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Art Professionals’ Impressions of 2022 and Suggestions for 2023
When the 2023 art season starts we have addressed our questions to valuable collectors, curators, and art lovers: What places they visited last year, what they were most impressed with, what kind of interests they had when purchasing, and which organizations they will visit next season. We have gathered a detailed annual art guide where you can examine how we walked through the year 2022 with a global perspective and also a list of daily suggestions for 2023.
After travel restrictions and long-term closures during the pandemic, art organizations reclaimed their place in the market much more assertively than before. Despite the economic downturns and wars in 2022, fairs such as Paris and Art Basel broke revenue records after a long period.
Art Basel Miami, Venice Biennale, Contemporary Istanbul and others…
Art Basel Miami in December 2022; was a very prominent event with record sales and the 20th-anniversary celebrations. In Europe, the Venice Biennale was on the agenda again. The expectations were fully met and exceeded, which made the art lovers to already look forward to the next editions of the biennial. In Turkey, Contemporary Istanbul left its mark on the previous year in terms of sales, with two editions that took place mainly in the local spring and in the autumn with an international competition. Both Mardin Biennial and Istanbul Biennial coincided with the year 2022 after postponements. As a general view of the artistic content, there is a significant increase in participating female artists and works that tackle environmental issues. In retrospect, all statistics show better results for the market than before the pandemic.
In this file, where we will include the suggestions of the annual art organizations on a global scale, you will find the general outlook of 2022 from the point of view of valuable collectors and art professionals, on the most successful artworks, or the most visited organizations and 2023 plans. We hope you enjoy reading this article about fairs and biennials.
We have summarized for you the fairs that stand out among the suggestions of art professionals in 2023; you can note them on your calendar:
– Frieze Los Angeles 16-19 February 2023
– Investec Cape Town Art Fair 17-19 February 2023
– Photo London 11-14 May 2023
– Frieze London & Frieze Masters 11-15 October 2023
– Paris Photograph 9-12 November 2023
– Art Basel Miami 7-9 December 2023
Selman Bilal, Collector B3 House
After the pandemic, we encountered an art environment that was revitalized. Like everyone else, I missed being together at art events and visiting exhibitions. As a collector and art viewer, I think it was a productive year. With the revitalization of the art world, good exhibitions and events took place. On an international scale, the fairs I have visited include foremost the Venice Biennale, Paris, and London, and I have also visited the newly opened museums and art fairs in Miami. For 2023, I have added to my calendar some fairs and events that I usually enjoy visiting such as Loop Barcelona, Art Basel Miami, Enter Copenhagen, List Basel, and London/Paris Photography.
During this time I continued to purchase B3 art collection works, which of course was not easy at times; One of the most distinctive features of the collection is that some works may not find their place at home, as all the objects are visibly embedded in the architecture of the house. Again, another prominent feature of the collection is its appearance in Turkey. In this direction, I have recently included works of art from different practices, such as videos, installations, or sculptures by Turkish artists, into my collection.
Melis Terzioğlu, Art Consultant
I would very much like to be able to form very big and exciting sentences, but as you may know the Turkish art scene, it does breathe in and out, but only enough to live. Nevertheless, after the pandemic restrictions, there was naturally a positive atmosphere created by the fact that people could go out again, wander, meet and share, and be together. The Istanbul Biennial (and the good exhibitions in parallel) reinforced this situation. In fact, many, many years later, for the first time in the opening week of the 2022 biennial, using the same sentence from an art professional and an artist, and with similar feelings, it’s as if Istanbul regained its lively and exciting energy of pre-2010!
In the international arena, it has been a very fast-paced year, with many biennials and important exhibitions (and fairs) postponed due to the pandemic. Let me say in a strange or naive form as if everyone was unanimous during the pandemic process -as if believing in the demonstrators- it has been a more intense and fast-paced year, where the statements such as “it should return to a slower pace and usage after the pandemic” were finally forgotten and almost every time they went away. I had the opportunity to visit the Dakar Biennale, Manifesta and Venice Biennale, 1-54 Paris, Art Paris, Bienvenue and Enter Art Fair. I guess it would be more than enough to say that I am looking forward to going to the Dakar Biennale in 2024.
