London Correspondent for the Saatchi Gallery's online magazine. She is Style.com's Arts correspondent, Arts Editor of Alef, a Berlin correspondent for asmallworld.net and contributes regularly to such publications as Artforum.com, Art in America, TANK, Dazed & Confused, Sleek and British Vogue.
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