‘Like a carefully choreographed performance’: meet the logistics professionals who bring art fairs to life

Art fairs appear serene on the surface, but behind the scenes, logistics professionals work frantically to install hundreds of artworks under tight deadlines. The article features firsthand accounts from gallerists and shippers, including Francis Petit of Gander & White, who compares the process to a choreographed performance. Specific stories include the installation of Gianpietro Carlesso’s heavy Torre di Saba (2009) at Frieze Sculpture 2020, which required digging a hole and pouring a concrete base in the rain; the transport of a Calder Stegosaurus sculpture for Art Basel Miami Beach 2013 during Thanksgiving; and Mandy El-Sayegh’s immersive booth installation at Frieze London 2023, which turned the space into an extension of her studio.