By: Sarah Blumberg
Image: A sampling of R. Nicholas Kuszyk’s robot paintings. Courtesy of the artist and the McCaig-Welles Gallery .
The Armory Show held no appeal for me this year. Neither did Pulse, or even SCOPE. In fact, the idea of attending another large gallery-driven art show with big-ticket names and even bigger-ticket prices on both the artwork and admission just seemed silly to me. I had read enough about all of the fairs, the Armory Show in particular, and decided that I’d rather spend the price of admission taking myself and a friend to the MoMA for the thousandth time. The Affordable Art Fair, with their slogan of “build your own art empire, banish blank walls: with contemporary art from $100 to $10,000,” was intriguing to me. I have to admit, I had never heard of AAF NYC until a few weeks ago. However, as the name began popping up on some art and design blogs and on the websites of galleries that were participating, always in conjunction with artists whose work I greatly admire (such as Robert Ryan, whose work was amazing to see in person), I decided to take a chance and pay the $15 admission ($5 off with a coupon) to see it for myself.
Image: The Little Artists, Hirst Shark Tank, 2008, Legos and Perspex cube, $1,800. Courtesy of the artists and TAG Fine Arts.
Happily, AAF NYC ended up surpassing my expectations. With over 60 galleries from the US and UK in attendance, I was able to see everything at a relatively leisurely pace and not feel overwhelmed by either the space or by the amount of art that was available. Most galleries set up their booths in the traditional manner: framed art was hung on white walls, with sculptures on plinths or shelves and unframed prints laid out in large standing files for visitors to flip through. There were ample paintings to look at, but there was also plenty of art of the non-traditional and craft variety, alongside an abundance of prints. In fact, what struck me the most about AAF NYC was that it featured so many emerging artists, and while there was plenty of original art, it was the proliferation of artists’ prints that actually made the fair affordable. Of course, affordability really is in the eye of the beholder; most of the paintings were priced well into the thousands of dollars, but there were also some great deals, such as Brooklyn artist R. Nicholas Kuszyk’s robot paintings, which started at $40 for a 2” x 2” canvas. Most of the prints at AAF NYC were priced in the $150-$300 range, and I was happy to see that much of my favorite work at the fair was equally accessible. Adding to the overall theme of accessibility were demonstrations, a lecture series, and a Children’s Art Studio area, which provided a space for children to do art activities while their parents walked around the fair. I didn’t get a chance to go to any of the lectures, but I did happen upon a demonstration on how to make flexible molds, courtesy of the Modern Art Foundry/Spring Gallery. In addition to mold making demonstrations, they also had an entire wall of their booth devoted the process of lost wax casting, complete with examples from all stages of the process.
Image: Gwyneth Scally, Prophet, 2006, gesso and oil on stained wood panel, $800. Courtesy of the artist and GALLERY IMPERATO .
For me, one of the most surprising discoveries of AAF NYC was that people were actually purchasing art. Unlike the Armory Show and other such shows, where sales were undoubtedly down from last year, on the Saturday afternoon that I was at AAF NYC, it seemed like almost everyone around me was buying art and having a good time doing it. The atmosphere reminded me of the craft fairs that I would regularly attend with my parents during the cooler, winter months of my South Florida childhood. The purpose of attending these craft fairs was more about the enjoyment of being someplace where you could walk around for a few hours and look at art, even if it wasn’t especially interesting or good art, than it was about making a purchase. Luckily, AAF NYC had a lot of very appealing art to view. Leaving the fair, I was surprised to find that I had spent a very enjoyable three hours at AAF NYC, coming away with the sense that maybe, contrary to what many people have been saying, art can be both alive and well, accessible and affordable.
Though the Affordable Art Fair may balk at being compared to a craft fair, the friendly nature of this fair is undeniable. It is good to hear that there were sales!
Posted by: ngferris | June 19, 2009 at 07:56 AM