2016 was the most international edition of PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai to date, with over 27,000 visitors coming to see 50 galleries from 15 countries covering 24 cities at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.
Galleries reported a thoroughly engaged Chinese audience resulting in increased sales across the fair, including its two new sectors Connected, which celebrates artist working within the realm of moving image in China, and Platform, for galleries exhibiting in mainland China for the first time.
Talking about the fair’s success, Alexander Montague-Sparey, Artistic Director, PHOTOFAIRS, commented:
"We are proud to remain the most international art fair in mainland China and to confirm our position as the leading destination for collectable photography in Asia. The cutting-edge, high quality, controlled environment of the fair allows us to be focused around the conversation of photography, and has ensured continued growth of the fair since its inception in 2014."
Works offered ranged from $2,000 – 200,000 USD, with prices averaging around $5,000 - 15,000 USD.
Sales included:
- Works from a solo presentation of Chen Xiao Yun sold at ShanghART (Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore)
- A unique piece by Andreas Mahl was sold by PHOTO12 GALERIE (Los Angeles, Paris) for $12,000 USD
- Works by all the artists presented by Vanguard were sold, including Aki Lumi, Yuki Onodera and Yi Xin Tong
- Shen Wei, Boomoon and Mona Kuhn were all sold by Flowers Gallery (London, New York, Hong Kong)
- Mohsen Gallery (Tehran) in the Main sector sold several works by Mehdi Abdolkarimi for $4,000 USD and two by Mehrdad Afsari $11,500 USD and $10,000 USD
- Emerging Chinese video artist Wang Man was sold by L-Art Gallery (Chengdu) in the Connected sector
- All editions of Daido Moriyama’s work presented by BANK (Shanghai) were sold
- CAMERA WORK (Berlin) sold a number of pieces, including all three works of Tina Berning and Michelangelo Di Battista for $33,000 USD, a Christian Tagliavini for $7,000 USD and a Yoram Roth for $8,000 USD
- Gallery Koo (Seoul) sold out their whole solo booth of works by JinHee Kim
PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco
PHOTOFAIRS will launch its inaugural edition in San Francisco in January 2017. Maintaining the boutique, highly curated approach of the Shanghai fair, PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco will offer a dynamic interaction between cutting-edge Asian artists and exciting West Coast practitioners of the medium. The fair will also present many of the galleries who have participated in PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai, giving them a brand new opportunity to connect with international collectors.
