this week we, mary and i attended the affordable art fair at 7 west 34th street, first annual fall fair.
AAF
the affordable art fair has been a staple of spring time art going that Will Ramsey expanded to twice a year here. you don’t need to be an art expert to enjoy see and collecting art you. which was Will Ramsey’s idea when he first launched AAF in london in 1999. now eleven years later AAf has become an outstanding global contemporary art fair with events taking place in Amsterdam, Bristol, Brussels, London, Melbourne, Milan, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
this event has workshops in collecting art, framing your collection and open artist studios courtesy of Jen Bekman Project, as well as a kids ‘walk in’ workshops. this is a family adventure, see the web site for schedules
aisle a
with 70 worldwide galleries participating this month one has an eyeful of world tastes and artist, from painters, sculptors, collagest, photographers and installations; one is treated to a wide variety of eye candy. there is even a kiddie corner
kiddie corner
where one can see budding artist. hey why not bring your own budding Michelangelo along for fun. there is something for everyone crammed in the aisles A through F.
aisle f
the fair opened on wed with a private invitation gathering of VIP,friends, families, lots of strollers and kids writing on the walls more than enough to keep ones eyes open. i returned on friday morning as the fair opened to take some pictures and talk to gallery owners. due to time limitations i didn’t have a chance to speak with everyone nor make notes. these pictures are only a small smattering of what i saw.
first i started with the art installations, take a left coming off the elevators head down the hallway towards the cafe just before the entrance is Jennifer Murray’s The Love Story, 2010 by Raandesk Gallery is comprised of a found wooden ship, a sculptured pierced clay tuna and hanging sculpted clay tear drops. love story begins with the capture of the ‘big one’ ending with symbolically with regret and sadness that couples with the barbaric actions of completing such a capture.
the love story
next is Kamol Akhunov’s vivid Earth Leak installation, courtesy of Emmanuel Fremin Gallery, about the rising dependency on fossil fuel and the consequences of that caustic addiction. tangled, dissonant and spontaneously structured pipes represent the uncontrollable need and unquenchable proclivities towards this natural resource. the earth which is hanging powerlessly drenched with oil represents the current quandary we humans face. this non-escapist idea that we are all connected, linked and splattered by this oil greed and addiction is our desolation and destruction and choice.
earth leak with artist
between these two installations are John LaMacchia’s Canned Laughter sound installation, courtesy of Galeria Bickar, no pictures as i’ve yet to successfully capture it on film, opps pixels. these sound tracks from Tv producers provide a guide as to when we should laugh. the artist explores the artificial cue as content and response.
next along the wall are Jen Blazina’s Bittersweet, cast rubber lockets, courtesy of Divergence Fine Art. this installation of 1100 amber rubber lockets, which hold images represent relationships between people taken from anonymous family photographs. Most of these people are unknown and lost to a family narrative history. the power of representation creates an intimate moment for the viewer as they approach each piece and engage the idea of holding someones image.
Bittersweet
then we begin with booth 001 where i met two brothers from Barcelona, Spain representing Crisolart Gallery and we talked about that lovely city where i’ve always wanted to go since reading ernest hemingway’s novels about spain.
crisolart gallery
next door is the Hamburg Kennedy Photographs from nyc, something i can get my teeth into. a lovely blue photoshop composition on the wall caught my eye.
Hamburg Kennedy Photographs
so in no particular order because i am not sure where everything is – i just show what caught my eye. this Le Siants Gallery from Barcelona paintings stood out and attracted me
Le Siants Gallery
until i saw this. i didn’t have a chance to talk to the gallery owner here, one of those missed opportunities i would liked to have over again.
Woman in Red
And then these paper sculptures from Bulgaria at Latoart gallery
Latoart Gallery
to these unglazed porcelain wall and free standing organic pieces from the Russell/Projects of Richmond Va.
Russell Projects
to Cube Gallery 3D wall boxes which really needs to be seen in person to appreciate – as do all of these art pieces.
Cube Gallery
here are our old friends busy at work in the Emmanuel Fremin Gallery with an art patron in the background.
Emmanuel Fremin Gallery
some very inventive art, photography and sculptures are on display for the rest of this weekend, including these French galleries. these two from the LM gallery, Paris, France the first from a photographer while the second from a collagest.
Regis Guerin
and wandering around i discovered these two artist at Envie D”Art also from France
Manolo Chretien @ Envie D'Art
Artist Manolo Chretien ‘ NY Citillusions’ printed on brushed aluminium while Edouard Buzon below works on wood with layers of polyurethane, sanded and polished
Edouard Buzon @ Envie D'Art
last but not least we visited that far away land, home of the long gone dodgers, Brooklyn to the RHV fine art where i talked to henry chung about his computer punch tape pieces, who now has to learn to use a new material as punch tape is discontinued.
rhv fine art
this is just a small sampling of what’s available and with packages of bubble wrapped objects flying in and out of door ways one never knows what creations one will see. you can actually walk out the door with your purchase or have it delivered to your home. now how’s that for service?
i do have a suggestion for galleries doing these type of shows. it’s very helpful if they brought along with then gallery bio’s along with the artist bio’s. to say it’s on our web site is fine but writing from notes is still the way i work. i didn’t write about the galleries who didn’t have handouts, maybe i wasn’t important enough but i did have clean clothers and took a shower before leaving the house.
well these are my wanderings for this weekend hope you enjoy this beautiful day.
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