Clio Art Fair's New Fall Edition

 By AMANDA WALL September 24, 2025

The Clio Art Fair, referred to as the anti-fair, is a rare opportunity for independent artists to exhibit without gallery representation. Alessandro Berni, art dealer/founder of Clio, has built a niche empire. Despite a recent art market downturn, Clio is expanding with a second fall season edition. Artists are selected to curate a cohesive, culturally relevant and diverse exhibition of international, emerging artists. Sure, this is the goal of any art fair but Clio is known for the energy, vibe, and charismatic DJ/exhibiting artist (shout out to Marcus Glitteris) and some provocative performance art. It’s the warm up before the VIP after parties. 

 Collectors know you can expect a great price, potentially, before an emerging artist is represented by a gallery. The connections and exposure are sometimes more valuable for the artist than selling low. It can be a long game rather than a short term return. Berni promotes artists with art market potential. Clio is the art world’s punk and new wave CBGBs, where the next big band was seen first. Dealers and curators who discover talent early are genuinely passionate key players in the art world machine and frankly the nicest folks, no art snobs. 

 Artists are criticized and often discredited for participating in what I call pay-to-play fairs or gallery exhibitions. Artists who hustle, should not be targeted, to argue what’s wrong with the machine. Let me explain why artists participate, grateful for the opportunity. 

 Aaron Short in Hyperallergic, made this comment about Clio artists,“where viewers come face to face with artists who are more than happy to explain their process and inspirations”. Aaron, you are clearly not an artist. The hustle is real. In addition to a volatile stock market, unemployment, big media censorship, and facism; creating anything in such conditions, is the achievement. Sales in 2025, are a bonus. 

 Tslil Tsemet, a talented Israeli artist, while explaining her politically charged paintings (criticizing fascism and anti-semitism) referred to her painting’s birth. She said, “when Blind and Toothless was born”. Blind and Toothless is terrifying and my favorite of her babies, with rotting teeth and multiple buggy eyes. Now, imagine giving birth in less than desirable circumstances, like in a barn with your baby in a manger. 

 My divine metaphor is leading to, let’s notice the signs of hope for humanity, or that more interesting art can emerge from difficult times. Marni Rothman’s digital art was born from her current need to connect with nature. Trees in County Clare, are recognizable, but in other prints, geometric, complex layers of bold color dominate the wall. You can imagine them filling a room with joy.

 Dohwa Kim talked about her beautiful Universe Star Jangsaengdo ceramic series. The colors, textured specks, gloss, laser etchings: all had a cosmic, spiritual significance. Her Relationship piece with simplistic ceramic circles of various colored patterns represented the unique energy of a person and their relationship to each other. Atom Hovhanesyan’s parents and friend were lovingly showing me what remains. Atom’s work buzzes with the type of movement that’s scientific. The intense human emotions are suspended in metaphysical space, perhaps existing in another timeline. 

 At Clio Art Fair, The Other Art Fair and Spring/Break, dealers and curators are launching careers behind the scenes by providing exposure and networking opportunities for unrepresented artists. By design, gallery represented artists are a very exclusive minority. The largest race track, such as the Kentucky Derby, can accommodate about twenty horses. I painted this sardonic painting at Pratt during my MFA studies: a race horse, a jockey and the upper class spectators. I was beginning to understand the hierarchy of the contemporary art world. 

 I felt like I was training to become a race horse, “Good horsey, now be a darling, run fast and make us lots of money” (British accent required). The jockeys were the art world professionals, steering the horses and the spectators were the collectors. Being a champion race horse holds a prestigious spot and when a horse ages out, your chances of entering the competition are slim to none. When the horse is pregnant or raising children, out. When the horse can’t afford a top horse trainer (art school), out. When the horse has inadequate training facilities (not a huge, commercial art studio space), out. There are multiple, unjust reasons for getting cancelled. 

 How did it come to this? Caravaggio went insane from lead paint poisoning and murdered Ranuccio Tommassoni in a street brawl. Van Gogh was a crazy genius with a self-inflicted ear wound. The Abstract Expressionist painters were broke, abusing substances and painting in their living rooms. Basquiat, among others, in the 80s version of the Bowery were the same. Imagine if their works never existed because of what we now call, cancel culture. 

 I think we should cancel, cancel culture. Being an artist is freedom, independence and activism.

 Alessandro Berni is an art dealer that advocates for artists in an highly selective art world. What does it mean, that while galleries are closing, Clio applications have doubled and a second fair was needed this year? Trending for awhile now, artists are taking matters into their own hands, establishing agency over their own careers, and cultivating direct relationships with collectors. As the machine breaks, galleries will have to evolve, artists will have to be proactive and collectors will have to accept negotiating directly with artists. 

 Clio Art Fair brings the horses to the stables. The artists have to win the race. 

Tslil Tsemet

Blind and Toothless, 2024

Oil on canvas

25 x 37 in

 Dohwa Kim

Universe Star Jangsaengdo, 2025

Ceramic, 24k gold, acrylic on wood

33.4 x 24.2 cm