A fair meant to make art collecting more accessible will be coming back to Battersea later this month.
The affordable art fair has been running for over 25 years and has been getting increasingly successful amid the cost-of-living crisis.
While buying art is not always accessible to the average consumer, the artists themselves often experience unstable work conditions.
Beth Shapeero, programe artist of the affordable art fair, said: “We need to recognise how hard it is to make a living as an artist, and how many costs you have and how much you sacrifice.
“Most artists are really struggling, have other jobs to support their work, and don’t get very much time to spend on their work because of having to work in other jobs.”
Photo by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert
Being an artist is often precarious, as it is increasingly hard for artists to access commercial sales.
The problem is particularly important in Glasgow, where Shapeero is based and runs a gallery with her friend.
She said: “We don’t make a lot of money, it’s very humble, we just want to try and gain some some income for artists to support their work.
“We’re just looking at other ways to help artists survive.”
Crucially, the affordable art fair is not about undervaluing the work of artists.
Shapeero said that the term affordable relates to some of the prices that might be seen at bigger or more expensive fares.
She said: “Artists spend a long time making their work, and have often spent years and years in training to be able to make their work.
“This contributes to the price of the artwork, which might seem expensive compared to mass produced things that aren’t unique.”
For all of these reasons, introducing art collecting to a wider audience is a great opportunity for artists to sell their work and directly interact with their buyers.
Shapeero said: “People that don’t have tons of money will choose to spend it on something that they will keep it forever, and that is the most flattering and special thing, it makes everything worth it.”
The programme artist will expose a special installation made of a series of eight-meter-long canvases stretching from the ceiling to the floor at the fair, which will run from 15 until 19 October.
Photo by Midas PR
She has been able to work on such large scale works in part thanks to the Outer Spaces network, an organisation that connects artists with free spaces.
Shapeero has created her work in a ‘weird 1990s old call centre’ that was sitting empty until the scheme gave her access to the space.
Featured Image Credit: Affordable Art Fair
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