FOG Design+Art takes place this week at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, January 17—20. The fair, now in its sixth edition, brings together 53 galleries from around the world, presenting a mix of design, collectibles, modern and contemporary art.
FOG is uniquely led by a steering committee that includes Douglas Durkin, Stanlee Gatti, Roth Martin, Katie Paige, Allison Speer, and Susan Swig. To learn more about what to expect for 2019 Whitewaller heard from Steering Committee Member and SFMOMA Trustee Katie Paige.
WHITEWALLER: Can you tell us about some of the new international participants?
KATIE PAIGE: We are very pleased that FOG has an increasingly international roster of galleries. This year we’ll have galleries participating from Berlin and Stockholm for the first time, as well as galleries returning from London, Mexico City, Paris, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and, of course, San Francisco.
WW: How would you describe the balance and dynamic between design and art galleries this year?
KP: We always strive for an even balance between art and design galleries. This year we are excited to welcome fantastic new art and design galleries, including contemporary art galleries neugerriemschneider, Hauser & Wirth, Sprüth Magers, and Petzel, as well as design galleries including Sarah Myerscough Gallery and Modernity.
WW: What does this mean for FOG to have galleries like Hauser & Wirth, Perrotin, Petzel, and Sprüth Magers participating?
KP: Since its inception, FOG has had a really great mix of international blue-chip galleries and strong local and regional galleries—it is part of what sets the fair apart from other larger fairs. Over the past six years FOG has grown tremendously and each year we not only see a greater number of applicants, including a more international roster of galleries, but we also see a more international crowd attending the fair itself. The addition of these major galleries reflects the fact that FOG’s reputation has grown, and that the unique, curated approach we take in selecting galleries is continuing to appeal to a much wider audience each year.
WW: Do you know of any curated or solo booth presentations visitors should keep an eye out for this year?
KP: I am really excited about Anton Kern’s presentation at FOG, which will feature Gamper and Upritchard, this married couple’s work. I love both artists and can’t wait to see how their work sits in dialogue with one another.
I am also particularly excited about the Laura Owens prints at Crown Point Press. The gallery will present etching projects by Owens from 2004, 2010, and 2018.
And of course we are thrilled to welcome Hauser & Wirth to FOG for the first time, which will highlight masterworks by gallery artists with a focus on materiality, including Roni Horn, Louise Bourgeois, Takesada Matsutani, Larry Bell, Jenny Holzer, and Mark Bradford.
WW: As the fair has grown, how have you seen the collector and patron community grow in San Francisco?
KP: The arts community in San Francisco has become ever more vibrant, and the collector base continues to grow. Most importantly, FOG has kicked of an ‘art week’ in San Francisco, and now, in addition to a handful of other fairs that take place, members of the San Francisco art community often put on major exhibitions timed to FOG. FOG has helped to attract a much wider group of visitors—from curators and artists to collectors and dealers—to San Francisco during its run, which has benefited the arts community here as a whole.
WW: Outside of the fair, what are you excited about seeing in San Francisco this January?
KP: I’m looking forward to seeing the Vija Celmins exhibition, “To Fix the Image in Memory”
at SFMOMA, which opens on December 15. I’m also very excited to see the Arthur Jafa exhibition at BAMPFA, I can’t wait to see his newest body of work.
