Road Trip: A photo diary from Art-O-Rama
An annual art fair in Marseille
In late August, I happened to be in Marseille at the same time as the annual art fair Art-O-Rama. It’s a small art fair that prioritizes quality—young galleries mount ambitious projects and seem to have a lot of fun while doing it. Art-O-Rama was by far the friendliest of all art fairs I’ve visited. Gallerists were excited to talk through their booths, discover mutual connections, and swap recommendations.
It seems like everyone I know was in Marseille this year. Reactions to the city fall squarely in two camps: aghast at the amount of crime and grime in the city, or where all the cool Parisians were travelling this summer. You can ask yourself what camp you’d like to be in. (Note: While Marseille is a bit dirty, we didn’t find it very dangerous at all).
Briefly, some old and new favourite galleries from the fair:
Sans Titre, Paris
Afternoon Projects, Vancouver
Mickey, Chicago
Public Gallery, London
Union Pacific, London
Goodweather, Chicago
Before we headed to the Fair, we visited La Traverse, an art gallery with a cafe attached. The group show was a bit twee for my liking—with fishing nets and walls painted in neutral tones of sand, which matched the organic forms of the sculpture scattered throughout. It felt very geographic. On the other hand, the meal was one of the best I had in Marseille. The chef, Max, also works at Ivresse, which was my favourite wine bar (see below).
We then made our way to Art-O-Rama, which takes place in a multi-storey, multi-use public space that houses concert venues, a restaurant, and a sports arena. It took us longer than it should have to find the entrance. We kept seeing bright yellow Art-O-Rama tote bags that acted as breadcrumbs to the Fair.
It was so hot out that I started to worry about the state of the art. I kept wondering out loud if the fair would be air-conditioned. It can’t be good for the art if it's too hot! In reality, I was worried about myself. The fair was barely air-conditioned. Still, it was a welcome reprieve.
