The major public art event of the spring, the Third Australian Contemporary Art Fair (October 1-4, Exhibition Building, Melbourne), took place in an atmosphere of recession crisis that continues to affect the producers and promoters of visual art. The gallery closures and dearth of sales meant that fewer dealerships than usual were present at the giant biennale shopfront, where hundreds of artworks under bright lights, from the asperities of the avant-garde through to designer lights,…
