Press Release: Art Brussels 2016, From Discovery to Rediscovery, 21-24 April 2016

Exterior of Tour & Taxis at night, the venue for Art Brussels 2016
Tour & Taxis. Tour & Taxis.

New Location
For 2016, Art Brussels will change location and move to the heart of the city after a 17-year collaboration with
Brussels Expo. The fair will take place in the spectacular landmark building of Tour & Taxis, a turn of the 20th
century customs house, situated in Brussels vibrant inner-city area, in close proximity to all the major institutions
and contemporary art galleries. The move to Tour & Taxis enables the fair to prize quality above quantity. The
size of the fair will be reduced from 191 to no more than 140 galleries

New Section
Art Brussels will continue to present DISCOVERY, a section focused on young, emerging artists and galleries,
PRIME, focusing on well-known artists represented by established galleries and SOLO, presentations of the work
of a single artist.
REDISCOVERY will be a new section at Art Brussels 2016, playing a significant role in the development of the
fairs existing discovery profile. The section will be dedicated to art from a period between 1917 and 1987,
presenting artists that have been under-represented, under-estimated, or overlooked.

Katerina Gregos, Artistic Director of Art Brussels says,

Tracing a timeline that spans the beginnings of conceptual art to neo-conceptualism, via the majority of the
twentieth century avant-garde, this section aims to excavate and highlight surprising, unknown and original
practices that have not yet broken into the art historical mainstream. REDISCOVERY expands the DISCOVERY
profile of the fair, building a bridge between artistic practices of the present to those of the past that have
suffered neglect.

Art Brussels: Contemporary since 1968

Though it retains its youthful profile as a discovery fair, Art Brussels is one of Europes oldest and most
established fairs. Founded in 1968 as Art Actuel, it was conceived by a small group of well-respected Belgian
gallerists who each invited a gallery from abroad to exhibit. In the earlier years the fair had a nomadic character
moving between locations as diverse as the Casino in Knokke (1972) to the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels
(1976). In 1989 the fair moved to the former Expo 58 premises in Heyzel where it remained until last year.
Until 1997 it was managed by the non-profit Association of Belgian Contemporary Art Galleries, until it was
bought by the Artexis-Easyfairs group, active in multi-format venues and events business at an international
level. Since its inception, Art Brussels has evolved into a must-see international contemporary art fair, and one
of the top European art fairs. The fair receives over 400 applications each year and 30,000 visitors.
With the move to its spectacular new location, Art Brussels continues to evolve, with a view to retaining its
cutting-edge character.

The Selection Committees

The applications to Art Brussels 2016, the contemporary art fair in Europes most upcoming and exciting art city,
are open until 15 October 2015. After this date, two selection committees will make their selection for Art
Brussels 2016.
The International Gallery Committee Members for the selection of galleries in PRIME and REDISCOVERY, are:
Augusto Arbizo, 11 Rivington Gallery (New York) - Albert Baronian, Galerie Albert Baronian (Brussels) - Michael
Callies, dpendance (Brussels) - Claudia Cargnel, Bugada & Cargnel (Paris) - Simon Devolder, Xavier Hufkens
(Brussels) - Katerina Gregos, Curator and Artistic Director Art Brussels - Rodolphe Janssen, Rodolphe Janssen
(Brussels) - Thomas Krinzinger, Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna) and Andrew Renton, Marlborough Contemporary
(London).
The DISCOVERY Committee, for the selection of the DISCOVERY section consists of a group of international
curators and gallerists: Michael Callies, dpendance (Brussels) - Aaron Cezar, Director Delfina Foundation
(London) - Zo Gray, Senior Curator, Wiels (Brussels) - Katerina Gregos, Curator and Artistic Director Art Brussels
- Nikolaus Oberhuber, KOW Gallery (Berlin).
The selection of the SOLO presentations and of the nominees for the SOLO Prize is made by Katerina Gregos
Curator and Artistic Director Art Brussels.

Practical Information
Press Contacts
United Kingdom and USA
Pelham Communications
Alexia Menikou| alexia@pelhamcommunications.com | +44 (0) 208 969 3959
Belgium and Europe
Gerrie Soetaert | gerrie.soetaert@skynet.be | +32 (0) 475 47 98 69
Dates & Hours
Art Brussels 2016 is at Tour & Taxis from Friday 22 April until Sunday 24 April 2016
Preview Thursday 21 April 2016
Venue
Tour & Taxis
Avenue du Port 86C
1000 Brussels
Belgium
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