Everything is for sale between £40 and £4,000.
Battersea Park hosted its annual Affordable Art Fair this weekend, welcoming visitors from across the world.
The Affordable Art Fair (AAF) is fun, family-friendly, and most importantly, affordable, with all original pieces under £4,000. For those who love a bargain, this is the place to find it.
The fair’s founder, Will Ramsey, is an old Etonian, Ex-British Army Captain who hails from Scotland. His art history began with the launch of his London gallery called Will’s Art Warehouse in 1996. The idea came from making art more accessible by enabling people to learn more about it, dispelling any rumours that art is only for the rich.
Susan Barnard, 55, is an art enthusiast who came along simply to enjoy the event.
“I really like art, but can’t afford much of it so I’ve come to enjoy and look at the work here, it’s really great seeing all of this,” she said.
There is an eclectic display of prints, photography, sculptures and paintings, with household designers sitting alongside undiscovered talent to make sure every piece gets a fair viewing.
“Championing, emerging an experimental talent has always been an important part of what we do at the Affordable Art Fair,” said Nicky Wheeler, the director of the fair.
It wasn’t only adults who got to enjoy the fair, with children getting stuck into arty workshops. There was also a free crèche available for parents who didn’t want to find their children walking off with one-of-a-kind sculptures (I saw a few).
Jun Kurazume, Managing Director of Mango Art Company, is a newcomer at the event and said once he heard about it he was keen to come along and get involved.
“We’re here because I heard this event is quite big so we wanted to showcase some of our best talent,” he said. Work from his gallery includes contemporary monochrome art by Natsuko Tatsumi.
One of the most skilful pieces on show was from Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Fine Art, which included eight artists – men and women who range from their early 30s to late 70s who have had museum exhibitions from all over the world.
“It definitely reflects the culture of Vietnam,” said Raquelle, who has lived in Hanoi since 1991.
This year, the fair celebrated Women in Art, showcasing some of the industry’s best contemporary female talent from the UK and abroad. It teamed up with fashion house Gudrun Sjoden, whose spring collection has been entirely inspired by strong, artistic women. Visitors had the opportunity to see Gudrun’s collection as well as to sign up for a talk from Susan Mumford, Founder of the Association of Women Art Dealers.
Follow us @SW_Londoner
