About R30-million was spent over four days at the Joburg Art Fair, with art lovers and collectors snapping up the works on show.

Acclaimed artist William Kentridge strolls around the art fair

GALLERY owners and the organisers agree - the Joburg Art Fair was a huge success. The evidence: up to R30-million worth of artworks was sold.

Katrin Lewinsky, the production manager of Artlogic, the organisers of the fair, said that international and local buyers were equally represented. Some 6 500 people walked through the doors of the Sandton Convention Centre, where 5 000m² of concrete floor space was abuzz with art lovers from 13 to 16 March.

Some the city's best galleries had a presence at the fair: the Everard Read, Gallery Momo, the Goodman, Warren Siebritz and David Krut. In all, 22 galleries, six of them international, had stands.

And some of the country's best artists had their works on show - Zwelethu Mthethwa, William Kentridge, Santu Mofokeng, David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo and Sabelo Mlangeni. Artists from Africa were also represented, with works from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Fantastic pieces
"We did really well; we sold some fantastic pieces," said Jacques Michau, the curator at the Everard Read Gallery. "It was a great forum for the art community to come together." The majority of the gallery's sales were to local buyers, he added.

Feature artist Robin Rhode stands in front of his work

Michau said too that relatively unknown artists were given exposure, like Paula Louw, Alexandra Ross and Angus Taylor.

Monna Mokoena, owner of Gallery Momo, said that he was "very, very happy" with the 90 percent sales his gallery had enjoyed. His buyers were local but there was a huge interest shown in the work from international buyers and curators. "We have a strong market for art."

He traces it back to the Randlords, Joburg's early entrepreneurs, who were active art buyers.

Mokoena said he thought the fair came at exactly the right time, when the country was experiencing negative sentiments. "People came out and forgot their fears."

Clive Kellner, the curator of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), was also very happy with the fair. The JAG had a stall, where the gallery and its programmes were promoted. "It was very good; we were very happy to be there. We managed to profile the gallery as a resource."

Market for art
Kellner said that there was a good market for artwork in the city, despite the fact that some of the work was "pretty edgy". And, although there were now dozens of galleries in Joburg, the competition had been good - the city was experiencing a boom in art sales.

A tall impressive stone sculpture dominates the Everard Read Gallery stand

He reckons the profusion of galleries just means that there is more excitement and more awareness of art.

"Art is now a real industry. It has moved into the mainstream." New markets, he said, had been created in India, China and Russia.

Lewinsky said that Artlogic was already starting to organise next year's fair.

Joburgers can continue their art frenzy - Marlene Dumas's Retrospective is on at the Standard Bank Gallery until 29 March, while the 120 works in the Spier Contemporary exhibition, on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, will continue until 31 May.

For a slide show of the Art Fair event, click here.

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