Sixteen young women united by a common goal: making contemporary art as accessible and inclusive as possible
ReA! Fair 2022
Sixteen young women united by a common goal: making contemporary art as accessible and inclusive as possible. Born in 2020 – when the world was facing several challenges due to the outbreak of Covid-19 – ReA! Fair has come to its third edition, taking place from 13 to 16 October at Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan.
The activity and cultural offer of the association has expanded. It has become a reference point for art enthusiasts and collectors who appreciate ReA!’s approach. «It might seem like a stroke of luck or an occasional success. Instead it turned out to be a necessity in this market – our growth is proof of this. The feedback we receive from the artists is a confirmation of what is missing. This stimulates us to move forward. Even if we do not hide that developing cultural projects and events on the Italian territory is challenging. There is a lack of public funds and the way these projects are supported. Despite all the challenges, we move forward, we see that there is a return, and therefore growth», explains Maryna Rybakova, director and co-founder.
According to Pelin Zeytinci, co-founder and creative director of ReA!, this year’s edition will be marked by a new atmosphere of relaxation which invites visitors to enjoy art in a friendly environment. The new edition’s motto – ’Living with/in art’ – will permeate all parts of the fair’s program and setting: «We want everyone to feel at home. We will have a bookshop this year. We will put “the talk area” on the terrace to experience a new area of the building». Zeytnici claims.
Supporting emerging artists at ReA! Fair
ReA! Fair’s mission is to support and accompany emerging artists in the early stages of their career. They aim to help the audience to navigate the contemporary art market, often perceived as an elitist and inaccessible world. During the fair artists and collectors are invited to take part in peer-to-peer transactions without galleries’ intermediation. What unites all ReA!’s activities from the birth of the fair onwards is, on the one hand, the desire to provide young talents with international exposure and commercial opportunities. On the other is to engage people in the artistic discourse by promoting a less classic, less museum type of art.
Democratizing the contemporary art market
«The fair is conceived in a way which encourages the public to take an interest in and engage with artists. The goal has always been transparency, in prices and in all commercial aspects, but also in the desire to open art to the entire public, especially those who may feel scared of this world. At the fair is the work of the mediators who go around and answer questions from the public. I started as a mediator myself. I got to talk a lot with awkward, almost frightened visitors. They didn’t know how to deal with the art world, but were curious» Maria Paola Cavallo, head of media & press, claims.
The prices displayed, hard to find in other national and international fairs, are synonymous with transparency. The talks and the public program which develops throughout the year are tools aimed at helping artists and approaching new potential art enthusiasts and collectors through a simple language suitable for the general public. The themes of the 2022 program will touch on the new trends of the sector and the most recent developments of the art world, always with the aim of providing the audience with high-quality guests and content. «One of the upcoming talks will be on queer art, a popular theme among the public but little analyzed by realities such as market exhibitions», according to Elisabetta Roncati, co-head of media & press.
The selection criteria for the fair
ReA! Fair will host one hundred international emerging talents. Each year artists can apply by registering for the open call. It lasts about three months and opens annually between January and February. Six curators make up the selection committee. They are Maria Myasnikova, Paola Shiamtani, Milena Zanetti, Erica Massaccesi, Vittoria Martinotti and Laura Pieri. They have different backgrounds and experiences in the art world, which makes the selection process comprehensive and democratic.
«During the months of the open call, we analyze everything provided by the artists, determining whether they are ready to be part of the Fair: portfolio, artist statement, website», Pieri explains. In the first stage of the selection process, curators work independently according to two fundamental criteria: each proposed artist must be emerging – not represented by galleries and not having more than ten years of exhibitions experience. They must show future potential in the research and development of their works. Every two weeks the selection committee compares, examines and discusses the artists selected by each curator. A majority vote determines whether the artist is admitted to the Fair.
ReA! 2022’s: freedom of expression
ReA! has chosen to promote and cherish freedom of expression, allowing artists to showcase artworks which do not necessarily attach themselves to a subject matter or an artistic language. «The artists live in the contemporary world. They are touched by what happens in the world around them and within them. The two are illustrated through their artistic creations. Claes Oldenburg has put it best: ‘I am for Art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something more than sitting on its ass in a museum’», Myasnikova explains.
All one hundred artists explore and address current issues. From political turmoil to the environmental crisis, in a personal way and according to their own sensitivity and background. Zanetti finds the playful and ironic component uniting most of the artworks exhibited, often associated with the world of lightheartedness and therefore lightness, but fundamental tools for the construction of one’s identity in relation to the outside world. «I believe that the moment in which we are living, bordering on the dystopian, has pushed younger artists to address the many political, ecological and identity issues through different thinking techniques. Techniques which allow for one to come into direct contact with these issues without turning to abstraction».
Emphasizing the artists at ReA! Fair
The ReA! team is proposed as a group of young professionals willing to get involved in the artistic discourse in a new way. «As a project born when the transformation of the art market was already underway, we like to think that our typical collector is someone who wants to discover art with us. Someone who sees ReA! as a democratic, open, transparent place, unlike traditional galleries which often inspire fear», Rybakova says.
Chiara Gatto, one of the latest additions to ReA! all-female staff, points out that the communication strategy of the association as well as its informal language are a direct translation of their mission. With ReA! Fair artists return to play a pivotal role. «Not everybody posts digital contents such as reels and pictures to present their artists on a daily basis. Artists are often the most overlooked actors of the market, despite being the key», she claims.
The future of art collectors
ReA!’s attitude results in new forms of art collection: bolder, more authentic and simpler. Price transparency is a tool to prove the accessibility of emerging art. «The public need to understand that you do not have to be a billionaire to access art», Cavallo says.
According to Roncato, one of the phenomena we have been witnessing in recent years in the Italian market is the approach of young people to art collecting. «In other markets, such as South Korea, the under-35 high-spending group has approached the world of art driven by players of the pop culture scene, such as BTS, who promoted culture and art by advertising various projects in those fields. In Italy it took longer but eventually, especially in the Milanese scene, there are young people who are starting to get involved in contemporary art, or are transforming themselves from collectors to exhibitors. Through their research they help young talents in promoting their art».
Incentives to drive creativity
Cash Prize, is a €1500 prize which will be awarded by Artsted – a digital platform which makes investments in the art world accessible to a wide audience – to an artist selected by an external jury. Two artists will be offered the opportunity to attend an artist residency scheduled in Italy over the next year, in collaboration with ExtrArtis. ReA! will select 10 artists who will take part in the annual ReA! Art Prize Winners’ Exhibition which will be held in Milan between spring and summer 2023. The exhibition is further proof of the commitment of the association to continue to stand alongside the artists. They aim to celebrate their careers’ achievements even after the fair has ended.
ReA Art Fair
ReA Art Fair is the main event organized by the non-profit association ReA! Arte. Milan-based art fair takes place once a year. It features the works of one-hundred emerging artists. Artists are selected through a call for applications in collaboration with a number of institutional partners.
