04 Sep Art-o-rama, the Sun-Kissed Darling of Europe’s Art Fairs

Source Credit:  Content and images from Ocula Magazine.  Read the original article - https://ocula.com/magazine/insights/art-o-rama-marseille-2024/

As Europe hits la rentrée—the ‘back-to-school’ period as the summer holidays draw to a close—Marseille art fair Art-o-rama, now in its 18th year, is an inspired communion of the emergent guard.

The annual fair is hosted in the multipurpose complex La Friche la Belle de Mai, set within the former Seita tobacco factory that closed down in 1990. The 45,000-square-metre warehouse is also home to around 70 creative organisations (among them Fræme, the non-profit organisation who produces Art-o-rama), who use it as a workspace and deliver hundreds of public events every year, from workshops to larger-scale festivals and fairs.

Outside is a playground, basketball court, and small skate park, where a handful of children are zooming around on scooters when I walk past on the fair’s opening morning. La Friche also houses a restaurant, concert venues, a bookshop, crèche, gardens, training centre, and exhibition spaces. Its walls, stairwells, and toilets are plastered head to toe with stickers and graffiti—a point of continuity from that seen along the streets and tunnels of the surrounding area. La Friche, which translates as ‘The Wasteland’, is located in the neighbourhood of Belle de Mai, one of the poorest in the southern port city. The complex itself is one of the municipality’s cultural rejuvenation projects.

243 Luz, Art-o-rama, Marseille (30 August–1 September 2024). Courtesy Art-o-rama. Photo: © Margot Montigny.

At the preview, gallerists and visitors remain staunchly in holiday mode, wearing Birkenstocks and loafers, shorts and singlets, leathery tans, and veneers of perspiration in the 30-plus degree heat.

For Elise Poitevin and Anne Vimeux, founders of the five-year-old project space and gallery Sissi Club, the strength of their connection to their home city is partly what brings them back to participate in Art-o-rama each year since they first joined in 2022.

‘For us it’s really important to valorise the scene outside the capital,’ Poitevin tells Ocula Magazine. ‘We were both born in Marseille, so it was essential for us to stay here and defend this art scene and bring some new gazes on the city.’

Art-o-rama, Marseille (30 August–1 September 2024). Courtesy Art-o-rama. Photo: © Margot Montigny.

‘This moment is kind of the la rentrée for all the workers in the art world in France. A lot of people from all the cities in France and outside of France are coming to Marseille.’

Poitevin describes the scene as one ‘with character’. ‘Marseille is a bridge between Europe and Africa. It’s built around the Mediterranean sea, and around exchanges. I think there are a lot of similarities between people from Marseille and people from Greece or Turkey or Morocco. We share a lot of history and habits, sometimes more than with the north of France.’

Afternoon, Art-o-rama, Marseille (30 August–1 September 2024). Courtesy Art-o-rama. Photo: © Margot Montigny.

Several gallerists give credit to Jérôme Pantalacci, the founding director of Art-o-rama who has figured in Marseille’s art scene for decades, including at the influential Galerie Roger Pailhas. ‘I think you can find this kind of energy and knowledge about the city and [its] art scene in the fair,’ Poitevin says.

Art-o-rama’s favourable reputation amongst younger galleries is part of its attraction, along with the lower booth fee of 3,500 Euros and the city’s relaxed atmosphere.

First-time participant Brigitte Mulholland, who opened her eponymous gallery in Paris earlier this year, notes the ‘different pace’ in Marseille. ‘You’re surrounded by the sea, too, so it’s just a kind of different mentality.’

Sherbet Green, Art-o-rama, Marseille (30 August–1 September 2024). Courtesy Art-o-rama. Photo: © Margot Montigny.

‘Marseille has a kind of Deptford vibe to it,’ Ema O’Donovan says. O’Donovan is the director of southeast London gallery Xxijra Hii (pronounced ‘shy-rah-hi’), launched in 2020. They share the booth with another first timer Studio/Chapple, their neighbouring gallery just four doors down in the Enclave. ‘We’re bringing Deptford to Marseille,’ director Louis Chapple jokes.

‘It’s quite a good fair to do as one of your first,’ Chapple says. O’Donovan adds: ‘There’s so much sculpture which we’re both big fans of, a lot of installation-based practice as well.’

It’s also East London gallery Sherbet Green’s first fair since opening in 2022. ‘It was a fair that seemed to genuinely be interested in supporting young artists to do interesting projects,’ director Mazzy-Mae Green explains, before drawing the inevitable comparison: ‘Paris is incredibly expensive, but it’s also a very traditional art market.’ —[O]

Source Credit:  Content and images from Ocula Magazine.  Read the original article - https://ocula.com/magazine/insights/art-o-rama-marseille-2024/