EXPO Chicago is the third major contemporary art fair in the US on the calendar, drawing over 35,000 visitors yearly. Some say that EXPO is the dress rehearsal before the New York Art Week, which happens in May. This year, the 13th annual edition of EXPO, saw many changes: a new director, new ownership, and a shift in overall direction. For me, it has become a small tradition to visit EXPO on the closing day, this year being the third time I’ve done it. In short, the changes have not gone unnoticed.
This year’s roster included only about 130 galleries from about two dozen countries, which is a substantial downsizing from the over 170 galleries the fair hosted in prior years. This change is noticeable, especially for visitors who attended in prior years. EXPO’s new owners, Frieze, a leading global contemporary art organization known for their art fairs and namesake magazine, claim that this change was implemented to create “a more focused, intentionally scaled format, designed to deepen engagement.” On paper, it seems like a reasonable decision, given that last year it took me an hour and a half just to get around all the booths. In reality, it seems like they’ve only cut the “Editions + Books” section, which hosted mostly printmakers and served as the only “affordable” section of the fair with prices ranging from few dozen to few hundred dollars, compared to thousands elsewhere, as well as the “Special Exhibitions” section, which was reserved for non-profits and allowed, for example, select SAIC students to exhibit their work alongside big names in the art world. Furthermore, the “Exposure” section, which focused on emerging artists and small galleries, seemed to be cut at least in half, with the “Profile” section, focusing on solo artist booths, remaining relatively small, as it was in previous years. It appears that the only part of EXPO that didn’t experience downsizing or get cut altogether is “Galleries,” hosting mid to big-sized galleries. Such selectiveness in what got cut from this year’s EXPO and what didn’t raises a question of whether the idea behind it is truly in creating a “more focused, intentional” format that “deepens engagement.” The answer lies in the substance of the fair itself.
When I left EXPO last year, I was quite disappointed with what I saw. If only I knew then what awaited me the next year. Last year, big galleries brought a lot of “low effort”, meaningless art, alongside straight copies of well known artists, commonly referred to as slop and dupes in modern slang. Nonetheless, it was easy to overlook considering the amount of small and independent galleries, which stole the spotlight and overshadowed the giants. My disappointment last year lay in the lack of risks that small galleries were ready to take. This year, in contrast, I’m less disappointed and more shocked, primarily from the AI slop hidden in every corner. The name that seemed to find me no matter where I went was Yigal Ozeri. Although Ozeri’s medium is supposedly painting, I don’t think anyone will argue that his work is in fact AI slop.
Ozeri can claim that it is “photorealism” and that he is painting from photographs and videos, but the amount of off-putting details that even an untrained eye can spot in his work give away that he is not using real-world references. What surprised me is that he was represented by at least 4 major art galleries in the show, which in itself raises a lot of questions and concerns. Did they bring him because it sells? I certainly hope not.
Another notable work made clearly with usage of artificial intelligence is by Cristina Schek, represented by Cynthia Corbett Gallery. While with Ozeri’s work, there might be doubt in some people’s eyes, Schek leaves no room for speculation about where her work truly comes from. Another big disappointment comes from the amount of works copying the styles of great, well-known artists. If in previous years these copycat works were offset by original pieces from up and coming artists, this year didn’t have enough originality to offer. I spotted copies of Hockney, Warhol, Cy Twombly – really anything an art collector might dream about, reproduced for an affordable price. However, there were some artists and galleries at EXPO worth mentioning who made this year worth visiting nonetheless. Amongst them were Vilnius, Lithuania’s Contour Art Gallery, exhibiting works of Laima Oržekauskienė and Rimas Čiurlionis; Suppoment Gallery, which highlighted a variety of South Korean artists, and Los Angeles-based gallery Lobster Club, which showcased works of Danielle Kosann. Despite my skepticism surrounding abstraction and abstract expressionism in this day and age, it’s the abstract works of Suppoment Gallery residents and the minimalistic, conceptual, and thoughtful works of Oržekauskienė and Čiurlionis that made these galleries stand out from all the meaningless copies overcrowding EXPO. Finally, it was the very sensitive, somewhat simplistic and even childlike pieces by Kosann that really landed for me. In contrast with meaningless AI art, these simply human works attract more than ever.
I think this year’s EXPO is summarized nicely by Chicago’s unofficial title, “the second city.”. It felt second in everything to the upcoming Art Fair Week in New York, as if it were trying to prove something, either to outsiders or to itself. EXPO’s management acted like a little brother, desperately attempting to prove his worth to the new owners, when no one really deemed them inferior. Personally, I don’t buy the story of “intentionally scaled format.” It is obvious that this year had fewer sponsors, the economy in recent years seems to only worsen in constant fear of recession, and, with the Venice Biennale just around the corner, it is possible that the organizers expected fewer visitors than in the previous years. All factors combined, it is reasonable to assume that Frieze decided to optimize their revenue by cutting low-paying, smaller galleries, while retaining the high-paying, bigger players, while also lowering their costs. The downside of this optimization strategy is that the viewers receive less diversity in presented views and voices, making the fair bland and quite forgettable. My only hope is that this is nothing more than a short-term strategy to keep the fair going in turbulent and uncertain times, and sooner than later, EXPO will return to its roots and create a big, diverse art fair that prioritizes art over money.
