June 1, 2009

by Bryson Strauss

BARCELONA – LOOP Fair in Barcelona this weekend demonstrated the spectacular possibilities for video art. Now in its seventh year, and claiming to be the first dedicated video art fair, LOOP is clearly creating one of the most advanced and active dialogs about the creative opportunities (and veritable obstacles) for video art in the contemporary art world.

The strength of the show rests on the hybrid concept of the fair and impressive citywide organization. LOOP is an Art Fair, Art Festival, and Art Conference all at once, which creates varied spaces for experiences with and conversations about video art.  It shows both the depth and the breadth of what is happening with technology, with video as an art medium, and with video art within the art market.

Based out of the Hotel Cataluyna Ramblas in the center of town, LOOP is a massive 10-day event with installations and discussions at major museums, galleries, hotels, and universities all around Barcelona.  More than 35 world-class galleries presented along with hundreds of celebrated artists, curators, scholars, and collectors.

The artwork itself was refreshing and tight.  Typically video art’s relationship with short film can be cantankerous, the central difference being the ambiguous narrative quality of the content.  Video art tends to be based almost entirely on high-concept and aesthetics, with no mandatory adherence to plot or storyline.  In order to address that challenge and set itself apart from short film, a trend has been to avoid narration and/or literal imagery altogether 

and to lean toward abstraction, animation, and manipulation of imagery.  Interestingly, the LOOP Fair artists did not shy away from human narrative by any means, and it worked.  Most of the art exhibited told stories in some manner but with a kind of creative license that only seasoned artists can achieve. 

Highlights included Christopher Grimes installation of Marco Brambilla’s incredibly complex and powerful “Civilization (Megaplex), 2008,” which will apparently also be a centerpiece at the new Standard Hotel in New York.   And Knut Klassen of Olaf Stüber Gallery installation of “Liv 2006/2007,” which won the 2009 Premio Epson for excellence. The overall sophistication of the art and the fair offered promising glimpse at the future of video art.  Collectors seemed to get it, and the language of printmaking and photography (limited editions and artist proofs) is certainly starting to rest comfortably with collectors of contemporary art.

In addition, LOOP is probably the most successful use of the hotel model art fair. In this case, the light can be controlled and the furniture and beds, while disappearing into the darkness, provide seating and comfort for visitors.  Hotel Catalunya Ramblas is also the right venue.  Though located within a historical building in the heart of the city, the interior has been designed as a hip boutique hotel akin to the Standard or Avalon in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills respectively.  LOOP is perhaps the one of the tightest alternative fairs going.  Viva Barcelona!