The Show Goes On

Two years ago, Christopher Kennedy, the president of the Merchandise Mart and an heir of the iconic clan, rescued the city's leading art exhibition from last-minute ruin. This year, it opens with more exhibitors, four satellite shows, and world-class expectations.

By Marcia Froelke Coburn

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Kennedy earlier this year in his office at the Mart, a room filled with family memorabilia

It wasn't enough to have rescued Art Chicago; the next challenge Kennedy faced, he says, was "the rebranding and the rebuilding of the show." The near self-immolation in 2006 had both dealers and collectors initially fleeing from the idea of a 2007 Art Chicago. With the help of Mark Falanga, a Mart senior vice president, and Tony Karman, Art Chicago's director of sales and development at the time, Kennedy set out to raise the caliber of the show. First, he courted the Art Dealers Association of Chicago (CADA) with a series of energetic meetings and slick PowerPoint presentations. CADA members were sent out into the international art world as recruiting ambassadors for the new fair. The 2007 Art Chicago was considered a success. "For years, this was one of the best art fairs in the world," says Roy Boyd, a gallery owner and the former president of CADA. "Now with the help of the Merchandise Mart, this fair is approaching that apex again."

Heather Hubbs, the director of the New Art Dealer Alliance in New York, agrees. "The climate for any art fair is not super favorable right now," she says. "But the people at Art Chicago are working very hard, and of course the Kennedy family has money and connections to ensure that it is a smoothly run fair and that the collectors attend it. People are very excited about it now."

This year, 181 galleries will exhibit at Art Chicago, a 37 percent increase in the number of dealers from last year. Premier dealers new to the fair or lured back after long absences include the Leo Castelli Gallery and the Greenberg Van Doren Gallery from New York and the Timothy Taylor Gallery from London. Also returning after an absence of several years is the prominent Chicago dealer Donald Young. "We see the effort that is going into this show," says Emily Letourneau, the director of the Donald Young Gallery. "And we're happy to be a part of such a strong enterprise."

Continuing his theme of "best of class," Kennedy and his team have studied the art shows in Basel, London, New York, and Madrid. "We can tell you, ‘Well, they do great food here, but their VIP packages are better there,'" he says. The best ideas were culled and incorporated into Art Chicago (MMPI also recently bought the Armory Show in New York, Volta NY and Volta Basel, and the Toronto International Art Fair), with a special emphasis on VIP perks, including cocktail parties in the homes of Chicago collectors and architecture tours with Helmut Jahn and Stanley Tigerman. "Chicago doesn't have a showoff culture," says Kennedy. "You don't see Rolls-Royces here; you don't see people buying things here to show off. That is a great atmosphere in which to buy contemporary art. Because you're not buying the froth of the crowd.

"Chicago was always the perfect place for a contemporary art fair," he says. "What it lacked was a presentation that was commensurate with the work being shown."

Photograph: Andreas Larsson