ART ON INSTAGRAM

Inside Barely Fair, an Art Fair Where the Booths Are Literally Shoebox-Sized

by Steph Eckardt
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It’s almost impossible not to get lost in an art fair at the scale of Frieze London, which once again has transformed Regent’s Park into a maze of white-walled booths. Meanwhile, over in Chicago, there’s an art fair where getting lost would be next to impossible—and not because it can’t hold a candle to the heavyweights like Frieze. Big names can also be found at Barely Fair, but on a small scale—1:12, to be precise. Anish Kapoor, Barbara Kruger, and Lawrence Weiner have all shrunken down their works to fit into booths no larger than the size of a shoe box, which have taken over the artist-run space Julius Caesar for the fourth weekend running. Even miniaturized down to the size of a matchbox, Kruger’s works are recognizable. But the bulk of the work on display likely isn’t. In scaling things down, Barely Fair largely serves as a platform for smaller galleries to display contemporary art with little overhead costs—just $25, compared to the six-figure offerings at Frieze. Like pretty much anything miniature, though, it’s also proven extremely internet-friendly. Take a tour via Instagram, here.

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Courtesy of @publicnicole

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @carbon12gallery

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @lilianalewicka____

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @lilianalewicka____

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @edorosenblith

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @greetings_q

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @k8sierz

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @carbon12gallery

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @vcentu

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @edorosenblith

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @lilianalewicka____

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @chgoyid

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.

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Courtesy of @chgoyid

Inside the 2019 edition of Barely Fair, a miniature art fair on display at Julius Caesar gallery in Chicago.