I have included many fairs and art organizations in my 2023 calendar. I am looking forward to the 1-54 Marrakech fair, which will be held again after a short break. Autostrada, Sharjah, Gwangju, Liverpool, and Sao Paolo Biennales hold a dear place in my heart, I hope I’ll be able to see at least one. I am particularly curious about Sharjah as it is the last major exhibition project Okwui Enwezor worked on before he passed away. Rather than giving advice, I think it’s best for everyone to follow activities that excite them, and what makes polyphony the most possible; so that we can continue to listen to differences, learn from each other by sharing, and continue to feed.
I continued my purchases as much as I could in my own lane, which has been going on for years. The fact that everyone finds their own individual “voice” and creates their own collection are facts that I will never get tired of claiming because of my personality and my job, and I will defend it to the end. Therefore, I prefer to stay away from generalizations. In a stereotypical way, if we look at the trends in the international markets, there is an intense tendency towards figurative paintings called “wet painting” or “ultra-contemporary”, especially in terms of buying/selling. The Burns Halperin report, which covers 20 years of data analysis and was published at the end of 2022, proved with figures that the perception created in our country is in line with the news presented to create the impression that the visibility of female artists through different channels does not reflect the truth at all, and that the distance taken is still too little to count.
Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to control what is happening all over the world. As far as I can observe from Turkey – and this is actually a growing interest not only after the pandemic but for at least the last 10 years – there is an increasing interest in the works of African artists both on the African continent and in the diaspora. We do not know how long the “West”‘s mostly neo-colonial and pampered interest in different geographies will last. With more non-profit institutions, museums, artist guest programs, galleries opening, and the significant increase in curators, art professionals, fairs, and local buyers, I think this will create an environment conducive to the healthy growth of ecosystems on the continent – mostly without government support – rather than the distortions brought by rapid consumption.
Selma Aygün, Art Collector
The pandemic, which lasted almost 2 and a half years, has globally distanced people from many of their vital rituals. Cultural and artistic activities also took their share of this situation. After the restrictions were lifted, interest in visual arts increased, as in all other activities. Participation in fairs, biennials, and exhibitions gained a lot of intensity. For example; 20. Art Basel was the most attended fair in its history with 282 galleries situated in Miami Beach.
The 2022 edition of Contemporary Istanbul hosted 48,700 visitors with 65 galleries. 500,000 art lovers visited the 17th Istanbul Biennial. There were also very important sales abroad, the works of important names found buyers at record prices. Of course, online auctions by auction houses provided the possibility of reaching wider collectors. Many events were held in our country after the pandemic. In addition to the Biennial and Contemporary Istanbul, events such as Akaretler Artweeks exhibitions, BASE, and Mamut attracted a lot of attention. Physical participation to the exhibitions held at venues and galleries such as Pera Museum, Arter, Meşher, Istanbul Modern, Elgiz Museum, SSM, Yapı Kredi Bomontiada increased significantly after the pandemic. I also had the opportunity to participate in them both with the SPOT group that I am a member of and of course personally.
I will try to create an opportunity to visit international fairs in the upcoming days. In February, there is the Cape Town art fair that I plan to go to. Again in February 2023, there is a fair called ARCO Madrid that caught my attention. I would also like to go to Art Basel, Frieze, Photo London and Tefaf. As it is known, in addition to major events such as fairs and biennials, solo exhibitions of important artists are also very intriguing. Exhibitions of artists such as William Kentridge in London, Royal Academy of Arts in 2022, Magdalena Abakanowicz in Tate Modern, Anselm Kieffer in Palazzo Ducale in Venice were also essential to visit.
If I talk about some of the exhibitions that we remember in 2022, I find the exhibitions held in Pera Museum, Gazhane, Abdülmecit Efendi Mansion, Çinili Hamam, Küçük Mustafa Pasha baths during the Biennial, exhibitions in Arter and Meşher, BASE, Akaretler Artweeks, Taner Ceylan’s exhibition at Mehmet Emin Ağa Mansion and the Agah Uğur collection are the most significant ones.
