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Affordable Art Fair
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The Affordable Art Fair in New York was disappointing. It could be that I was expecting tons of faux naif art at bargain prices like we used to see in Philadelphia at Spector and Space 1026 or in Williamsburg, but there was surprisingly little. It could be I caught the fair on the last few hours and all the dealers were beat, but as I entered I noticed immediately that “Affordable” also translated into something other than “contemporary” -- and definitely something other than top notch. So the advertising is a little deceptive. Our own Gallery 339 had some very classy photo work but the caliber of 80% of the galleries was very low, with some showing atrocious stuff, that icky figurative painting that art students and others make of beaches and flowers. There was a lot of this and it brought the tone way down for the better galleries. I can’t believe I even saw a picture of a barn. That is where I draw the line! I’m not sure how the show is juried but they certainly were scraping the bottom of the barrel this year. Perhaps the bigger fairs are finally succeeding in grabbing all the good art in the entire world. Perhaps there are too many hedge fund and Japanese buyers after all. But this doesn’t explain why some New York participants were galleries one would not even go into on principal -- Les Schlock encore. It was not surprising to see so many London galleries since there is another AAF there and they obviously sell, but there were no top flight ones from the UK, which hurt. Don’t those big guys ever have sales or bargain basement days? I do recall Red Dot was as affordable this past spring, so it is possible to mix. There was a new gallery from Brooklyn at AAF that had delightful and inexpensive work. Pink Elephant Projects was more what I was looking for, with quirky illustrative works by brothers Jashar and Jordan Awan – each sibling quite different – and great little stitched pieces by Emily Eibel. I am a sucker for that sewn/needlework stuff. It is mildly creepy in one way and quaint and grandmothery in another. I also discovered that the Byard Art gallery from Cambridge, England has been participating in the AAF for the past six years without missing one fair. It must be worth their while to participate in the New York market. I was taken by several small dress-shaped collages made out of maps by London-based French artist Elizabeth Lecourt. One, cut from an old map of London, had my name on it but the proprietor couldn’t cajole me to fork up the 3,000 bucks (she tried valiantly). Still, that isn’t that much for an up and coming artist’s work. It is, unfortunately, out of the range of this non-emerging artist/writer. Perhaps next time I’ll bring my own works to trade and make use of my non-affiliations? Appropriately enough, $3,000 seemed to be the median price throughout the fair. It could have also bought me a lovely litho by Alex Katz – there were a few places with prints by Katz – shown by our very own Print Center. I can’t get over how I’ve come to appreciate his work. It must be middle age! Later in the day while walking downtown, I noticed many shops and classy bistros showing art that was comparable in quality (if not better) than at the fair. In a friend’s design store, I found even more. They were displaying some fine illustrative looking drawings, all framed in very particular antique frames. They were slightly more affordable than the prices at the fair and every bit as good. They were also selling! So the market seems to have metastasized. It spreads out from galleries and fairs to all sorts of small businesses. Perhaps this is the inevitable result of a filter-down effect afforded by the unprecedented worldwide art boom. It must be that even people without hedge funds are buying art. Whatever it is, it creates great opportunities for youthful collectors and is particularly healthy for the young artists. Back to InLiquid's Commentary section index © 2007 James Rosenthal and InLiquid.com; images copyright © 2005 Elizabeth Lecourt; © 2007 Pink Elephant Projects and Jashar Awan |
