How to fall in love with art by spending an afternoon at the AFFAIR fair
The third AFFAIR art fair is coming up, featuring 30 galleries : 15 resident galleries and 15 guest galleries. This auspicious art fair , which began with a great deal of effort from galleries not represented in arteba's grand showcase , is located in Galerías Larreta , with dual entrances on Florida and San Martín streets, in downtown Buenos Aires.
It will open to the public from August 28 to 31, a day earlier than the opening of arteba . This time, there will be two outdoor galleries : one from Punta del Este and the other from Chile, which is participating in the AFFAIR residency program and inaugurated an exhibition during the presentation of the third edition.
We spoke with Oli Martínez, president of AFFAIR and director of Galería TokonOM , who explained this year's concept: "Each gallery invites another gallery or project. It's not just the Fair that invites, but the resident galleries do so based on affinity . It's not just a shared space, but a project . There are 15 of us resident galleries, and each invites one or two. We leave it up to their discretion. Two galleries, due to their small space, didn't invite. In total, there will be 30 of us."
These are collaborative contemporary art projects that, whether due to a conceptual affinity, artist affinity, or affinity with the works themselves , will be presented as another attraction. For example, AnTnA, part of Proyecto Sonoro, is inviting Gachi Prieto this year , an internationally renowned gallery that will not be part of the 2025 edition of arteba. Crudo will also feature Rubbers , which is participating in arteba, and will have a joint project with the host.
Josefina Hagelstrôm's gallery, for example, is inviting Fábrica de Estampas and Espacio Moebius . In this case, it will be a shared project between three artists. Galería TokonOMa is inviting Casa Galería de Salta, and Oficina de Proyectos will have four artists in its space, but its special guest will be Nicola Constantino with his beautiful ParDEs ceramics, and so on.
The third edition of the Affair Fair will bring together 30 resident and guest galleries at Galerías Larreta. Photo: courtesy.
In the Project Office, alongside Nicola, there will be works by Marcos López and Nora Iniesta , among the four artists in the space.
We continue our conversation with Oli Martínez: “While Florencia Battiti is the curator this year , we invited Carlos Gutiérrez to design the exhibition, working with the materiality. It doesn't matter if the materiality is different, as long as the works and the joint project can be articulated.”
According to the president of AFFAIR, the prices of the works are very accessible . She explains that, for example, a collector who buys their first work can invest $300 to $600 , or more, which can be paid in pesos and by credit card .
The prices for the works are very accessible. A collector buying their first work can invest between $300 and $600.
"Then there are galleries like Vasari or Sasha Dávila that have works with different prices, because their artists also have works of a different magnitude," he tells us. In that case , prices could be around $20,000.
Last year, with only 17 galleries, almost all of them sold at AFFAIR, and nearly 120 works were sold . This is no small feat in a country constantly on the brink of economic and financial turmoil, with dollars still in reserve that no one has put on the market.
Florencia Battiti, this year's curator, told Clarín that the galleries' invitations to other projects were made due to artistic or personal affinity with the invited galleries .
“For the first time, there's something very positive about the presence of two international galleries: Judas, from Chile, and Galería del Paseo, from Uruguay . And what's consolidated at AFFAIR is the Fair's federal focus. There are galleries from the city, but also from Córdoba, Rosario, Salta, La Rioja, and the province of Buenos Aires . They also bring artists from other districts like Tucumán, Corrientes, Misiones, and so on. So, each space will feature artists from all over the country,” said the curator.
The third edition of the Affair Fair will bring together 30 resident and guest galleries at Galerías Larreta. Photo: courtesy.
Excellent news from Flor Battiti, who affirms the diversity so characteristic of our country . Also on September 4th, Misiones artist Andrés Paredes will open his own exhibition at the Sívori Museum in Buenos Aires.
Returning to AFFAIR 2025, the curator emphasizes the consolidation of horizontality among the galleries . “Here, like at other fairs, there isn't an area for grandmasters or emerging artists. Here, everyone exhibits equally, without hierarchies. Suddenly, in the Crudo space, you'll have Berni, who is being presented by guest Rubbers, along with Nicole Mazza, Hernán Camoletto, and Juani Cabruja, who are young artists in their mid-career careers,” the curator emphasizes.