During the pandemic, I have had several purchases. I was interested in portrait-oriented works, which were smaller in size. For example; a work by Mihriban Mirap from Art50.net, two portraits by Çağlar Öztürk, and a work by Tolga Akmermer from BASE joined the collection. In addition, we can include a work by the artist Ferhad Salman and a work by Ece Ağırtmış that I got from the border_less platform.
Recently, works produced with digital and artificial intelligence in the world arouse interest. Political changes in our time are increasing immigration. Factors such as nature, climate crisis, and global warming also create conceptual inquiries in art productions, and these facts play a role in the work process of many artists. Again, as far as I’ve seen, it can be said that recent purchase preferences show that labor-intensive and hyper-realistic productions are the ones most in demand. In particular, there seems to be a lot of interest in the work of artists of African descent.
Çelenk Bafra, SAHA Director & Curator
The art world, accelerating as of spring, enriched the discussion of the environment in the field of art with the content we have been waiting for, for several years, with biennials and large-scale museum exhibitions opened one after the other without taking the break we are accustomed to during the summer months. In the autumn, I think that this dynamism turns into a kind of fair and biennial rush, and therefore it becomes possible to observe the tourism and event inflate, which ultimately creates an environment of rapid consumption and competition. Some individuals and institutions were trying to take the stage with projects that were very much out of place, or compromising the content and organization as if they were trying to make up for the time they lost or to get a share of the pie.
I have seen the Berlin, Istanbul, and Mardin biennials, and the Frieze, Arco Madrid, Paris Internationale, and Paris + par Art Basel fairs in London, although I am not a strict follower of fairs. I had the opportunity to do research in museums and art institutions in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Israel, as well as biennial and independent art initiatives in Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia, Marmara, and Aegean regions. Documenta 15, curated by Ruangrupa in Kassel, and the 59th Venice Biennale, curated by Cecilia Alemani, will leave a valuable mark both in biennial history and in the world of art history.
For now, Sharjah Biennial, Dhaka Art Summit, Gwangju Biennale, Venice Architecture Biennale, and Sao Paolo Biennials are on my agenda for 2023 and beyond. Projects of artists from Turkey seem to be included in all of them, and as SAHA we will try to support these participations. As SAHA, we have a structure that supports the production of works, books, and information in the field of art and prioritizes strengthening the learning, dialogue, and development opportunities of the art ecosystem. In 2023, I think the attention will shift to Southeast Asia and mainly to Africa. We have been researching African art for several years and for this purpose we intend to take a research trip with our members to Cape Town during the fair period.
Banu Çarmıklı, Art Collector
In 2022, Venice Biennale and Istanbul Biennial marked the year. It was a remarkable fact that 80% of the artists participating in the Venice Biennale were female artists. Two esteemed black female artists (Sonia Boyce and Simon Leigh) received the Golden Lion award. It is certain that this has made a huge impact.
It was important for our esteemed artist Füsun Onur to represent the Turkish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The artist showed us how realistic the world is with the exhibition called “Once upon a time…”. We have realized that there is still hope.
The Russia-Ukraine war caused Russia to withdraw from the Venice Biennale. The artists have marched and protested at the important art centers of the world.
I enjoyed the Venice Biennale because it brings to mind questions such as how the concept of man has changed, relations between human-animal and human-plant, man’s responsibilities to the environment and nature, the existence of other life forms and man’s responsibilities towards them, and what life would be like without humans.
The fact that some of the works in Documenta 15 contain anti-Semitic elements caused great controversy, so much so that the cancellation of Documenta is discussed. Especially Taring Padi’s People’s Justice…
The Museum of the Future, opened in Dubai, is a marvel of technology and architecture… The center of scientific and technological discoveries that will shape the future. Middle East has started to have new museums and fairs.
The deaths of our esteemed artists Adnan Çoker and Komet were significant losses in our art world. Painted attacks on masterpieces took place in some of the world’s leading museums, called Encyclopedic Museums.
