Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 135

T7 BEST copy available; City's first Europe -style fair docks at Navy Pier Artner By Alan G. A't critic From Rome, an untitled construction by Angela Hart O'Brien, which will be on exhibit at the upcoming "Art 1980 TO MANY CIIICAGOANS, art fairs are the weekend happenings that begin to appear in streets and plazas once the weather gets hot. The exhibitors invariably are local and unknown. Their works are usually functional or decorative. But there is another kind of art fair, a more serious kind that takes place in European cities like Bologna and Basel.

This is the kind that will run for five days beginning Thursday at the east end of Navy Pier. Called "Art 1980 Chicago," the venture will bring together 84 American and European galleries to show the work of nearly 1,500 artists, from the late 19th Century to the present. Painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, graphics, video, and performance art will be included. Representatives from 11 art journals will be there, too. The idea for a local art fair modeled after the European variety arose three years ago.

John Wilson, a Michigan dealer in contemporary and master prints, had talked about it with Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt and Fred Fine, the chairman of the arts and entertainment management program at Columbia College. Wilson noticed how the sagging economy had cut down on American participation in European fairs. He also felt the more serious stateside fairs were beginning to show an increased focus on prints. The alternative was to plan a wide-ranging exposition for Chicago, and the dates were settled last year. The fair was planned to follow both "WASH ART," the nation's oldest art exposition, and the season's major contemporary auctions in New York.

Anyone wanting to attend them could then come here and still have enough time to get to Switzerland for the Basel art fair in June. After participation was sought through mailings late last fall, galleries submitted applications that were reviewed by members of an Advisory board, primarily Wilson, Hunt, and Jack Lemon, owner of Landfall Press, a prestigious print publisher. They found the first emeries to respond favorably were not from tntcago. but New York. "The New York galleries never questioned that Chicago was a logical location," said project coordinator Maury Wolfe.

"After all, the ctt.jf central to both coasts, and it has a good art orientation with a strong interest in archiU'-tkye and outdoor sculpture. On the other hard, most Chicago galleries joined only after tha galleries from elsewhere. Maybe they felt ihey had to defend their own turf." Whatever their reason, 27 to Chicago dealers will be rty rerouted; New York was second with 17. Trjera also will be galleries from England, West Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and South America. More applied than were accented.

There were standards to uphold. Thf basic exhibition space is a 10-by-12-fool booth, although nearly half the galleries have taken more than one. The cost was $830 per compartfiient. J700 for each after the first. This fee inclwkri two pages (and up to five reproducti ons) in a 250 page catalog that is prLcai it Ji4.

All the artworks on view will be for sale. The organizers take no commission on sales, and are hoping for an attendance of 30,000 to meet expenses beyond the $300,000 operating budget. Wolfe recalled that a smaller-scale art fair in Boston went bankrupt last fall, but she is confident of local success. "Success for the dealers will depend not only on sales, but the contacts that are formed," Wolfe said. "I think a nuclear group of 1,000 purchasers will be adequate to generate the From Chicago, "Dentras De" (above), a 1979 wood sculpture by Dean Synder, and "Self-portrait in Bowler Hat" (right), a 1921 drypomt by Max Beckmann.

sales the galleries are expecting. Beyond that, everything will depend on an audience interested enough to get the galleries' to come back. We would like to make the fair an annual event." There are, however, two problems. Several local dealers are worried that others might succeed in weaning away collectors who could easily be persuaded that Chicago's galleries are second-best. The possibility always has existed, and it remains to be seen if exposure in the international arena will help or detract.

Then there is the more immediate issue of extra costs. Because an art fair is essentially a trade fair, everyone has to deal with union-labor, and trucks cannot be unloaded without having a member of the Teamsters Union present. Exhibitors who want to handle artworks themselves still must go through a "wsigfcir.g in" that requires a payment to the ture will be located on the promenade surrounding the Ballroom. And some special events are scheduled. The Marcel Duchamp Memorial Players will improvise on percHssion instruments from 2 to 6 p.m.

Friday, Saturday, and next Sunday in the Recreation Building. Linda Novak will do a solo performance with video and audience participation at 2 p.m. next Sunday outside the Shelter Building. Ellen Fisher will present a solo performance with sound, tentatively scheduled at 8 Friday, next Sundav, and May 19. All that makes for an ambitious first, venture, and everyone interested in contemporary art will be watching the results.

Hours for "Art 1980 Chicago" are 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through May 19, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

May 20. For further information, call (312 union of $15 for each 100 pounds. Booth rental did not include the fees, and at this writing, it has not been determined whether the' exhibitors or the organizers of the fair will pay them. Of course, visitors need not be concerned. Admission Thursday is by ticket, but free Tickets have been bound into the May issue of Chicago magazine and also are available from participating galleries or af the door.

Each day thereafter, the admission charge will be $5 for adults, and $3 for students, senior citizens, and groups of 20 or more. A nontransferable unlimited pass costs $15. Shuttle buses will transport visitors to the pier's east end complex which will include bar and restaurant facilities (with catering by George Jewell) in addition to the exhibitors. More than 30 artists will be present at several of the booths. Thirty pieces of outdoor sculp Sect'on 6 Page 11 CHICAGO TRIBUNE Arts Fun-May 11, 1980.