Much of Santa Fe’s eminent status as an international contemporary art destination is due to the annual occurrence of ART Santa Fe, which boasted record–breaking attendance in July of this year.

 
Chinasquare "Soldier Family," Shen Jingdong
2008, oil on canvas  200 x 300 cm

International galleries mixed with U.S. galleries created a powerful collection of art from all over the world. Asian art was of particular interest for many. Carrie Clyne of China Square Gallery (New York and Beijing) describes her time at ART Santa Fe as “successful…. People showed interest in Chinese art and I made great contacts with curators, critics and collectors. Special interested was generated by Shen Jingdong’s brightly colored toy-like soldiers in the triptych Navy/Army/Air force that we displayed.” Brad and Rattana Gordon from Teo + Namfah Gallery of Bangkok state that they “received positive feedback…from a wide range of people, including collectors, art consultants and curators, as well as the general public.

” Exhibitor Rebecca Hossack of London affirmed, “We absolutely loved doing the fair. We met some terrific clients last summer who returned again this year and have become long-term friends of the gallery.”

Rebecca Hossack Gallery "Too-2-Step," Peter Clark
2007, mixed media   124 x 110 cm

The Project Spaces have proven to be a dynamic element of the annual event. Canadian installation artists Daniel Borins and Jennifer Marman have achieved great success exhibiting and selling their work in the United States. Borins finds that “ART Santa Fe continues to grow and so do its exhibitors.” Curator, Hollis Walker declares, “ART Santa Fe just keeps getting better and better.” She presented Furies in collaboration with eight women artists.

Diaz Contemporary - Daniel Borins & Jennifer Marman
"In Sit You"   2006, installation

As for collectors themselves, Joel and Ann Berson of New York had this to say about ART Santa Fe: “It was very positive for us to meet dealers in person. It’s part of the whole process of collecting. There was a universal quality, a sense of being part of the global art world. We will certainly be returning next year.” Collector Keith Fallis found “a wonderfully diverse and truly remarkable assemblage of exquisite work running the gamut of styles” at ART Santa Fe. Continues Fallis, “With unique representation from Thailand to Argentina, one was hard-pressed to leave without finding an ideal match for his or her personal tastes and esthetics.”

High-tech art formats contributed to the excitement of ART Santa Fe. Keep Adding, a collaborative team of new-media artists, presented the site-specific installation Gradient Ghosts I in the entry lobby to the fair. Visitors to ART Santa Fe were greeted by the artists’ painting, roughly 10 by 23 feet, composed of shades of purple and blue with pink. Hidden LED light boxes cast dense, digital drawings upon the painting’s surface.

Keep Adding "Gradient Ghosts I" 2008,
3 LED lightboxes w/ duratrans prints, paint on 4' x 10' wood panels

ART Santa Fe 2008 was covered by Vernissage TV, a Basel, Switzerland-based web site that covers art events around the globe. See www.artsantafe.com, Vernissage TV’s link for coverage of this year’s fair, as well as Art in America magazine’s second annual cocktail party, hosted this year at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art. On Saturday evening of the fair weekend, Dean Sobel, director of Denver’s new Clyfford Still Museum, was the keynote speaker, part of an ongoing series of lectures and discussions by major art-world contributors presented by ART Santa Fe Presents, a not-for-profit organization for public outreach. William Siegal hosted a post-lecture champagne reception at his gallery in the Railyard Art District.

Museum groups included the Art Institute of Chicago, the El Paso Museum of Art, and Friends of Contemporary Art, the fund-raising arm of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Groups visiting from Denver and Los Angeles reported that their experience at ART Santa Fe was on a par with Art Basel.

Next year’s ART Santa Fe will take place July 16 through 19, 2009. Contact press@artsantafe.com for details.