This year, I have decided to put in my list the Singapore Art Fair, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Frieze Seoul, and Gwangju Biennale. I think art lovers can visit different fairs and biennials and see different works from different cultures.
My recommendation for 2023 is: don’t let yourself be without art…Visit lots of exhibitions, read, and stay in touch with the artists. Build a nice library. Visit the workshops… I hope to see artists who are open to what happens in their geographical surroundings, sensitive, intuitive, thoughtful, and expressing their art in a brave and free language after long reflections.
I observed the existence of a trend towards Korea, Singapore, Africa, and Japan lately. The West’s route was directed towards the arts of different cultures in these regions. Important galleries are investing in South Korea. Digital Art, NFT is on the agenda and there is a much great interest in female artists.
Feride Çelik, Curator & Art Editor
As you mentioned, last year was actually a year of revival in many fields, not only in the field of art, after the pandemic. Activities that involve art have continued online, although they did not continue physically as of March 2020. Education programs, exhibitions on digital platforms, online museum tours, auctions, and fairs… To conclude, art activities never ended and art lovers continued to be fed by them.
However, in 2022, art exhibitions have begun accepting visitors physically, especially in our city, Istanbul. In fact, I started curating my first exhibition at Tophane Amire after a long hiatus in January 2022.
Even though we had installations and openings again with our masks in an uneasy way, we actually saw the excessive interest of the art audience. Afterward, this interest continued to increase. The Venice Biennale started in April 2022. Travel restrictions abroad started to get lifted. Then, Contemporary Istanbul Bloom opened as a small-scale fair in Istanbul in May at its new venue, Haliç Shipyard. There was an incredible interest.
I had the opportunity to visit the Venice Biennale. This year’s Biennial, maybe because we have much missed it after a long time, was really successful. The works in the exhibitions both in the country pavilions and in the main venues were very impressive. Again, it was possible to see the effect of the pandemic on the works of art. However, compared to previous years, there were more surreal works of art and weaving was a technique that was very much used as a material. I can see that the reason for the increase in weaving is partly the desire of the artists to turn inward and enter into a meditative process. In the Contemporary Istanbul fair, which took place in September and where international galleries also participated, what caught my attention was the extreme coloration of the works. As a theme, I felt that there was an increase in subjects related to nature and human studies.
In 2023, I plan to go to Art Dubai for the first time in March. I’m also thinking of going to Art Frieze, my favorite art fair, in New York in May or in London in October.
After the pandemic, I bought a work by Metin Kalkızoğlu. I bought it because I like the simple technique of the artist, who transfers landscapes from nature to his canvas in a photo-realistic style and it gives me a lot of peace. We made different purchases with the collectors that I consulted. Artists we have purchased works from are, Derya Geylani, Damla Yalçın, Özer Toraman, Serdar Acar, Ayşe Topçuoğulları, Sevim Kaya, Nergiz Yeşil, Ayşe Türemiş, Berna Bal, Ozan Ünal and Özgür Demirci. I notice that there is a trend towards Far Eastern and Middle Eastern artists lately.
Nergis Abıyeva, Author
Two of the most impressive and nourishing events for me in 2022 were undoubtedly Documenta and the Venice Biennale. I aim to go to Fiac, Art Basel, and Liste in 2023. It is known that the purchase of works of art has increased in recent years. Unfortunately, I can observe that unlayered and decorative works are in demand in Turkey. In our country, the art market, art theory, and art history are still far apart from each other; there is huge a gap between “museum” works and “house-based” works of art. In addition, the bright side is that there are buyers who try to learn, deepen and connect, who have good instincts, and whose intuition and knowledge are not bad at all, are also increasing.
