Expo Chicago Postponed to September with April Online Edition

Expo Chicago has postponed its 2021 edition from April to September due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns, becoming the first major art fair to announce such a delay this year. An online-only version will run from April 8–11. The fair's curators Marcella Beccaria, chief curator at Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea in Turin, and Humberto Moro, deputy director at Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, will return for the ninth edition to oversee the IN/SITU and Exposure sections respectively. Travel restrictions, social distancing challenges in crowded venues, and uncertainty among exhibitors and collectors—particularly given the demographic profile of collectors—have created sector-wide doubts about the viability of in-person events. Other major fairs like Art Basel Hong Kong (scheduled for May 21–23) and Frieze New York (planned for May at The Shed in Manhattan) are currently maintaining their dates, while Art Basel's original Swiss edition remains slated for June. The postponement echoes similar moves made throughout 2020.