Art Chicago

EXPO Chicago is an international contemporary art exhibition held each year in Chicago, Illinois. In 2012, it took over the duties of a prior organization, Art Chicago, which began in 1980. Art Chicago was Chicago's longest-running major contemporary art exposition, but was cancelled after the 2011 fair, by its then owner Merchandise Mart Properties due to financial problems.

Subsequently, the group under the name EXPO CHICAGO, decided to hold the annual International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art at Navy Pier.

Art Chicago was founded as an American version of the Art Basel contemporary art exposition in 1980. Founded by Michigan print dealer John Wilson, Chicago International Art Exposition premieres in May at Navy Pier. The show attracts 80 dealers and 10,000 visitors. It was the first such in North America. For years it was held in the long barnlike sheds on Chicago's Navy Pier. In 1989 the leaky old sparrow-infested sheds on the pier were demolished and replaced by a mall, theatres, entertainment venues and convention exhibition halls. In 1993 Thomas Blackman took over as organizer of Art Chicago. During the 1990s, Art Chicago was called "the nation's leading fair of 20th-century art," "second only to Art Basel in Switzerland in global importance."

As the 1990s progressed, Art Chicago had troubles. The new Navy Pier buildings were cleaner and more inviting than the old ones, but the carnival atmosphere on the pier attracted an audience unused to art fairs. Robert Landau of Landau Fine Art in Montreal said of his experience in 2002, "we had more customers walking in off Navy Pier who really weren't there to see the art show. We had so many people coming in making remarks like, 'Are any of these paintings real?'" Sales decreased and major galleries pulled out. The newer "Art Basel Miami" fair surpassed Art Chicago in excitement, and drew away more galleries and important collectors.

In 2000 there were over 200 exhibitors; in 2004, the last year the fair was held on Navy Pier, there were more than 150 galleries exhibiting. In 2005 Art Chicago, redubbed "Art Chicago in the Park" was held in a giant tent in Grant Park behind the Art Institute of Chicago. There were now only 94 exhibitors, several of whom were new young Chicago galleries.

...
Wikipedia