GAB 81 (Grishin's Art Blog number 81)

Sydney Contemporary 2026

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With this 10th iteration, has Sydney Contemporary at the Carriageworks joined the big league of international art fairs? If it has, is it lurching in the direction of Art Basel with a bias for the established, real estate blue-chip end of the art market, or Frieze with its more adventurous, more contemporary focus that would attract the younger collector?

Sydney Contemporary is certainly well marketed and over its four days regularly attracts more than 25,000 visitors. Leaving the COVID years aside, sales at Sydney Contemporary have fluctuated between $10 and $23 million and have been trending down in the past few years. 

The Australian commercial art galleries have been in decline for the past few decades with more galleries closing than new ones opening yet the stream of new and emerging artists is steadily growing. One of the problems is fairly apparent, namely the 19th century model of the art market is not really fit for purpose in the 21st century. The old model was predicated on a mass of commercial art galleries with regular group and solo shows, a solid bank of newspaper art critics assessing the art galleries and their offerings to a well-entrenched class of art collectors who read these critics. The ranks of commercial art galleries have thinned, art critics are very thin on the ground with very few newspapers feeling that a sufficient reading audience exists to devote space to art critics and the nature of art collectors has changed.
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So, what is the role of Sydney Contemporary? Many commercial art galleries have come to the realisation that they need to adapt to the new conditions or perish. Society has changed fundamentally over the past few decades in the way it consumes art and the commercial art galleries need to accommodate this change. It appears, from conversations that I have had with a number of stakeholders in this year’s Sydney Contemporary, that they are participating essentially for three reasons. Firstly, the dream of extra sales that will at least cover the hefty costs of participation, plus a bit more. Secondly, the need to be seen – to wave the flag – to other participants and to the broader art community that they are still there and are still trading. Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, to broaden their network of collectors – it is hardly an achievement if you have to bring along your own existing art collectors to an art fair.
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To what extent is this year’s Sydney Contemporary achieving these goals? Over the entrance of this year’s art fair appears the slogan “The Artist Has to Live Like Everybody Else” – the famous provocative statement created by the pioneering pop and conceptual artist Billy Apple in 1985. Perhaps somewhat tired and over-used, the slogan appears particularly apt in today’s economic climate where the arts in many quarters are experiencing the wrong end of the pineapple. There have been savage cuts from previously reliable state funding bodies and various municipal organisations are also feeling the squeeze.

​I find it difficult to gauge the atmosphere of this year’s Sydney Contemporary in the four hours that I spent there on the opening day. As the day warmed up, the crowds appeared to me to be bigger than in the past couple of years and there seemed to be a greater plethora of red dots. It is difficult know until the final sale figures come in and sometimes the repercussions of an art fair take months to fully percolate to the surface with commissions struck and deals taking time to come to fruition.

​Many of the participants whinged at the prices of the stalls and, for the non-Sydney galleries, the considerable expense of relocating staff and the increase in freight charges for bringing the art to Sydney. As is frequently the case, there is plenty of glittering dross. A stampede of market darlings, but also a solid core of outstanding art. The official line is that this year’s Sydney Contemporary features 100+ emerging and established exhibitors and more than 500 artists from 33 countries including Australia, America, United Kingdom, China, India, Japan, and Brazil.

​However, the place was busy, buzzing with a strange feeling of refuge. As one artist passionately pointed out to me – “the outside world is mad, completely mad and I increasingly feel that I do not belong there. At the Carriageworks there is a feeling of refuge where I can hangout with similar social misfits and talk about art. “

​Sydney Contemporary 2026
Carriageworks, Sydney
3-6 September 2026