When Tim Etchells, founder of Sydney Contemporary, welcomed media to this year’s art fair he was non-committal on a target or goal for the event. He said simply, ‘I’m not predicting – I do feel bullish though – but I’m not putting my head in a noose.’
The numbers have now hit the table, and the organisation has reported that the fair made ‘AUD$16 million in sales across the four days, with further sales expected to follow in the coming days’.
In a formal statement on Friday, Etchells added: ‘In this more challenging climate, the Fair’s atmosphere of excitement and optimism was especially significant, affirming the vital role it plays in the cultural fabric of this country.’
He says that the fair ‘continues to energise the market, strengthen the local arts community and deliver direct, lasting impact on the livelihoods of living artists’.
Diverting away from the gravitas that the softening of sales had, both Etchells and Fair Director Zoe Poulson rather, emphasied that this ninth edition was ‘the largest staged yet’.
However, the elephant in that very large exhibition hall is that, last year’s fair made $17.5 million in art sales – which was a decrease in 2023 which hit $21 million and $23 million in 2022 – so Etchells is looking at a pretty steep downward trajectory.
And when considered with the increased scale of this year’s fair, this slide south is further exaggerated.
Interestingly, the week prior to Sydney Contemporary, the Affordable Art Fair announced its results, stating it had ‘smashed its goals to hold its biggest fair to date in Australia in August hosting 18,000 attendees who spent $4.5 million across the 4-day Melbourne event’.
Yes, these are very different fairs – in terms of direction, scale and price point – but commensurately, this is a stellar result.
The organisers say of results this year: ‘This is not the first time Affordable Art Fair has bucked the trend of consumers tightening the purse strings.’ Their Brisbane Fair attracted 13,300 attendees, a 25% increase on last year’s inaugural event, and sales also jumped up 22% year-on-year.
Understanding art fair sales:
Sydney Contemporary: optimism despite flagging sales
Coming into this year’s edition of Sydney Contemporary the sector had been flat – an impact not of its own making, but of a wider retraction in the economy. Simply, sales were always going to be down.
What was up was visitor attendance, with 26,440 visitors to this year’s art fair (2024 clocked just over 25,000).
Etchells says: ‘The first question, when they tell me they’ve made a sale, is I ask them who they’ve sold to. Is it somebody they knew? Because I want to deliver new customers for them, that’s my main objective. There’s no point in me just churning people that they already know. I have to help them broaden their base, and that’s something that we do.’
Growth of the fair year-on-year has been strong, with the full art fair experience, from Kid’s Contemporary to Performance Contemporary to a new Photo Sydney section, continue to broaden audiences and add an all-in, immersive art experience.
Read: ArtsHub’s verdict on Sydney Contemporary art fair’s hottest stands in trying times
The news is out: art fairs are more than just sales
Etchells reported that collecting groups flew in for Sydney Contemporary from across Australia, Asia and with more than 60 collectors and enthusiasts from New Zealand alone.
And gallerists reported that it was felt on the ground. COMA Director, Sotiris Sotiriou, says: ‘Collectors seem to be eager to learn about new artists more than ever, a very promising sign for the future of the Fair and the city.’
It was the same for Danielle Renshaw, Director, The Renshaws: ‘There was an undeniable sense of optimism in the air, just the antidote the art world needed.The fair had an incredible energy, and the VIP attendance was fantastic. It was wonderful to see so many collectors and curators traveling from all over Australia, leading to not only great sales but also even better conversations.’
That ability to deliver new audiences is increasingly a function of art fairs globally – they have become destination events for cultural tourism. Sydney Contemporary continues to grow within itself, and the curated, expanded environment that it offers has become equally a drawcard for audiences, who are there just for a good time and to be immersed in the latest art, and conversations around art.
It is a point also made by Affordable Art Fair organisers. ‘The response from both Melbourne and Brisbane audiences was nothing short of phenomenal and a huge indicator that art is huge tourism driver with galleries, artists and attendees travelling from across Australia to exhibit and to check out the Fairs.’
‘Australia’s visual arts market is growing not only across the arts-lovers, but also making it accessible for every day Australians, ultimately resulting in the Fairs pulling in millions for our homegrown artists and gallerists,’ they add.
Too many art fairs?
The London-based Etchells runs fairs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei and Auckland, on top of Sydney Contemporary.
Sydney Contemporary was presented as the iconic Armory Show in New York wrapped up, and over the same dates as Tokyo Gendai in Japan. It was also week before Untitled Houston (which has expanded out of Miami’s popular beach site) and ahead of Frieze London which opens in October, as does Art Basel Paris.
Simply, this is a crowded market.
Etchells explains the pressures on art fairs today: ‘What’s affected art fairs, mainly internationally, is the shipping costs. Since Covid, it’s very expensive for galleries now to ship off to various parts of the world, and if they’re not successful in selling, it’s obviously very painful in sending it back.’
He continues: ‘We talked to lots of people in the artworld. Everyone always says to me, “How’s it going?” And I say, in the current climate, it’s challenging. It’s changing,’ says Etchells.
He adds that, in a recent conversation with the owner of a Premier League gallery in New York, ‘he’s in the top five in the world’ that he told Etchells the other day that, ‘It’s been the worst summer since 1992.’ Etchells continued, ‘It’s certainly tough out there. There’s probably – I shouldn’t say it – there’s probably too many art fairs, certainly not too many art fairs in Australia, and I suspect we’ll see some changes.’
‘Whether it will change, I don’t know. Certainly the attendances of things like Art Basel this year was very strong and the sales were good. People are forecasting good things for the upcoming Freize in London, followed by Basel Paris. So, there is confidence in the market here in Australia, I think it’s different. I think it’s a much closer market.’
Many described this edition of Sydney Contemporary as energised and ‘the best yet’, checking perspectives that the fair is not discredited by an economic dip that’s out of its hands.
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