In this episode, Blum & Poe co-founder Jeff Poe discusses his decision to step back from the gallery, after 30 years helping put LA on the map as an art city.   Listen as Jeff gets candid about his experiences building a gallery amidst the art world's evolution from an insider's club to an international corporate industry.   We go behind the scenes of Blum & Poe, as Jeff describes how he split up duties in his partnership with Tim Blum, and his work with the Robert Colescott estate.   Jeff also offers his advice on choosing a role in the art world, dealing with misbehaving artists, and keeping up with the competition in the art world’s new corporate era.

Curious about what's been going on with the art market? Auction results in the first half of 2023 paint a picture of a market undergoing a correction of some kind, but all may not be as it seems in the secretive world of auctions.   In this midyear review episode, our President Luyang Jiang asks veteran art advisor (and TBF founder) Josh Baer: Is the art market going through a slowdown, a major correction, or not?   Josh explains how one collector can make or break a market, and compares our current market environment with past hiccups. Listen as he shares his experiences living through the art market's only real crash in the early 90s, when he closed his gallery.   Josh also reveals market insights behind recent art business news like Frieze art fair's acquisition of competitor fairs EXPO Chicago and New York's Armory Show, plus his recent travels throughout Asia, and even the Barbie movie.

Jerry Saltz debates Josh Baer about the value of art, why auction houses are "a pox," and how the art world got to be "the f***ing mess that it is," in this candid conversation between a Pulitzer-prize winning art critic and a veteran art advisor.   Jerry also tells about the winding career path that led to his longtime post as art critic for New York Magazine, from struggling to face his inner demons as an artist, to self-exile as a truck driver, to teaching himself to write and landing his first art critic gig at the Village Voice.   Listen as the two old friends challenge each other's viewpoints and share stories from their days coming up in New York's art world in the 1980s, including star-studded artist salons, and their meeting that led to the founding of The Baer Faxt almost 30 years ago.   "Have a listen to this podcast where I lay down the law, laugh a lot, probably make all sorts of bizarre statements, and try to tell it like it is. Forgive me for being a slow talker. (I listen to all podcasts at 2x speed).    Be kind."   -Jerry Saltz  

Art Basel and Frieze may get all the press, but they’re far from the only players in the business of art fairs. In part 2 of our special two-part double episode on art fairs, we’re diving into corners of the art fair world you don’t often hear about.    Our president Luyang Jiang joins as host to explore the diversity of regional models in Europe and Asia, with Daniel Hug, the director of Art Cologne, and David Chau, a collector and the co-founder of Shanghai’s ART021.    We’ll hear from Daniel about the origins and founding of the world’s first contemporary art fair in 1967, and Art Cologne’s uniquely German culture of art collecting for everyday people.    Afterwards, David Chau explains how he used ART021 as a platform to foster a homegrown art ecosystem in China, and reveals his plans for the future amidst a rapidly expanding art market.    If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Art Fairs: Part 1, where Bettina Korek, the founding director of Frieze LA, and Lauren Taschen, a former show management consultant for Art Basel Miami Beach, discuss the founding of their respective fairs and their dos and don’ts for fair attendees.

In this special two-part double episode of The Baer Faxt Podcast, we sit down with the people behind four different leading art fairs from around the globe: Lauren Taschen, who consulted on show management for Art Basel Miami Beach, Bettina Korek, the founding director of Frieze LA, Daniel Hug, the director of Art Cologne, and David Chau, the co-founder of art021.    In part 1, Josh Baer sits down with Lauren and Bettina, who each tell the story of the founding of their respective fairs, arguably the two most important fairs in the U.S. Lauren explains how Swiss and Latin cultures came together to create Art Basel Miami Beach, while Bettina explains how Frieze LA has made a transformative impact in the few years since its founding in 2019.   Now serving as CEO of the Serpentine galleries, Bettina also casts light on the surprisingly close-knit relationship between museums and art fairs.   Afterwards, Lauren and Josh offer their dos and don'ts for fair attendees, debate the balance between transparency and confidentiality in the selection committee for fair exhibitors, and look towards how art fairs will maintain their relevance in an ever-more digital future.    In part 2, we'll turn away from large international fairs to more local, regional models, going back to the very beginning with the director of the world’s oldest art fair, Art Cologne, and looking towards the future of Asia with the founder of Shanghai’s art021.