Amelia’s Magazine | London Art Fair 2014 Review: Our Top Picks

London Art Fair review 2014-Jin-Young Yu at Union Gallery

Jin-Young Yu at Union Gallery.

This year I received invites to the London Art Fair in January thanks to the nice folks at the Catlin Art Prize, but sadly I did not make it along myself because Snarfle was ill. Instead I sent his dad Tim along, with a mission to snap the stuff he liked. I hope you enjoy a round up of the work that caught his eye.

London Art Fair review 2014-ophelia finke

Ophelia Finke’s Explorer has an eery quality to it – why is there a red anorak abandoned on the floor? Did the child wander off into the virtual jungle behind? Where are they now? A closer inspection reveals that the raincoat is delicately crafted from a combination of resin, plastic and paint, it’s immovability rendering it even more strange. Ophelia is one of the finalists who is featured in the Art Catlin Guide for 2014.

London Art Fair review 2014-michael o'reilly

Michael O’Reilly is another artist chosen by Art Catlin, specialising in frantically daubed, bright and often surreal paintings. Greetings, above, suggests a melting animal face, but could the title hint at more?

London Art Fair review 2014-Charlotte Roseberry

The copious squiggles, firm lines and joyful colours used by Charlotte Roseberry call to mind the best of 1980s graphic art – a style that will always find appeal with me, and one that continues to be popular in its modern incarnation. She is our final pick from the Catlin Art Prize selection.

London Art Fair review 2014-dido crosby

Moving on, these enigmatic sheep heads are by Dido Crosby at Jagged Art, who combines a training in both zoology and sculpture. Apparently One Goat and Eight Sheep is made out of unglazed china and taxidermy with glass eyes. I’m a little freaked out, where are the actual goat heads in these? Buried beneath clay? Certainly eye-catching, though I’m not sure I’d want it on my wall.

London Art Fair review 2014-fairies

The Fairies Series by multi-disciplinary duo Davy & Kristin McGuire features tiny videos projected onto kilner jars.

London Art Fair review 2014-Zac freeman

Found objects are assembled into a face by Florida based Zac Freeman at Woolff Gallery, artwork that is best viewed at a distance.

London Art Fair review 2014

This photo comes without any description but I had to include it because it is just so weird. What on earth are those women doing in a bath tub?

London Art Fair review 2014-sarah ball

Sarah Ball’s painting has an intensity that normally only comes from a photograph, with styling that hints at both the modern (that petulant face) and the traditional (the earrings, the hair).

London Art Fair review 2014-envie d'art

London Art Fair review 2014-envie d'art

Robert Bradford at Envie D’Art has glued all sorts of strange objects onto wood to construct this pooch, which takes on a particularly cool quality when viewed from the front.

London Art Fair review 2014-Alexander Korzer-Robinson

Alexander Korzer-Robinson makes intricate collages from cut out books.

London Art Fair review 2014-Nick Jeffrey

Bugs remain a popular decorative theme, as used in this Beetle Orb by Nick Jeffrey at Panter and Hall.

London Art Fair review 2014-magda archer

I saw some photos on instagram as this was being printed at Jealous Gallery, so how apt that Tim should pick out Magda Archer‘s My Life Is Crap, which features a prancing lamb sprinkled with diamond dust.

London Art Fair review 2014-Dave Anderson

A blue English Heritage style plaque bearing the immortal words ‘The Woman Who Sleeps With Your Husband lives here’ comes as a screen print by the brilliant Dave Anderson, also known as Blood Sausage.

London Art Fair review 2014-Tom Butler

London Art Fair review 2014-Tom Butler

Tom Butler at Charlie Smith London makes scary monsters by painting delicate gouache on top of old photographs.

London Art Fair review 2014-Jin-Young Yu

London Art Fair review 2014-Jin-Young Yu

Girls with floating appendages by Jin-Young Yu at Union Gallery look even weirder on closer inspection, with tears of blood, surgical bandages, a bullet wound.

London Art Fair review 2014-alice mara

A digitally printed council flat urn by ceramicist Alice Mara combines tradition and modernity incredibly well. I love this piece.

London Art Fair review 2014-Katharine Morling

London Art Fair review 2014-Katharine Morling

Katharine Morling recreates the debris of everyday life in carefully painted porcelain, arranging them to make curious vignettes.

London Art Fair review 2014-frida kahlo

I am not sure who made Frida Kahlo out of old tiles but she’s fun.

London Art Fair review 2014-Back in 5 Minutes by Valerie Kolakis

A small note bearing the words Back in 5 Minutes by Valerie Kolakis was on sale for £1000, but I am not sure that a push pin cast in 14 carat gold justifies the price tag.

London Art Fair review 2014-African prints

London Art Fair review 2014-African prints

London Art Fair review 2014-African prints

London Art Fair review 2014-African prints

Finally, this collection of joyful African prints made a big impression. Thankyou Tim Adey, I think it’s safe to say we have pretty similar tastes. Just as well eh?!

