Geometric 3D waves from screws (Jack Tanner), old oil and other tin cans from another era (Matt Brown), Lego warriors in Darth Vader formation (Valerie Carmet), aluminium silhouettes (Toyin Loye), illuminated Greek gods (Andrew Ryder), the artist talking to his alter ego (Park, Sung Sik), swirling metal orbs and rings (Mark Beattie) and sassy figures created out of found materials (Zoe Rubens). These are just a few of the non-traditional artworks, from the wide variety of materials that artists use today, and are for sale this week.
It’s spring, London has had the warmest February days on record, and March starts with art aficionados, collectors, gallerists, artists and collectors – some of whom may be buying a piece of art for the first time – to make their way south of the River Thames for this year’s Affordable Art Fair in Battersea.
On show is a varied and innovative selection of paintings, sculptures, photographs, ceramics and other art from galleries around the world, several of whom are here for the first time, to achieve one of the best displays at the Fair that I can remember. A particular strength are the curated interventions, coordinated by Becca Pelly-Fry with artist’s showcases for Dionne Cole and Robert Dunt, artists in residence James Burke and Felix Mayrl & Olivier Colin, and platform projects by recent graduates Scarlett Bowman, Rebecca Byrne, Alice Irwin, Jeremy Knowles and Alice Wilson.
The wide variety of photographs show derelict buildings, which seems to particularly popular, and aspects of other cultures such as Teber’s astonishingly calm and serene photographs of the countryside in Venezuela, a country otherwise in crisis, and James Sparshatt’s photographs of elderly Cubans, their faces darkened with the sun and full of the signs of age, while Julian Ceron’s beautifully-defined and masterly images, show the drama and majesty of animals in the natural world.
At this time of national depression with the uncertainty of Brexit, it’s time to cheer yourself up by buying a piece of affordable art….
