What I glimpsed at the Affordable Art Fair

So. much. jostling.

What I glimpsed at the Affordable Art Fair

Question for the group: Is the Affordable Art Fair New York’s worst art fair? It’s nothing against the art on display, it’s about the experience of attending. Why is it always 500 people over-capacity? Why are the galleries packing and hauling art out in the open? Why does a gallerist think it’s a good idea to bring a new work out into the middle of the main walkway for inspection by a potential buyer? I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me the Affordable Art Fair makes more deals than any other fair in the city. It’s surely where interested buyers from the Armory Show actually buy pieces by the same artists at lower price points. And the merchandise is moving. Every stall seems permanently under construction, and not in the seamless Armory Show way where the packing and hauling happens behind the scenes. There is no behind the scenes at the Affordable Art Fair, you are kind of permanently backstage there, being prodded by art dealers who don’t have time to make a deeper connection beyond “We have another piece by this artist that matches your shirt”—an actual thing someone said to me.

The Affordable Art Fair isn’t affordable in any real sense—most pieces are between $6,000-15,000—but it does seem to be an active marketplace. Everyone is clearly there to MOVE ART, and also you, if you’re between them and something that’s caught their eye. I haven’t been so jostled in a long time. If you’re not the kind of person who can decide to drop five figures on a painting while having your toes stepped on by strangers, you’d be better off at the Other Art fair—where booths are manned by the artists themselves and the prices are reasonable enough that almost anyone could come home with something—or hanging out at the Armory Show, where there’s a prosecco bar and room to breathe.

Nonetheless, here are some of the artists whose work I enjoyed glancing at during the hour and a half I could endure:

Gustavo Ortiz: An Argentinian artist living and working in London and represented by Olivia Connelly Gallery. Ortiz is influenced by colonial art and native indigenous art practices, and works primarily in collage, creating disproportionate forms and unexpected juxtapositions that veer toward surrealism.

Pierre Williams: A former engineer turned self-taught ceramics artist from the U.K. I love his sort of mixed-metals approach to ceramics that blend what looks like terracotta and stone with iron, gold and delftware.

Isabelle Menin: A former painter and now digital photographer from Brussels, represented by Muriel Guépin Gallery. She creates digital collages that have the visual depth of paintings, and the dealer might be able to find you one that matches your shirt.

Michael Watson: A Filipino artist who works in multiple media and was being shown by Brooklyn’s own Established Gallery. Curiously, I never would have guessed that his individual pieces were all by the same artist. Is that a lack of cohesive artistic vision or a testament to the artists’ range?

Patrick Lajoie: I tend to think Lustre Gallery’s taste leans more decorative than other booths, but it makes more sense here than at the Armory Show. This sounds very snobbish coming from me, an extreme non-expert in fine arts, but every time I see Lajoie’s work I immediately start mentally picking out interior paint colors his work would look good against. That does mean I’m picturing it in my home, though. And this show is about sales.

Katherine Morling: A British ceramicist whose work I absolutely love. Kind of punk, no? The lock and keys also reminded me of Rachel Mica Weiss’s marble chain and lock pieces.

Cristina Vergano: An Italian surrealist painter represented by Tourné Gallery. I loved the top piece of the the girl sitting peacefully by lake under a swarm of UFOs as if waiting patiently for their intervention. Same, girl. (The monkeys are giving White Lotus Season 3).

Carlos Alberto Santiago Rodriguez: I can find very little out about this artist and only got to see his work being shuffled around for curious buyers.

For a better art show experience, check out The Other Art Fair in Brooklyn in May.