Aqua

Aqua

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brilliant example of how artists can think outside the box to create something that benefits artists, dealers and collectors.

Two Seattle artists, Jaq Chartier and Dirk Park--and possibly others--created this fair, which has an international roster of good galleries. Plus, in its third season, the fair, which is based at the Aqua Hotel on Collins Avenue, has successfully cloned itself into a second venue in Wynwood.

Chartier and Park's story should be required reading for artists everywhere.

Anonymous said...

You're kidding, right? How about two artists with no business sense? Aqua was nice in the beginning, when they weren't greedy. The Wynwood thing, eesh, talk about disaster. Ridiculously expensive -- at least two dealers who did that fair are now out of bizness. The was no signage from the street, no parking, haphazard organization, viewers/collectors had no idea where it was. Let's hope they've learned from last year's debacle, given that they have a 5-year lease on that building.

Anonymous said...

Its more like 7-8 galleries who did the Wynwood fair that are now out of business. Greedy indeed....

Anonymous said...

I would hardly equate participating in Aqua Wynwood, or any art fair for that matter, and going out of business. One does not cause the other. If you're commenting on the organization of a fair, fine, but don't blame gallery closures on participation in a fair.

Anonymous said...

From personal experience, I'm pretty sure those two aren't rolling in dough over that fair. I mean, it was a bumbling mess last year, yes, but I am guessing they've learned some lessons (?)

Galleries who did that fair going out of business is sort of a random method for calculating whether Jaq and Dirk are greedy individuals, isn't it? When you do an art fair, it's up to you as a dealer to decide if you can withstand losing all your costs. If you can't- don't do it. It was angry making that there were such blind spots in the program, but everyone was aware that it was a first year effort.

I have already seen Pulse advertising for this year in Miami (!), so I hope Aqua takes heed and steps up.

Anonymous said...

Doing just one expensive poorly attended art fair can put anyone out of business. That said 7-8 galleries out of 50 is an unusually high percentage which reflects poorly on Aqua Wynwood. The Aqua Hotel on the other hand is a gem.

Anonymous said...

this operation outgrew its britches...the old days were glorious.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Aqua used to be ok. But they lost any good galleries they had because they got overly-ambitious (greedy). Why not stick with the good hotel formula? Instead they added to the over-saturation of fairs, which could possibly have worked except for the fact that they are horrible businessmen, horrible at marketing, branding etc...

Dirk also has no problem f*cking over the best galleries that carried the Aqua Hotel Fair for a number of years. Thumbs down! Not even close to being in the league with Pulse and Nada...

Prediction, Aqua's last year will be this year...

Anonymous said...

Aqua did TWO great fairs this year, 2008. So much for those negative predictions, eh?