Art consultant, author and founder of Utopian Slumps gallery, Melissa Loughnan has been announced as the Fair Director of Melbourne Art Fair for 2025 and beyond. Loughnan takes over the role from Maree Di Pasquale, who will remain as CEO of Melbourne Art Foundation, which presents the now annual art fair.
Loughnan started operating Utopian Slumps in Melbourne in 2007, first as a not-for-profit, shifting to a commercial gallery in 2010 and then operating as a consulting agency from 2015. She has accumulated over a decade of experience as an art consultant on council and government public art projects, and is also a Board member of Melbourne’s independent arts organisation, West Space.
Loughnan divides her time between Melbourne and Los Angeles.
Moving from art consultation – a more private occupation in the arts – to one that’s highly visible will be a refreshing change, Loughnan tells ArtsHub. ‘When I closed Utopian Slumps, I had our first son, so I wanted to work in a more private sector. A lot of that work that I have been doing over the past 10 years has been to councils, government bodies, architects, developers on public art, planning and outcomes.’
She continues, ’The [position at Melbourne Art Fair] appealed to me because, having worked in the commercial sector for such a long time with Utopian Slumps, it’s a chance for me to be back in that world, but from a slightly different perspective.’
Striking the balance between commercial and curatorial
Loughnan has known Di Pasquale for a number of years, and the idea of joining as Fair Director was discussed between the two. She is confident about the skill set that she brings to Melbourne Art Fair and the Melbourne Art Foundation, but also looks forward to new challenges.
One of the things on Loughnan’s mind is the curatorial direction of the annual fair program. ‘There is enough in terms of the Commission sector, the Beyond sector, Video sector, Project Rooms and talks where I could have a bit of curatorial voice. What I loved [at] Utopian Slumps was running a commercial gallery that also had a curatorial focus. For me, it feels like an extension of that mindset.’
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Melbourne Art Fair prides itself on the slogan of being ‘Australasia’s most progressive forum for art’, and Loughnan reveals some preliminary thoughts on how that will take shape in her vision.
’It’s a really interesting time in the global art world… I feel like it’s time to be back in the art scene, working with artists and galleries and giving some of those artists a voice in this time,’ Loughnan says.
While specific themes are yet to emerge and requires input from the entire team, Loughnan continues, ’In the current political and economic climate, it’d be silly to skirt around some of the major issues in the world and how they affect the arts in Australia.’
It will be a process of trust-building with artists and independent organisations, where ideas may not always manifest into reality, but Loughnan says dealing with these hurdles is something she’s familiar with.
‘It’s difficult, but I always try and find new opportunities for the artists if they’re missing out,’ she says. ‘Hopefully [at Melbourne Art Fair], I’ll be working with an open mind and with artists first. It’s a thought that should be carried across to the commercial galleries too – the driving force for commercial galleries should be the artists that they’re representing.’
International learnings for Melbourne Art Fair
When asked what Australian art fairs can learn from international cornerstone events like Art Basel, Frieze and the Armory, Loughnan says, ‘There’s usually a vibrancy, a critical mass, that being in a smaller country can be harder to achieve. I feel like the culture is changing in Australia, but it needs to be more embedded.’
This means that these successful international fairs are as much a public event, rather than just an art sector event. It’s perhaps one aspect where Loughnan’s experience in art consultation and public art will be a valuable contribution.
Critical mass will also be crucial for galleries that can only afford to participate in a limited number of fairs each year due to the large overheads costs such as staffing and shipping.
’Being able to give opportunities where we can provide artist fees for production does make it enticing to those galleries and being able to have a little bit more of an impact in the fair,’ says Loughnan, suggesting that a strong focus will be placed on Melbourne Art Fair’s programming and commissions.
However, she also highlights that critical mass does not necessarily equal to making the fair bigger. ‘In recent years, Melbourne Art Fair has actually reduced the number of galleries and focused on quality, and I think that’s been a really good move,’ she says. ‘It’s really hard to attract international galleries to Australia; they might exhibit once, but not come back again because it’s just prohibitive in terms of freight costs and it can be hard to have appeal to the Australian collector base.
’We can work with international artists through the video sector, for example, where it’s easy to send over a file and not have to pay tens of thousands of dollars in freight to get work over… Hopefully we keep international dialogue happening, but I think at the moment, focusing on quality is really important.’
Loughnan will return to Australia to start her role in August this year, with the next Melbourne Art Fair slated for 20-23 February 2025 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Exhibiting galleries will be announced on 1 October 2024.