Kına Demirel, Art Collector
In 2022, I had the opportunity to experience pleasant art events and meet some artists. First of all, I am very pleased to see that there is more interest in art environments. I started to think that it would be good for people to be in these environments and improve their visual memory, both in order to quickly get used to life after the pandemic and to try to relax a little more. Therefore, these environments attract more attention. But on the other hand, the fact that these environments are seen as sharing tools on social media makes us think that less time is spent on understanding the artist or the work of art. However, as the interest increases, I am sure that it will affect the work in the same way after a while. Of course, art is changing its form, and cooperation with different brands and technology is developing. Especially for the last two years, we have been questioning the involvement of art with technology a lot. The fact that NFT coincided with the world conjuncture in 2022 made us question how art via technology would develop. Apart from its financial value, it is an indispensable fact that technology will develop and contribute to art. I started to see many examples of digital and tech involved with art. In addition, another issue I see is the return to nature, sustainability themes, and more local ethnic elements that are starting to get processed in works of art. This is actually the transfer of social values from one generation to the next, the artist’s desire to play the role that has affected them in order to sustain nature, these are very good developments; I had the opportunity to see them in almost every gallery or program that was opened. Since I was still interested in photography in 2022, I participated in Paris Photo, which took place in Paris in November, and I saw that sustainability issues came to the fore too often. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to visit many exhibitions both at the Victoria Albert Museum in England and at the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago.
2023 will be the scene of different art events, of course, the biggest expectation for this is the opening of Istanbul Modern, and the reunification of Istanbul with its museum area. This will be an exciting development. Of course, the CI fair in Istanbul and many exhibitions that are yet to open will keep the art space in Turkey alive. The fairs or exhibitions I follow abroad are primarily about photography, of course. The retrospective exhibition of the South African artist Zanele Muholi, whom I admire very much, will be starting in February in Paris. London will be a delightful destination for London Photo in May. Then there are interesting exhibitions to be opened in London one after the other. In line with the growth of African Contemporary artists, Tate Modern will be opening an exhibition in July. On the other hand, a retrospective of Marina Abramovich will take place at the Royal College. For those who love the classical names of modern art, it is estimated that many exhibitions from Van Gogh to Picasso will be opened in many parts of the world and of course, these exhibitions will be visited at record levels. Towards the end of the year, another event that I noted for myself is Miami Art Basel.
I care very much that there is a story and a theme in the collection I create. I proceed by choosing my own focus and the subjects I need to focus on. In this way, I think I create mini-collections with deeper content. For the last few years, I have been interested in the works produced by contemporary African artists in the art of photography, and I try to add them to my collection as much as possible. I try to follow the exhibitions or works of these artists all over the world. The second issue that I am very interested in is that I closely follow contemporary female artists in Turkey.
Güliz Özbek Collini, Founder of Art50.net
2022 was a year when the art market started to revive all over the world, all art fairs came back stronger than before, new museums, galleries and art venues were opened, art competitions and art support initiatives increased. Since I live in Italy, after the pandemic, I first visited Milano Miart, Milan Design Week and then Contemporary Istanbul fairs, Mardin, Istanbul and Venice Biennales which are situated in a close environment. Venice Biennale with its strong theme, the consistent and powerful application of the theme in the biennial, and all side events, was a visual and mental feast that I could not get rid of its effect for a long time.
The first event that I’m looking forward to attending in 2023 is the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in February. I would definitely recommend the fair and its side events, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, to those who are interested in emerging contemporary African art and its promising market. During the time I lived in Cape Town between 2017-2020, I witnessed the development of contemporary artists and the art market in the African continent, mainly in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and Nigeria. African art has piqued interest all over the world. I made purchases, and I continued my research with follow-ups…It’s nice to see collectors from all over the world have started exploring not long after.
Milan Miart and Torino Artissima, Berlin Gallery Weekend, Paris + par Art Basel are the ones I plan to visit as they are in close proximity. I will definitely create the opportunity to see the “A World in Common” exhibition, which will focus on the art of photography in the African continent. It started with Frieze and 1-54 London in July at Tate Modern. Frieze Seoul and Art Basel Hong Kong are among the fairs that I will not be able to attend but will follow closely; the Asian market also attracts my attention on the basis of both galleries and collectors.
Art50.net artists are my priority when it comes to purchasing works, but this year I have allocated my budget to Contemporary African art from Africa and its diaspora, it is an exciting market to explore and watch its successes all over the world.
Cover Image: Folkert de Jong, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Art Basel, Unlimited 2022. Photo: Charlie Hui, Viswerk / Ocula.
Selin Tuncer