ART SOLO 2023 comes to a colorful close, co-existence of diverse creativity and competition

The ART SOLO 2023 came to a successful conclusion on May 7th. The fair presented the colorful achievements of the collaborations between 73 artists and galleries, showing the various exhibition strategies of the galleries; the art collection systems that have supported the different artists were also obvious from the works created by the artists. All of these present an exhibition context in which diverse creativity and competition coexist.

Unique among various art fairs

In May 2023, there were at least 7 art fairs in Taiwan. The reasons 7 art fairs could be held within a month was due to the overall economic trends before and after the pandemic in Taiwan, regulations of art awards, the relatively stable environment, and the continuous investment and support for art appreciation from the public. Taiwan Art Gallery Association (TAGA) observed that due to more and more audiences becoming invested, different fairs can thus lock onto different customer groups. ART SOLO 2023 took the exhibition strategy of the artist's solo exhibition as the focus, which is unique among the many art fairs, and can attract audiences who want to more deeply understand the creation of artists and the operation of the art market.

Looking back at the ART SOLO 2023 itself, it could be seen that different artists clearly have different target audiences. From comparing realistic illustration from Cliff Ueng (Julia Gallery), Zac Lee’s photorealistic works (Richard Koh Fine Art), to cute works that have been trendy in recent years, such as those by Choong-Seok Han  (J. P. Art Center), to Carson Buka from Africa (Amasaka Gallery from Uganda), they each have their own supporters. The multiplicity of artwork styles can attract different groups of collectors, demonstrating that in a single art fair, the spectrum of collectors can spread among the different quadrants, and is no longer like past years, limited to a collection pattern of focusing on a specific style.

The exhibition venue with brand management as the overtone

Many exhibitors at ART SOLO participated in the exhibition with brand management as their focus. For example, the double booth of Lei Xiang Gallery exhibited two solo exhibitions:  Japanese artist Sumisha and Taiwanese artist Jun Liang Lin. The strategy was to promote the brand tone of the gallery itself, and by putting toward two artists with completely different styles, it is not only a statement of the gallery’s direction of management to the public, but also hoping to display the brand style to the ever-expanding audience.

The event this year attracted large crowds, among which were international audiences. For the galleries, promoting their management direction and their stables of artists to the public have gradually become the main strategy at art fairs. Therefore, the curation of the gallery exhibition areas has also become highlights of the exhibition, such as the launch of 3 artists by 333 Gallery this year, where their booths were arranged according to the tones of different artists, showing the lively curatorial style of the gallery.

On the other hand, Apollo Art Gallery and Chini Gallery present the personality of the gallery operators through the way of classic gallery presentations. The three booths of Chini gallery used detailed and exciting discussions in combination with the artist's works to fully present the key elements that the gallery's "solo exhibition" should possess. Apollo Art Gallery chose to arrange Hilo Chen's works at the average height of the audience's line of sight, which allows the audience to browse the works like a movie screen, and so combines the style of photorealism in an intriguing manner; while in K. C. Huang’s resist dyeing solo exhibition, it seems that one is able to hear the rhythm of music in the exhibition space, and the rhythm of the works, the exhibition space, and audience appreciation which are taken to compose a single music movement.

An immersive viewing experience deepening the effectiveness of art promotion

The guided tour of ART SOLO is carried out in the form of professional guides having conversations with the artists or the gallery directors, and is thus able to attract more audience participation. Some visitors to the fair indicated that the artist's solo exhibition was like an immersive experience, which made the guided tours feel more in-depth. Compared with other art fairs, where there may be more than a dozen artists in each exhibition space, and there is not much space for each artist to clearly introduce themselves, while at ART SOLO, the artists personally collaborate with the guides to introduce their series of works, so that the public can have a deeper understanding of the art world. Some galleries stated that most of the collectors will definitely receive the information for art fairs, so the focus of promoting the exhibition was to bring in more different groups of people, and with in-depth introductions to the artists and works, there would be individuals among the visitors who would start to purchase and collect artworks. This was also an important part of the activities in art fairs so as to cultivate future collectors.

The exhibition closes and continues moving forward

With the closing of ART SOLO 2023 Art Fair, it has been observed that in the past three years, the age-based division of collectors has begun to shift to a more refined method of dividing collectors based on collection goals and preferences. The exhibition strategy of the gallery has similarly changed, gradually breaking away from the pure business model of previous years, and uses more promotional strategies to plan their attendance. Although the ART SOLO art fair has come to a close for the year, the program "Art TAIPEI Live Talk" produced and broadcast by the organizer TAGA also included live voice records of participating artists and collectors sharing on their corporate purchase ideals remains, allowing the public to view and recall the wonderful moments of ART SOLO 2023 at any time.

SOLO RIDE, ART SOLO 2023's collaboration with YouBike, will also continue until May 31. After ART SOLO has concluded for the year, there are still many art fairs to come in Taiwan. ART TAICHUNG hosted by TAGA is next on the calendar, from July 14th to 16th (with VIP viewing on the 13th) - Taiwan’s art industry will never pause in its track, and will continue to move forward.