{"id":85072,"date":"2025-10-16T20:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/85072\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T20:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:16:07","slug":"many-emerging-galleries-at-frieze-not-willing-to-divulge-sales-info","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/85072\/","title":{"rendered":"Many emerging galleries at Frieze not willing to divulge sales info"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThere\u2019s a general rule of thumb at art fairs: if dealers are willing to talk, they\u2019ve probably sold enough to turn a profit. If they aren\u2019t, it\u2019s a good bet the going is tough and sales are slow\u2014if moving at all. The mega-galleries often sell as much of their booth as possible before each fair begins, which means they\u2019re usually up for talking to art hacks on the morning of the first VIP day, as ARTnews saw on Wednesday. (Gagosian revealed it had sold 80 percent of its itinerary by 11 a.m., for example.)<\/p>\n

\n\tFrustratingly for everyone involved, over the past three years at Frieze<\/a> and Art Basel, I\u2019ve found that smaller and midsize galleries are increasingly reluctant to spill the beans on what\u2019s sold\u2014or, I should say, what hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

On the floor at Frieze London<\/a> on Wednesday, several dealers in the Focus section at the front of the tent\u2014reserved for emerging galleries\u2014politely batted me away when I inquired about sales. A few who didn\u2019t want to be named said they were up against it, and at least three said they hadn\u2019t sold anything at all. The pressure is on, especially when the smallest booth in the section (260 square feet) costs \u00a36,750 ($9,000), one dealer told ARTnews.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all doom and gloom, though. Several of the 35 Focus galleries reported strong sales by the end of Wednesday. They included London\u2019s Ginny on Frederick, which sold the only two works it brought to the fair for between \u00a320,000 and \u00a330,000 ($26,000\u2013$40,000) each. Both are by British artist Alex Margo Arden and titled Accounts (2025) and Daily Departmental Accident Record (2025).<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe booth sold out this morning, with Alex\u2019s sculpture Accounts being acquired by the Arts Council Collection,\u201d the gallery\u2019s founder, Freddie Powell, told ARTnews. (The Arts Council has a special Frieze acquisitions fund.<\/a>) \u201cAlex\u2019s practice employs theatrical methodologies to interrogate and question authority, authenticity, and labor. These concerns feel particularly vital in today\u2019s world, making it all the more exciting that her work now enters the British art historical canon through the collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrunette Coleman, also based in London, confirmed that it had sold out, with works ranging from \u00a37,000 to \u00a325,000 ($9,000\u2013$33,000). Canadian gallerist Eli Kerr said he\u2019d \u201csold most\u201d of his gallery\u2019s presentation, while Wsch\u00f3d, which has spaces in Warsaw and New York, also told me it had sold \u201cmost\u201d of its itinerary (neither gallery, however, would disclose prices). East London\u2019s Public gallery confirmed it had sold six works by Chinese artist Xin Liu, including one institutional acquisition, with prices ranging from \u00a35,000 to \u00a315,000 ($6,000\u2013$20,000). Gathering, which operates in London, Ibiza, and Cologne, said it had \u201cplaced the majority\u201d of Paris-based artist Christelle Oyiri\u2019s works, \u201cwhich range from \u00a32,000 to \u00a320,000 ($3,000\u2013$27,000).\u201d Hot Wheels, based in Athens and London and winner of the Focus Stand Prize at Frieze London 2024, said it had \u201cnearly sold out\u201d its booth by the end of play Tuesday. One New York\u2013based dealer told me they had \u201csold lots of works\u201d but wouldn\u2019t say which.<\/p>\n

When I returned to the Focus floor on Wednesday morning, one American dealer who didn\u2019t want to be named said they were still waiting to seal their first deal. I asked another gallerist\u2014who also didn\u2019t want to be named and who had sold a single work on Tuesday\u2014for an update. \u201cNothing to tell you, I\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite footfall being noticeably lighter on Thursday, Amsterdam\u2019s Diez gallery confirmed it had sold \u201ca couple of works for under \u20ac2,000 ($3,000).\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe feeling among the non-UK dealers here in the Focus section, at least the ones I\u2019ve spoken to, is that it\u2019s becoming a very local market, despite the locals trying to communicate the opposite,\u201d Diego Diez, the gallery\u2019s director, told ARTnews. Take that how you will.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis report will be updated throughout the day as sales info comes in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a general rule of thumb at art fairs: if dealers are willing to talk, they\u2019ve probably sold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,10041,61,60,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-85072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-frieze","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-london"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}