LISTE first opened its doors in 1996 and since then has developed into a key art fair for new galleries. E.Gutzwiller & Cie, Banquiers has been a supporter from the beginning, and has been the main partner since 1997. The private bank, with its head office in Basel, was founded in 1886 by Carl Gutzwiller and is still owned and managed by the Gutzwiller family and their partners. ArtReview spoke to four galleries new to LISTE this year, or who first exhibited at the fair last year. Liu Jie founded A Thousand Plateaus in Chengdu, China, in 2007. Among the gallery’s artists are Chen Qiulin, Wang Chua and Aaajiao.
How do you decide which art fairs to participate in?
The quality of the art fair, the compatibility with the artists that the gallery represented, the level of artist’s career and the budget itself.
Aside from sales, what do you hope you gain from participating in LISTE?
We will present a solo exhibition by Chen Xiaoyi at LISTE, who is one of the youngest artists we represent. This project originated during a residency in Switzerland at the beginning of 2018 so it’s exciting to bring this project back here. We hope to introduce this unique young artist to a bigger audience by participating in LISTE, and at the same time, let our friends know what A Thousand Plateaus has been up to.
How many art fairs do you do a year and how does that sit alongside the gallery programme?
In recent years, the number of art fairs we participate have remained between 6 to 8 per year. Of course, there are also special years. For instance, like last year we participated in 10 fairs, mainly in Asia and Europe. The compatibility of the art fair projects with our gallery projects has always been our main consideration. A gallery of museum project can present the artist’s work in greater depth, however the fair can get more attention in the short term.
Do you have to mediate the work differently for an audience away from home?
Today’s Chinese contemporary art has become complex and diverse, and sometimes it is complicated for guests from other backgrounds to understand the work of our artists. But we have been trying our best to present good artist and great artworks to as wide an audience as possible.