We asked Battiti if this idea of horizontally combining established artists with younger ones, or galleries that already have an international presence with others with a more local presence, aims to transform the current art canon. The curator tells us: “It's a reconfiguration of the way art works and is marketed . I say that in my curatorial text. I call it an affective ecosystem. Because in reality, each gallery invites another with affinity, just as no one invites someone with whom they don't have empathy to their home. They share expenses and there's also a collaborative bond, which doesn't conflict with the objective of selling , which is central to an Art Fair.”
This year, the spatial design is by Marina Christe and Heidi Jalkh, and the production is by Verónica Santalla.
The third edition of the Affair Fair will bring together 30 resident and guest galleries at Galerías Larreta. Photo: courtesy.
Residents and guests make up this affective ecosystem, in Battiti's words: Acephala (CABA) plus Oda arte (CABA); AnTnA (CABA) with Gachi Prieto (CABA); Almacén. Arte contemporánea (San Nicolás, PBA); Casa Equis (CABA) invites Fábrica de Estampas (CABA) and Espacio Moebius (CABA); Crudo (Rosario) shares space with Galería Rubbers (CABA); FAN (CABA) adds Constitución (CABA); Gabelich Contemporáneo (Rosario) shares with Galería del Paseo (Punta del Este, Uruguay); Judas Galería (Valparaíso, Chile) exhibits alone on the Ground Floor of Galerías Larreta. Oficina de Proyectos (CABA), with its four small-format artists, will have Nicola Costantino (CABA) and her PaRDeS ceramics project as a guest.
Sasha D (Córdoba/CABA) joins Un Muro (La Rioja); Tiempo (San Isidro, PBA) joins Yuyal (Resistencia, Chaco); Tierra (Córdoba/CABA) joins María Wonda (Córdoba); TokonOMa (CABA) invites CASAGALERIA (Salta); URRA-HIPHiP (CABA) joins DESMAYO (Rosario); VASARI SUR (CABA) presents alone, and Wunsch (CABA) added the promising gallery Julia Baitalá Arte Contemporáneo (CABA).
"For those of us who have been here since the beginning, reaching this third edition is a great joy and a great responsibility . We chose to continue in our home, Central AFFAIR, preserving the original design of the space," says Oli Martínez.
According to Ignacio Meroni, director of Wunsch, “collaboration seeks to challenge the idea of competition and individualism , transforming this sometimes solitary activity into a network, an exchange of worldviews and methods that feed off each other.”
The third edition of the Affair Fair will bring together 30 resident and guest galleries at Galerías Larreta. Photo: courtesy.
We spoke with Silvie Badariotti and Diego Frangi of the Project Office, who will feature four diverse artists , but aim to showcase individual artists' projects rather than individual works. They're currently hosting an exhibition by Marcos López.
"Nicola's project," we're told, "aims to showcase a historic, original, unique, and endlessly productive work . It's an open-ended series. All these projects have in common that they aim for a new kind of collecting. The price range is from $200 to $600, and even works for $3,000 ." Affordable prices for those looking to start their first collection.
The Chilean gallery Judas is exhibiting an exhibition that crosses gender and feminism , which opened this week, and even features a trans artist from Chile.
The third edition of the AFFAIR Fair this year also strengthens two successful programs from its first editions: My First AFFAIR , a digital catalog in which each gallery exhibits works of art in an accessible price range that does not exceed $600, and Childhoods , a project with activities and workshops for children.
With a very shrinking market, the goal of AFFAIR, like that of arteba or the BADA Fair, which is exclusively for artists, is to improve sales and attract new collectors.
With the range of prices offered by AFFAIR, it's a tempting fair for those who didn't take their dollars out of their beds when the government asked, but may well do so once they see the level of art offered at Galerías Larreta . It's a huge challenge because the art market in Argentina is still small compared to other countries in the region, and the public is concentrated in very specific niches.
AFFAIR was founded in 2023 and had its first headquarters at the Saldías Cultural Center. Last year, it was held in its current location and remained active year-round.
Clarin
