It is obvious that the international art fairs are playing a big role on today’s art market. These fairs have become hot spots for the VIP’s of the world, where celebrities fly in (or are being flown in by sponsoring airlines) to observe and experience first hand the work of the hottest new artists. Some say the Art Basel Miami is starting to feel like the Cannes film festival.

A lot of work is put into promoting and organizing these fairs with strong sponsors proudly supporting the events. And not without success. At the Frieze Art Fair in London 2005, 160 galleries attracted more than 40 thousand guests and the Art Basel Miami 2005 had 195 galleries with nearly the same number of visitors. Many participating galleries reported excellent sales results and the talk of the town is that the public’s interest in contemporary art is soaring. Some galleries even say the strong market allows them to be more selective regarding to who they sell and they prefer to sell to collections in public view. The Art Newspaper reported one collector who left the Frieze Art Fair empty handed after taking half an hour to contemplate on whether to buy a sculpture by Olafur Eliasson at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. When he returned, determined to buy the piece, all three editions were sold. The same story was told by many buyers throughout the fair, who hardly had time to ponder their decisions.

Not only artists and galleries enjoy the ride. The art fairs are spreading the glory and in Miami there were many events, linked to the fair, featuring music, design, film and fashion. While the Frieze Art Fair was held in London, the auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s used the opportunity while all the major collectors and curators were in town and held big contemporary auctions and many smaller art fairs were held at the same time.

These art fairs continue to grow and attract participating galleries and guests from all over the world. The Art Basel Miami, where the Reykjavik based Gallerí i8 participated, has also held special exhibitions with projects by emerging artists, new art projects, public art projects, etc. A sculpture park, open to the general public, was put up at Regent Park at the Frieze Art Fair. The versatility of works and events mixed with such ambitious preparations must continue to draw attention to the art scene and in the future we hope to see more Icelandic art in the international art arena.