London Art Fair @ Business Design Centre

Over the weekend I braved the snow and ventured to Angel, where the London Art Fair was taking place at the Business Design Centre…

The fair was a lot larger than I was expecting, and though I did not go to see any work (or artist) in particular, I’m glad that I went! A collection of London’s finest galleries (some out of London, but mostly London-based galleries) showing what they see as their top works… an efficient way to get a bit of a round up!

I’m not going to pretend to know much about these works, because I don’t. I thought I’d snap a few pictures of what I considered to be beautiful pieces. I only have two qualifications: firstly, if I would fork out money for it, and secondly, if I can locate a place for it in my home (mentally, of course!)

Nateo Venancio, I Wanna Be Your Dog, Acrylic on canvas, 130 x 170 cm (£6,000)

Jef Aerosol, Allen Ginsberg, 2011, Spray paint and stencil on cardboard, 29 x 30cm (£800) 

Jef Aerosol, Vega, 2011, Stencil on cardboard, 21 x 21 cm, (£700)

Jef Aerosol, Pail Auster, 2012, Spray paint and stencil on cardboard, 26 x 19 cm, (£700)

Jef Aerosol, Pop Duo, 2012, Spray paint and stencil on cardboard, 210 x 163 cm, (£6,000)

Lluis Barba, The Studio of the Painter, Pierre Subleyras, 2011, Edition 1 of 6, C-type print, Perspex mounted, 181.1 x 186.5 cm, (£22,500 + VAT)

Lluis Barba, Gallery of Views of Modern Rome, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, 2012, Edition 1 of 6, C-type print, Perspex mounted, 116.1 x 150 cm (£12,000 + VAT)

Man Ray, 1890-1976, Mirror for Laughter/Miroir pour Rire, 1970, Original Titled Ink and Pencil Drawing on paper, 18 x 13 cm (£4,000)

Alex Rennie, 1977, Totems 3, 2012, Oil on linen, 180 x 180 cm, (£12,500)

Simon Casson, Cyrene, 2011, Oin on canvas, 140 x 180 cm (£18,000)

David Spiller, If Not For You (Pinocchio), 2013, Lithograph on Somerset paper, Silkscreen edition printed onto Arches Satin a smooth 100% Cotton paper, Edition of 75, 76 x 77 cm (image), 86 x 88 cm (paper) (£850 unframed)

David Spiller, Love is the Light (Goofy), 2013, Lithograph on Somerset paper, Silkscreen edition printed onto Arches Satin a smooth 100% Cotton paper, Edition of 75, 76 x 77 cm (image), 86 x 88 cm (paper) (£850 unframed)

Simon Patterson, Saptarishi, 2012, Screenprint on enamel, Special limited edition of 15, Commissioned by the London Transport Museum, 102 x 127 cm (£18,000)

Justine Smith, Time Is Money Map, 2011, Archival inkjet with pearlised screen printing, Edition of 90, 78 x 114 cm (£1,200)

Nicola Hicks, His price is everything, Bronze, 2011, 79 x 56 x 59 cm

Bryan Kneale, Twin Vortex, 2012, Stainless steel, 44 x 78 x 49 cm (£20,000)

Jeffrey Blondes (American, born 1956), Trees and Sky: 52 weeks x 60 mins, 2009, Mounted archival pigment print, 216 x 140 cm, Edition of 7 (£8,500)

Stefan Hoenerloh (German, born 1960), Preliminary stage of: American Maincourse, Mysteries of Topramen, 2012, Oil, acrylic and ink on canvas, 120 x 85 cm (£14,000)

Francesco De Molfetta, Snack Barbie, 2009, Hand painted and glazed terracotta (£6,000)

MadeIn Company @ The Minsheng Museum of Art

When I heard that MadeIn Company had teamed up with the Minsheng Art Museumn for a kind-of show slash look behind the scenes at the unique artist collective (or "Company"), I was extremely excited to witness the goings-on of the artist collective of whom I was already a great admirer of. One of the standout pieces at the Long March Space in 798 was a marble sculpture by MadeIn, and I was really in awe of Xu Zhen's In Just A Blink Of The Eye at the 'Art of Change: New Directions From China' exhibit at the Southbank Centre. Set up by Chinese conceptual artist Xu Zhen in 2009, MadeIn tackles issues of identity, the commercial and production activities.

Despite my excitement and anticipation for witnessing the buzzing 'headquarters' of MadeIn, I was thoroughly disappointed by what I experienced at the Minsheng Museum of Art. Perhaps I came on a day that none of the artists decided to come in and create...

The resulting exhibit just seemed to pretentious in concept. The space given to MadeIn was 'artfully' made to look like a workspace, when it seemed very evident that no production was actually taking place. Instead, visitors were invited into an intimate display of MadeIn's works. However, promises of witnessing art being made firsthand were totally unfulfilled.