The Galleries Show website represents four unique projects—London, Antwerp, Future, and ON VIEW>—each developed independently. What connects them, beyond a shared naming convention, is a common interest in the "exhibition-as-fair" model.
The original London GalleriesShow brought together a mix of up and coming & prominent UK galleries (including Lisson, Sadie Coles, Mauren Paley, Modern Art and The Approach) within the prestigious institutional setting of The Royal Academy. Presented as an exhibition, it preceded the launch of the Frieze Art Fair by a year. Both TheGalleriesShow and the Frieze Art Fair played a crucial role in establishing London as a leading international art capital. By capitalizing on the momentum from the Post-YBA era, the show helped the city expand its gallery market and solidify its position as a global art hub in the early 2000s.
Later, Antwerp was initiated by ExtraCity Kunsthalle, which invited 11 emerging international galleries. Each of those galleries then invited another, bringing the total to 22 participants. ExtraCity also commissioned new works from at least one artist per gallery, entrusting each gallery with the realization and presentation of the work. These commissions positioned ExtraCity (as an institution) as an enabler within the exhibition, providing a critical perspective.In 2023, Office Baroque again rethought the project with a younger generation of galleries.
Future will explore and develop new expressions of the "exhibition-as-fair" model—adaptable to the selected city and budget. The initial plan involves a month-long series of pop-up galleries in smaller cities like Lyon and Lisbon.
ON VIEW> reflects our approach to community-building, offering our webspace to galleries aiming to reach new online audiences and extend their networks.
above: image courtesy KuhnMalvezzi. booth layout for the short-lived Frankfurt Fine Arts Fair (2006)
below: Map for CONDO-London 2025 (Gallery Share) and map of Gallery Weekend Berlin (2024)
Our Current Goals for The Galleries Show ⸻
Discuss:
The Globalisation of Art Brands and the Regionalisation of the Art MarketWe’re investigating how mega-galleries (Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Zwirner) and mega-fairs (Art Basel, Frieze) are both expanding and contracting the global art marketplace.
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Regionalisation:
The art market is no longer centered solely around New York and London. It's now expanding into smaller markets—Antwerp, Abu Dhabi, Dallas, Mumbai—and bespoke resort destinations like St. Moritz, Aspen, Monaco, and The Hamptons.
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IRL vs. Social Media:
Has the value of physical exhibitions been replaced by Instagram and other social platforms? We're focused on building new, gallery-centered forms of physical exhibitions and fairs, while also exploring new methods of online distribution.
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Can the 'exhibition-as-fair' model thrive in niche regional markets as an alternative to mega-fairs?
We believe it can—and already is. From Antwerp’s collaborative gallery invitations and artist commissions to our upcoming Future project in Lyon, smaller-scale, locally embedded models have shown real potential to foster experimentation, community, and critical engagement. These regional initiatives allow galleries to bypass the logistical and financial burdens of mega-fairs while cultivating new audiences and collector bases. By adapting the exhibition-as-fair format to local contexts, we’re seeing how flexible, decentralized approaches can generate meaningful impact—both culturally and commercially.
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New Communities:
boutique mini-fairs, gallery share models and art week(end)s are creating new collaborative frameworks. We’ve previously partnered with organizations such as
Talking Galleries (Barcelona),
Warsaw Gallery Weekend, and
The Contemporary Art Galleries Association -AGAC, (
Montreal/Toronto), among others. These partnerships and initiatives have shaped the new direction for upcoming projects and discussions.
Our next planned project is scheduled for
Fall 2025 in Lyon, with ambitions for a larger 2026 edition during the Biennale de Lyon Art contemporain.
