Out of the total 24 galleries showing this year, five are from New York, four from London, three from Paris and one an outlier from Istanbul. The title 1-54 reflects the one continent and its 54 countries, and while it would be too much to expect representatives from all or even half the countries, more artists than before are from the US and the Caribbean. The line-up of galleries reflects the reality of competing in the global market. I reckon if we can touch just 1 per cent of the American base we will be in such a better place in terms of private collectors and museums, universities and the institutions relevant to us.”
“New York is so happening that you have to be there physically to create a network of galleries and collectors, which is why we have managed to attract more US galleries this year.
If we had not moved, there was a danger we might have lost some of them. We had to listen to the pain points of the galleries. I lived in Manhattan and know that New Yorkers do not like to cross bridges. “The problem with Pioneer Works was that there was no access by subway and it was hard to explain to the galleries where Red Hook actually was. Our new location is amazingly well placed, with the Whitney Museum nearby and the Chelsea galleries within walking distance. “We had to be in the centre and nearer to Frieze New York. “Africa is becoming more visible in the art world and that means the galleries needed a bigger space,” she says. Despite growing up in Rabat with the “smell of paint drifting from my father’s studio”, she admits to being “not even remotely talented artistically”, but she did have a yen for commerce and worked as a wealth management consultant after she completed her education in New York. “We evolved together and they loved what we were doing.”īut art is business, as El Glaoui recognises as well as anyone.
“It was a difficult decision to move into the city because we worked well with Pioneer Works,” says El Glaoui. Instead of Pioneer Works, a non-profit cultural centre based in a cavernous disused 19th-century factory in the Red Hook district, El Glaoui has opted for an altogether more “happening” venue, Industria, an old garage which modestly claims to have “revolutionised the photo and event industry as the first complex of its kind in the city”. To reflect her ambition and the growing global interest in African art, 1-54, which is also held in London and Marrakesh, is moving from Brooklyn to New York’s West Village, the heart of the contemporary art scene.
#Dominik banania candy professional#
She has found herself poised between the personal and the professional - organising the exhibition of a man who was arguably the best-known Moroccan artist of his generation while at the same time corralling the 24 galleries and more than 65 artists who will participate in this year’s fair, which opens on Friday.
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