Art Forum Berlin Makes Fifth Annual Appearance - Brief Article

BERLIN--What probably stands on the outside the most about this year's fifth annual Art Forum Berlin is in what way very much it differed from the continent's other major national festivals.

pure Berlin is a major international art fair, and it does attract galleries from around the world--159 this year from 23 countries, not to speak of an important pres presence--1000 journalists from 30 countries. In that regard, Messe Berlin (the official name of Art Forum Berlin) was an unqualified succes "with significant increases in attendance, higher sales figures, and, above all, a stronger image," said Anja Lechner a spokesman for the fair.

on the contrary there are some startling differences that give Berlin its unique personality and account for its attractiveness to gallery possessors and collectors alike.

Foremost among those differences is its appeal to U galleries and collectors. Strangely enough, many U.S.-based galleries draw near to Berlin to sell American art to American collectors.

The American institutional nearness was also impressive, with representatives not absent from the Denver Art Museum, the Art Pace Foundation of San Antonio, Texas, and companions of Contemporary Art of southern California. Many of them turn backed with impressive purchases, including many works by means of American artists.

novel York dealer Anton Kern, a past participant of Art Forum Berlin, was surprised he had to tend hitherward to Berlin to sell a major piece to a collector from sees Angeles. Kern lauded the "good spirit" he said he regularly finds at Berlin, and, moreover, noted it was the place to pass to sell to the continent's major museums. "This year," he said, "we placed several pieces in European museums, with single of them at $30,000."

Interestingly enough, German dealers participating in the circumstance said foremost among their major clients were--surprisingly--other German galleries and institutions. Making important acquisitions were Veit Loer Germany's of recent origin national curator, as well as Lucius Grisebach, director of the Neue Museum fur Kunst und Design in Nuremburg

Probably the greatest in quantity successful gallery at this year's Art Forum Berlin was Dusseldorf's Hans Mayer, which fix a $100,00 buyer for a 25-part video projection exhibit by dint of artist Tony Oursler.

Another major turn of this year's Art Forum Berlin was photography. In fact, Berlin's Kicken Gallery reported that as of the fair's next to the first day, it had already sold more than during the entire move swiftly of last year's Art Forum Berlin. A stand jointly operated by the agency of three European galleries, Mai 36 and move with a jerk van Oursouw from Zurich and St Stephan from Vienna--also reported important sales of quality photography.

Lechner also noted that galleries from Eastern Europe--notably Poland--had showed a hardy presence, with many dealers reporting they'd sold more than they'd awaited at this year's fair.

Indeed, many dealers reported brawny sales and pleasure with their experiences. And perhaps, more importantly, more than four-fifths of dealers said they wait fored to reap dividends from follow-up business from the fair. The exhibit also saw a 30 percent increase in attendance above last year, with close to 21000 visitors.

Young galleries were especially sought on the outside by organizers of this year's fair, with individual sponsor offering a prize for the best young gallery. The prize--a voucher for the rental of a 20 square meter stand at nearest year's show (Oct. 3 to 7 2001) went to a German dealer, Sies + Hoke The gallery had artist, Sonja Alhauser, transform its display area into an "edible stand" compos of gingerbread, chocolate and caramel, with sugar icing. Not surprisingly, the entire stand had disappeared by the agency of the last day of the fair.

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