Interview with Ross Douglas
by Michael Smith
In 2009, the Joburg Art Fair entered its second year, and considerably trickier terrain. ArtThrob spoke to the director Ross Douglas after the Fair, to get an insights into what some are calling the most significant major art event in the country.
Michael Smith: So, Ross how are you feeling after the Art Fair? Have you caught up on sleep yet?
Ross Douglas: I'll be catching up on rest this weekend! But about the Fair, I'm happy. Ticket sales hit the 10 000 mark, up from 6500 last year. We had a quality audience engaging with the works and the gallerists, and we had great press leading up to and during the fair. The only disappointment has been the sales. The galleries did about half the turnover of last year, with smaller works selling well. It is now clear that we are in the middle of a recession.
MS: What were the highlights? And were those highlights necessarily big sellers, too?
RD: As the director of the fair I never punt one gallery or artist over the rest, for obvious reasons. I do, however, think the Jane Alexander installation, 'Security' was a major coup for the Joburg Art Fair, and the result of a good collaboration with the Gordon Schachat Collection.
MS: There seemed to be a general scarcity of sculpture on display, but photography still seems to play a key role in many galleries' stock. How does photography sell at events such as this?
RD: It seems that photography sales were slow this year, with the exception of the Bang Bang Club archive prints sold by Rooke Gallery. There were a great pair of works by Guy Tillim that, surprisingly, did not find a buyer. My sense is that in a recession people become more conservative and steer away from photography in favour of paintings.
MS: I noticed some galleries took smaller spaces than they did at last year's Fair. Was floor space much more expensive this year?
RD: Yes
MS:A statement you made in a Mail & Guardian blog, specifically referring to 'the absence of a biennale or any other perennial contemporary art show in the country', essentially dismissed the Cape '09 and Spier Contemporary as insignificant. Would you agree with this? What is your sense of the importance of the Joburg Art Fair?
RD: I spoke about the absence of a biennale in the country, and had no intention to dismiss either Cape or the Spier Contemporary. Cape is not a biennale yet, and Spier has no intention of being one. For the first Joburg Art Fair I experienced huge resistance from the international art community that had traveled to South Africa to attend the first Cape and were massively underwhelmed. They felt that it had over-promised and under-delivered.
A biennale or any other curated show in this country would be a fantastic initiative, and one that I would support. I think the Spier Contemporary is a good bi-annual event and fills an important niche. In fact, we collaborated with the Spier for the first Joburg Art Fair, and hope to for the third.
MS: The business aspect of any art fair is, after all, its reason for existence, and vital for its longevity. 2008's Fair was reported as having grossed 'between R25 milion and R30 million'. Was 2009's Fair a similar financial success?
RD: No, it wasn't. Galleries achieved about half that, but they have all committed to next year. This is a serious recession, and if we can stick through it the rewards will be there.
MS: The continued presence of entities like ArtHeat, which published a disarmingly frank daily broadsheet at the Fair (with your sanction), as well the addition of the blank projects space and a number of peripheral performance events, arguably shifted the character of the Fair from one of simply 'hard sell' to something altogether more fluid. How do you see this dichotomy between art commerce and more critical facets of the discourse playing out in the future?
RD: When we started the Art Fair we had a number of clear objectives, including growing the audience for contemporary art. While these fringe projects are not great for business, they do bring their own audiences and educate the visitors that art is not just about an investment. I think ArtHeat added great value to the fair, and brought light relief into what is often a tough business.
MS: Well, ArtThrob congratulates you both and all at Art Logic on a great event!
RD: Thanks. Much appreciated.
