New York City.- VIP Art Fair, the world’s first contemporary art fair held exclusively online, will return with its second fair between February 3rd and February 8th 2012. Top international galleries will offer artworks starting from around $500 to over $1 million. Launched in January 2011, VIP Art Fair leverages international technology to create a live, online marketplace to view, learn about and purchase artworks by leading artists from around the world. Fair Director Noah Horowitz explains, “VIP takes the successful model of physical art fairs and opens it to a much broader audience, empowering the connection between the engaged art community and the world’s most prominent dealers. Work from over 2,000 artists will be on view through presentations by 115 carefully selected galleries invited to participate. VIP connects all audiences in real time to experience the art works and share what they’ve seen. Scale has no bounds in the VIP Art Fair as galleries can present intimate drawings to giant museum scale works in their booth, allowing art enthusiasts from more than 30 countries to view them in larger than life resolution.
Exhibiting galleries will present work in three carefully selected areas, alongside curated visitor tours, a Museums and Editions Hall, and artist and collector video series. VIP’s recent appointment of e-commerce expert, Lisa Kennedy, shows their dedication to understanding and investing in our ever developing relationship with the net, and the access to the art world online. With an impeccable record of more than 15 years of leadership and innovation in Internet Commerce and Media, Kennedy was most recently Executive Vice President at Quidsi Inc, where she was responsible for growing revenues nearly tenfold from $30M, culminating in an acquisition by Amazon for $540M. Building on last year’s platform, Social media integration with Twitter and Facebook invites visitors to share their favourite items and personalised tours with others on and beyond the site. VIP2.0 supports all web-browsers, iPad and mobile devices. The company’s new VP of Engineering, Severin Andrieu-Delille, states, “At our inaugural fair, systems struggled with high traffic volume and the site experienced technical issues. In response, we’ve completed major upgrades, adding substantial server and bandwidth resources. Significant load testing makes us confident we’ll meet peak demand, delivering a flawless, content?rich experience for our exhibitors and visitors.” Increasingly, art fairs are changing the way in which art is sold. Demographics from the inaugural fair show that there is a proven platform for galleries to interact with their clients in the digital pace; the week-long event drew an audience of over 40,000 visitors from 196 countries who spent more than an hour on the site viewing over 200 unique artworks.
Galleries already participating in the 2012 fair include; Alexander and Bonin (New York), Peter Blum Gallery (New York), James Cohan Gallery (New York & Shanghai), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing & Le Moulin), Corkin Gallery (Toronto), Alan Cristea Gallery (London), Galerie Eigen + Art (Leipzig & Berlin), Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco), Stephen Friedman Gallery (London), Gagosian Gallery (New York, Beverly Hills, London, Rome, Paris, Geneva, Hong Kong & Athens), Galerie Gmurzynska (Zurich, St. Moritz & Zug), Marian Goodman Gallery (New York & Paris), Hauser & Wirth (Zurich, London & New York), Leila Heller Gallery (New York), Galerie Max Hetzler (Berlin), Xavier Hufkens (Brussels), Gallery Hyundai (Seoul), Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna), Yvon Lambert (Paris), Galerie Lelong (New York & Paris), Luhring Augustine New York), Victoria Miro (London), Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (Sydney), The Pace Gallery (New York & Beijing), Pace Prints (New York), Pace/MacGill Gallery (New York), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris & Salzburg), ShanghART (Shanghai & Beijing), White Cube (London), David Zwirner (New York), Brooke Alexander Gallery (New York), Galeria Raquel Arnaud (São Paulo), ARNDT (Berlin), Bernier/Eliades (Athens), Barbara Krakow Gallery (Boston), Galería Elba Benítez (Madrid), Marianne Boesky (New York), Ben Brown Fine Arts (London & Hong Kong), Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai), Dirimart (Istanbul), Fortes Vilaça (São Paulo), Galeria Filomena Soares (Lisbon), Goodman Gallery (Johannesburg & Cape Town), Greenberg Van Doren Gallery (New York & St. Louis), The Guild (Mumbai), Haines Gallery (San Francisco), i8 (Reykjavik), John Berggruen Gallery (San Francisco), John Szoke Editions (New York), Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York), Lehmann Maupin Gallery (New York), Leo Castelli Gallery (New York), Lombard Freid Projects (New York), Luis Adelantado (Mexico City & Valencia), Galerie Urs Meile (Beijing & Lucerne), Moeller Fine Art Ltd (New York & Berlin), Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris & Brussels), Ota Fine Arts (Tokyo), Pékin Fine Arts (Beijing), Galeria Nara Roesler (São Paulo), Anna Schwartz Gallery (Melbourne & Sydney), Galeria Luisa Strina (São Paulo), Galerie Daniel Templon (Paris), Galerie Thomas Modern (Munich), Tucci Russo (Turin), Van de Weghe Fine Art (New York), Bischoff/Weiss (London), Casa Triângulo (São Paulo), Elizabeth Dee Gallery (New York).
As well as the private sector galleries, a number of museum will be offering prints and multiples during the event. these include the Barbican Art Gallery (London), Eikon (Vienna), The Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh), Independent Curators International (New York), Parkett (New York & Zurich), The Renaissance Society (Chicago), Rhizome (New York), Serpentine Gallery (London), Texte zur Kunst (Berlin), Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing) and Whitechapel Gallery (London). Visit the fair’s website at … http://www.vipartfair.com