THE OTHER ART FAIR

The Other Art Fair returns to historic Victoria House in Bloomsbury for its 18th London edition. Just 1.5 miles from Regents Park, it ensures visitors can conveniently travel between The Other Art Fair and Frieze throughout the weekend.

Participating artists have been handpicked by a respected selection committee and the carefully selected works by some of the world’s most exciting emerging contemporary artists span all mediums. The programme will also include guest exhibitions, site-specific installations, engaging workshops and curated projects addressing the fair’s global 2019 Greener Future theme.

Founded in 2011 by Ryan Stanier, The Other Art Fair is globally renowned for discovering emerging artists.  Hailed as ‘the future of art’ by The Guardian, The Other Art Fair is a platform for artists to present and sell their work directly to art buyers with 38 fairs in eight years, presenting over 1100 artists from more than 12 countries.

Projects and guest artists include Aphra Shemza whose 2019 light installation Current Climate is a real-time data visualization piece. Each light represents four different countries in the world (USA, UK, India, Denmark) chosen either for the effect climate change is already having on that country or as a wealthy nation who could be doing more to legislate around the climate crisis.

The fair’s guest artist will be Laurie Vincent from punk band Slaves, whose work looks at social, global and personal events unfolding around him, with bold and expressive paintings that are powerful and rich in cultural references. Laurie will be selling an exclusive limited-edition print at the fair and this will be the first new work he has presented since 2017.

Artemisia by Saroj Patel presents an imagined world of fantastical creatures reconfigured to question how our interactions affect our own environment and others. In this installation the viewer is invited to touch, spin and play with the sculptures as Saroj explores how humans relate to living entities and creates new ‘living’ forms which haven’t been categorised or assigned an identity.

Tosca Mzera will be showcasing her incredible handpoke tattoos. Inspired by her childhood growing up in Mombasa, surrounded by artists, rich colours and diverse cultures, Tosca will tattoo visitors live onsite using the ancient freestyle non-electric tattoo method.

Ceri Wyn Jones presents Electrorock the world’s first electric tasting candy. Welsh artist Ceri Wyn Jones is known for her work with consumable and edible sculptures. Inspired by the decline of public interest in art and gallery etiquette she works with themes addressing the concerns of the “Art Bubble” and man-kind’s fascination with food.

The October fair also features free workshops from CALM Art Collective. A creative space for all types of artists and art lovers to chat, collaborate and inspire each other, the workshop aims to push forward the conversation on mental health and self-expression. In partnership with The Other Art Fair, the collective will be exhibiting artwork made by members with 100% of the sale proceeds donated to CALM. Workshops include an embroidery workshop, DIY screenprinting, collage and poetry.

British artist Lauren Baker will create the fair’s entrance installation. Passionate about environmental issues and sustainability, Lauren uses light to express universal energies and aims to raise the vibration of love and connection within the world. She will take over the entrance at Victoria House presenting an ‘open dialogue with nature’ which will see a ‘Letter to Mother Earth’ projection mapped onto a white ethereal tree.

L-R Top – Pedro Correa Expresso Bar. Simon McCheung – Breathe. Bottom. Gordon Brown – Untitled XV1 (Space).

The selection committee includes Chief Curator and VP Art Advisory for Saatchi Art, Rebecca Wilson, artists The Connor Brothers, broadcaster and art advisor Maeve Doyle, curator Lee Sharrock and Maddox Gallery’s James Nicholls.

The line-up of international artists includes: textile artist Selby, winner of The CSM Graduate Art Prize, South Korean painter Min Woo Nam whose works represents a year in South Sudan as part of the United Nations Mission, Rio de Janeiro-based journalist and self-taught photographer Jessica Santos, taxidermy artist Elle Kaye and James Earley, known for his portraits of homeless people. James is currently taking part in a project for ‘Witness For The Innocence’ a US-based charity looking after people who have been exonerated from death row. Surrealist photographer A.J Hamilton will also feature, alongside realist painter Anastasia Shimshilashvili, former Matthew Bourne dancer turned dance photographer Cody Choi plus sculptor Kris Lamba who gained much attention for his ‘carbon fibre, bulletproof’ chair.

Also featured are Lucille Clerc whose illustrations have appeared in Stylist, Champs Elysees Film Festival, Somerset House, Barbican and Eurostar magazine and Simon McCheung, lead artist at PlayStation whose photo series featured in Vogue Italia and whose work has been included at World Photography Awards Somerset House. Tom Van Herrewege raises awareness of animal extinction by painting and drawing animals on wood, scraping part of the animal away based on how close to extinction it is. MARK PETTY’s newest series blends waste plastics to create art, as he asks the question, “Can art be a vehicle to encourage positive change”?

Revati Sharma Singh creates large pieces of work from small silver beads shaped like rice grains inspired by her upbringing in India. Athena Anastasiou will present “The Contemporary Indigenous” exploring how indigenous culture and global diversity has influenced present day people. Lizzie Cane’s tongue-in-cheek Donald Trump sculpture is titled ‘The Greatest Sculpture in the History of Sculptures’.

Presented by Saatchi Art, The Other Art Fair is celebrated for its unique and immersive visitor experience and will continue to delight and inspire audiences with interactive performances installations and exhibitions. The fair offers free kids activities, Saatchi Art guided tours, plus a SASSY Cidre bar.

As part of The Other Art Fair’s Greener Future initiative, plant-powered restaurant Farmstand will be the fair’s restaurant partner. With a menu of 80% veggie, 5% sustainable fish and 15% meat, they are on a mission to reduce their environmental footprint in every way possible, and for the past two years they’ve been named Top 2 Most Sustainable Food Service Business in the Food Made Good Awards.

Since its launch in 2011, The Other Art Fair has welcomed more than 167,000 visitors from around the world to its fairs, while becoming a mainstay of the London art scene. With its distinguished committee of experts and guest curators, The Other Art Fair has established itself as the fair of choice for London’s emerging collectors. Over 68% of clients at The Other Art Fair London 2018 edition were first time or occasional buyers, introducing a new generation of art buyers.[1]

In keeping with its position as both progressive and accessible, The Other Art Fair is affiliated with the Arts Council’s ‘Own Art’ initiative. This initiative allows buyers to spread the cost of a purchase over 10 months with an interest free loan, enabling more art lovers to become collectors.

Jessica Chow, The Other Art Fair’s UK Fair Manager comments, “2019 has been an exciting year for the London fair and we’re ending on a high with this October edition. Visitors can expect to be challenged and inspired by our site-specific installations and workshops. With exhibiting artists from over 12 countries, the range of artists and artworks will stimulate, question and explore the most current topics of our society today.”

Full Artist Line-up: www.saatchiart.com