Art Cologne, the international fair for modern and contemporary art, is on from Wednesday through Sunday. http://www.artcologne.com/

Once considered Germany's prestige art fair, Art Cologne has been marked by decreasing interest over the past few years. Its attempts to top Switzerland's Art Basel or Britain's Frieze Art Fair as a forum for contemporary art have remained fairly unsuccessful.

Koelnmesse, which runs the fair, pretty much fired Art Cologne's director Gerard Goodrow in January.

But now, the management vacuum has been filled: Los Angeles-based gallery owner Daniel Hug takes over on May 1st. He says he hopes to win back a lot of galleries that have cancelled their participation in the fair.

This year is also the first year Art Cologne is being held in the spring instead of in November -- just a month before Art Basel Miami takes place. Plus, Art Cologne also had to compete with many other European art fairs in the fall: Frieze in London, Fiac in Paris and Art Forum in Berlin.

I find what's often more interesting, though, than Art Cologne itself is Open Space, which was launched in 2005 and is embedded in the fair. http://www.openspace-cologne.com/

Open Space showcases a variety of exhibits from selected galleries in an open space at Art Cologne --  so an alternative to the traditional booth presentation.

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