VIP Art Fair

VIP Art Fair was an international art fair held exclusively online.[1] The fair was founded in 2010 by James and Jane Cohan, owners of James Cohan Gallery in New York, and Jonas and Alessandra Almgren, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. The inaugural fair was held January 22–30, 2011 and the second edition of the fair will be held February 3–8, 2012.[2]

VIP Art Fair
TypeLimited Liability Company
IndustryArt Market
Founded2010
Headquarters
New York
Key people
Lisa Kennedy (CEO), Severin Andrieu-Delille (VP of Engineering)

VIP 2.0

The new technologies developed for VIP Art Fair are the most significant changes for VIP 2.0. First, the site is now integrated with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter – enabling visitors to build personalized tours on the Fair site then share them on their social media pages. Next, the site now supports all web-browsers, iPad and other mobile devices. Finally, the chat feature on the site has been improved, using cloud technology, and expanded so that it can now be used on mobile phones – functioning like iMessage or BBM. The world’s leading contemporary galleries have participated in VIP 2.0, including David Zwirner (New York), Galerie Max Hetzler (Berlin), White Cube (London), Gagosian Gallery (New York, London, Beverly Hills, Rome, and Athens), Hauser & Wirth (Zürich, London, and New York), Anna Schwartz Gallery (Melbourne and Sydney), Xavier Hufkens (Brussels), Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco), and James Cohan Gallery (New York and Shanghai).

VIP 1.0

The first edition of VIP Art Fair ran from January 22–30, 2011. At that time, it was the first art fair to be held entirely online.[3][4][5][6][7][8] VIP 1.0 featured 138 contemporary art galleries from 30 countries, and included works by more than 2,200 artists. Over its nine-day run, VIP Art Fair attracted some 41,000 visitors,[9] but was plagued by technical difficulties.[10] The fair might have been victim of its own success,[11] as peak loads slowed the service down. The experience by exhibitors was mixed, with some expressing outrage at the shortcomings,[12] while others were happy with the results and saw future potential.[13] To strengthen the technology platform, the founders of VIP Art Fair decided to bring all development in-house, and hired Severin Andrieu-Delille to head the tech team.[14]

Company Growth
  • In late 2011, Lisa Kennedy, former Executive Vice President at Quidsi Inc., was hired as Chief Executive Officer of VIP Art Fair.[15]
  • In January 2012, Liz Parks was hired as the new Fair Director, a former head of sales at Artnet, to replace Noah Horowitz, the founding director.
  • In January 2012, VIP Art Fair raised $1 million from international collectors including Selmo Nissenbaum, Partner in Personale Investimentos, and Philip Keir, media and arts specialist and former Founder of NextMedia.
  • In January 2012, VIP Art Fair announced three more fairs to be held in 2012: VIP Paper (April 20–22, 2012), VIP Photo (July 13–15, 2012) and VIP Vernissage (September 7–9, 2012)[16]
  • In April 2013, VIP Art announced it had been acquired by Artspace[17]

References
  1. Ellen Gamerman; Kelly Crow (2011-01-14). "Clicking on a Masterpiece". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. VIP Art Fair Spruces Up for Its Second Year Running Hyperallergic
  3. VIP Art Fair: Welcome to the virtual art fair The Telegraph
  4. At the VIP Online Art Fair's Launch Party, Some Vestiges of the Physical Remained BLOUINARTINFO.com
  5. "Look, don't touch - Rather slowly, the buying and selling of art and antiques is going online". The Economist. 2011-01-13.
  6. James Adams. "9,000 works, 140 dealers, 30 countries: The art fair goes virtual". The Globe and Mail.
  7. Jonathan Jones (2011-01-21). "$1m artworks up for sale at online fair". The Guardian.
  8. Katya Kazakina (2011-01-22). "Blankfein Portrait, Freud, Bacon Works Over $1 Million Ignite Online Fair". Bloomberg L.P.
  9. Art Tapei Forum VIP Art Fair- The First Global Online Art Fair
  10. VIP Art Fair: a virtual failure? Financial Times
  11. VIP Art Fair Victim of its Own Success Art Market Monitor
  12. Online VIP Art Fair disappoints: Is damage fatal? Art Radar Asia
  13. A Few Thoughts on the VIP Art Fair edwardwinkleman.com
  14. Notorious VIP: After a Stumble, an Online Art Fair Embraces Its Tech Side GalleristNY
  15. VIP Art Fair Adds Tech Clout With New CEO, Former VP of $500 Million E-Commerce Site BLOUINARTINFO
  16. VIP Expands, Launching Three New Online-Only Art Fairs BLOUINARTINFO
  17. Artspace Acquires VIP Art GalleristNY
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