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Is a selection of sculptures scattered in and around the Rockefeller Center in New York a public exhibition of prominent artists or a prestigious open-air showcase? As always, the answer lies somewhere in between. The works are on sale at participating galleries in Frieze New York, but have also been selected by Brett Littman, director of the Noguchi Museum in New York. Like the fair at Randall's Island Park this week, conservation can be part of the trade, while Frieze Sculpture has the advantage of being free to see, lasting longer than a few days (until June 28) and to be located in Manhattan.
A growing number of sculpture exhibits blur the boundaries between a public setting and a business exercise, likely launched by the annual Sotheby's Fair on the Chatsworth House grounds, which lasted 12 years through 2017. Many other similar projects have seen since. The Blain Gallery | Southern has supported the sale of his artists' performances at Cliveden, a British historic home in recent years (Anthony Caro's present until November 10), while in the United States, Dogwood Arts Art in Public Places has installed more than 200 works across Tennessee in the last 11 years.
"People are not particularly aware of the difference [between art in the public realm that is or isn’t for sale]"Says Clare Lilley, program director at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and curator of the popular Frieze Sculpture in London. She does not see that as a problem. "If an exchange takes place, people take pictures and talk about works. . . then the barriers between art and the public collapse, which is great. "
These photos can generate a lot of free advertising, especially when they are posted on social networks with a useful Frieze hashtag. In addition, public display raises the status – and therefore the value – of a work. Nicholas Baume, director and chief curator of Public Art Fund, believes that there are "additional issues raised by commercial presentations in the public domain". He does not specify which of these issues has not been adequately addressed, but he says: the rigor and transparency of the business environment are important factors. "
The works supported by his public art fund – a non-profit American badociation that primarily helps to raise private funds for his selected projects – are not presented as being for sale, although sometimes transactions have place afterwards. This week, the organization presents Harold Ancart's "Subliminal Standard", an interactive handball-inspired concrete sculpture, at Cadman Plaza Park in downtown Brooklyn (May 1 – March 1, 2020).
The results of Ancart over 10 months are relatively long. Commercial exhibitions and privately financed projects are often temporary and mark a change in the perception and manufacture of these sculptures. Once projects were dominated by the heavier implications of remaining in situ forever, there was more room for experimentation.
"A temporary program is inherently more dynamic because it is constantly evolving, in the same way that a museum's temporary exhibitions bring vitality to the experience of its visitors," says Baume. Lilley believes that viewers have adapted to more temporary exhibitions, alongside long-lasting works, and cited the popularity of the Fourth Commission of the Mayor of London in Trafalgar Square.
A faster turnaround is certainly appropriate for an audience aspiring to change, social media success and high impact. What can not be ignored is that a rotating showcase offers more business opportunities. The growth in sales of sculptures shows that the number of private collectors on the ground is rising, many of them building important sculpture parks. These range from the 200-acre Pinot Noir vineyards of Allan and Mei Warburg to the Donum Estate in California to the 60,000-square-meter riverside shoreline that will be filled at Qiao Zhibing Private Museum, Tank Shanghai. Costly initiatives such as Frieze Sculpture would probably not happen if no hungry buyer showed up.
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