The Affordable Art Fair

Today I went over to The Affordable Art Fair at Pier 92 (52nd and 12th Ave.) This is the 2nd year of this event. The exhibit has run for a few years in London and Bristol England successfully. One of the gallery owners that I know compared the Art Fair to shopping at TJ Max. You really have to know how to wade through the garbage. My favorite booths generally have young, up and coming artists or established artists that have never busted out into a high price range or have been collected at that level. I don't like the booths that carry prints or uninteresting photos. I much prefer the real art where there is only one piece.

There were a few booths that I enjoyed. One was Booth 506, Angela Usrey Gallery from (believe it or not) Chattanooga, TN. There were two artists that I liked. One was Lisa Noris who took old clothing patterns and put them on canvasses. This is a theme that I saw throughout the show. The mixed media pattern/clothing seems to be new (at least I have never seen it before). The other artist was Elizabeth Clemons who painted musicians in b/w. Not wow but interesting.

Sarah Nightingale Gallery from Water Mill, NY had a really great video called "teaching my friends to fly" and also some statues that were related to flying. I think Sarah has an incredible eye. I have been to her gallery and in the basement of her gallery. She knows talent.

Hespe Gallery had an artist named Eric Zener who painted swimmers in water. The swimmers were controlled and intense. You felt them in the water. I really liked this artist and am looking forward to getting info from the gallery on his larger pieces.

Margaret Thatcher also had some interesting works from an artist named Markus Linnenbrink. Very controlled drip paintings. His exhibit is on show now at their gallery and I am going to get over there and take a look. I liked Margaret too. She knows her stuff.

Jeffrey Coploff is a very hard working gallery owner. He had done a great job on his booth. He really represented each of his artists. I like most of his artists as a whole. He has a good mixture of talent and everything is well priced. We happen to own a Kathleen Kucka which is one of his artists. I'd definitely check out his booth #442.

There were 2 more galleries I really liked. Koelsch Gallery out of Houston Texas had these fantastic hanging suits and costumes made out of paper mache on hangers jutted out from the wall. Each piece had whimsical sayings on them. They were quirky. I liked them.

They last gallery was Rebecca Hossack Gallery from London. The artist Peter Clark. He made suits out of paper. Very mixed media. The suits even had button holes, interesting pocket details and the suits were made from metro maps to potato chip bags. Very clever. I really liked his stuff.

If I get a chance, I will go back there this weekend and take a look at my favorites again. I find it is always important to go back and look because you might not be as excited the 2nd time around.