Exciting, exotic ArtDC

ArtDC, Washington’s first modern art fair, could be an exotic Middle Eastern bazaar. There are more sights and sounds here than in any of the city’s galleries.

It’s easy to see here why buyers have come to favor fairs over galleries — they see more art in one place in a glamorous ambience.

“It’s a relatively new phenomenon with many advantages,” says Andrea Pollan, director of Washington’s Curator’s Office gallery, an innovative merging of work- and exhibition space.

Moreover, show organizers predict about 10,000 will have attended its display at the Washington Convention Center’s Hall E by Monday’s closing.

Visitors will experience art from 80 galleries around the globe showing current paintings, prints, sculpture, photography and new media works — and today’s art pluralism couldn’t be more obvious.

Art aficionados “go to see and to be seen,” as the show’s organizers write, and hobnob with the international art world’s movers and shakers.

Anthony T. Podesta, the city’s leading forward-looking art collector, says it’s a prime opportunity for out-of-town collectors to meet local ones and vice versa.

“Visitors can also see what’s going on with local artists as well,” he adds.

So, who put together all these benefits?

Show director and Miami resident Ilana Vardy (an art fair organizer of Hungarian descent) — with 20 shows since 1991 under her belt — says she emphasizes art that’s considered new and on the edge.

Among the many avant-garde shows, she chose “Another Look: New Art From Shanghai,” a pavilion of 12 artists from the Shanghai area, as a focus.

It’s an example of what Mr. Podesta calls “the thirst for China’s hot new art.” Yet Chinese-Canadian curator Liu Jian says he concentrated on showing examples of art’s diversity in that part of China.

In addition to “Another Look,” Miss Vardy has included the following areas to highlight:

m “New Media,” offering videos, interactive installations, digital and sound works by galleries specializing in these media.

m “SLICE,” presenting work by emerging, cutting-edge artists not usually shown.

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