Categories ,African Prints, ,Alexander Korzer-Robinson, ,Alice Mara, ,Art Catlin Guide, ,Back in 5 Minutes, ,Beetle Orb, ,Blood Sausage, ,Business Design Centre, ,Catlin Art Prize, ,Charlie Smith London, ,Charlotte Roseberry, ,Dave Anderson, ,Davy & Kristin McGuire, ,Dido Crosby, ,English Heritage, ,Envie D’Art, ,Explorer, ,Frida Kahlo, ,Greetings, ,Islington, ,Jagged Art, ,Jealous Gallery, ,Jin-Young Yu, ,Katharine Morling, ,London Art Fair, ,Magda Archer, ,Michael O’Reilly, ,My Life Is Crap, ,Nick Jeffrey, ,One Goat and Eight Sheep, ,Ophelia Finke, ,Panter and Hall, ,Robert Bradford, ,Sarah Ball, ,Snarfle, ,The Fairies Series, ,The Woman Who Sleeps With Your Husband lives here, ,Tim Adey, ,Tom Butler, ,Union Gallery, ,Valerie Kolakis, ,woolff gallery, ,Zac Freeman

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Art Fair 2015: Review

London Art Fair 2015 review_Amelia_Gregory
After some years attending the London Art Fair I have a fair idea of where to find the artists that will catch my eye. Here’s what I loved at this January’s show, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

John Stark-The Division of Labour
John Stark: The Division of Labour. This eery tableaux features beekeepers poring ominously over their hives.

Tom Butler
Also at Charlie Smith, Tom Butler once again showed that the trend for doctoring the faces of old photographs continues.

Jamie Taylor at John Martin gallery
Jamie Taylor at John Martin Gallery has also been messing with faces, this time pixelating his painted version of an old portrait.

Matt Smith at Ink_D Gallery
At Ink_D Gallery artist Matt Smith chose to deface the features on a tapestry. Myself and others clearly find this style oddly appealing; I wonder why? It seems to me a reference to the way the past is all eventually obliterated. The subjects of these works must have meant something to someone at some time, but we are swamped in a sea of memories that means nothing to anyone anymore.

Katharine Morling
I am more used to seeing porcelain sculpture by Katharine Morling in the Whitechapel Hospital, here she was showing with Long & Ryle.

London Babel by Emily Allchurch
London Babel by Emily Allchurch was selling well as a light box display. This powerful piece shows a future dystopia inspired by Brueghel’s Tower of Babel.

Bird Tree by Simone lia
Bird Tree is the newest screen print from Simone Lia, on display with Jealous Gallery.

Paul Scotts Cumbrian Blues-Palestine, Gaza
Paul Scott turns traditional ceramics practice on its head with his Cumbrian Blues series. This Palestine, Gaza plate sets the destruction of war against a traditional pattern.

Dawn by Juliane Hundertmark
This strange figurative work is called Dawn, by Berlin based artist Juliane Hundertmark.

Jane Ward at bearspace
Jane Ward at Bearspace Gallery specialises in super detailed digital collage landscapes, combining the urban and the natural in a dreamlike manner.

Guy Allot - Alien III at Grey Area Paris
Gary Allott - UFOs at GreyArea Paris
Guy Allott- Barricade
I am really taken with the surreal works of Guy Allott, who was showing with Grey Area Paris.

Mark Thompson
There was no title with this painting of a spooky house in a wintery landscape, but fortunately an artist friend on instagram was able to inform me that it is most probably by Mark Thompson.

Heather Nevay- Last Days in the Dollhouse
Heather Nevay: Last Days in the Dollhouse. This Glasgow based artist produces extraordinarily strange vignettes inspired by the memories and dreams incapsulated in dolls.

Roland Corbin- Iona
I am a sucker for an evocative natural landscape and I love the way that Roland Corbin has captured the splendour of rock formations on the islands of Iona.

Geoff Diego Litherland- Spaceship Earth
Geoff Diego Litherland creates an eery fantasy world in Spaceship Earth, showing at Antlers Gallery.

Photos of soviet monoliths at breese little
I love these photos of brutalist Soviet monoliths by Jan Kempenaers at Breese Little.

Adam Dix
Follow (kneeler) by Adam Dix
I am always a massive fan of Adam Dix, who was showing with The Contemporary London. I love the use of tapestry to make this footstool, titled Follow (kneeler).

Anaemic Archives by Christos Venetis
Finally, Anaemic Archives by Christos Venetis is a series of delicate pencil drawings on old book covers. An engaging installation tucked away at TinT Gallery.

Categories ,2015, ,Adam Dix, ,Anaemic Archives, ,Antlers Gallery, ,Bearspace Gallery, ,Bird Tree, ,Breese Little, ,Business Design Centre, ,Charlie Smith, ,Christos Venetis, ,Cumbrian Blues, ,Dawn, ,Emily Allchurch, ,Follow (kneeler), ,Geoff Diego Litherland, ,Grey Area Paris, ,Guy Allott, ,Heather Nevay, ,Ink_D gallery, ,Iona, ,Jamie Taylor, ,Jan Kempenaers, ,Jane Ward, ,Jealous Gallery, ,John Martin Gallery, ,John Stark, ,Juliane Hundertmark, ,Katharine Morling, ,Last Days in the Dollhouse, ,London Art Fair, ,London Babel, ,Long & Ryle, ,Mark Thompson, ,Matt Smith, ,Palestine Gaza, ,Paul Scott, ,Roland Corbin, ,Simone Lia, ,Spaceship Earth, ,The Contemporary London, ,The Division of Labour, ,TinT Gallery, ,Tom Butler, ,Tower of Babel

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