The London Art Fair Experience
January 17th, 2010 by Zofia
Yeasterday I met up with Rosie, Guy, and Jack and we headed to North London to the Business Design Centre to go to the London Art Fair. At the art fair dealer galleries present themselves and their artists to the buying public under one roof. It normally costs £15 to enter the fair but through Rosie’s art-world connections we had complementary passes to enter. The London Art Fair is all about Modern British and Contemporary art, both established and emerging artists, and prices ranging from a few hundred pounds to a few hundred thousand pounds. Everything you saw was available to purchase the the galleries use the fair as an opportunity to network and to bring in more new clients whether they be seasoned or first time art buyers.
As I was in no position to even contemplate buying even the cheapest of works I just enjoyed the experience of seeing what the different galleries had to offer and seeing how many of the galleries I recognised the names of and how many I had never come across before. There were big-named artists whose worked popped up in multiple galleries – for example Bridget Riley prints and paintings were a very common sight. It was also great to see so many emerging artists sitting alongside so many established artists, and the art dealers who were pushing these names onto the visitors to the fair with just as much enthusiasm as for the artists you might actually have heard of.
The first thing that struck me upon entering the art fair was the building itself and how it was arranged. Spread out over three floors and divided into little gallery spaces for each gallery with lights shining down on each space, all sitting under an impressive Victorian-styled arched ceiling reminiscent of many old train stations here in London. Another interesting observation was the sheer number of people walking around. The fair had been open for three days already before we visited and it still had another two days to go and there were people everywhere actively engaging with the artworks, the dealers and with each other. There were also an awful lot of red dots next to pictures, which, for those of you who don’t know, indicate that the work has been sold, so it would seem that people were spending their money and getting themselves some very nice works indeed.
Since I wasn’t spending I felt like I could just soak up the environment and take the opportunity to observe those around me. It is always interesting to hear what people are talking about as they walk around:
A Picasso? 7 grand?! That’s nothing!
Overheard a man with a very posh English accent saying this to a couple of other people he was standing with.
At least we know she’s full of milk…
Overheard a man saying this to the woman he was with as they walked by me pushing a grizzly sounding baby in a pram.
Maybe one of these days I might be able to afford to buy at art fairs like this but until then I will continue to enjoy the experience of attending as a keen art lover and observer of everyone else who is buying 