London Art Fair 2015
February 2, 2015
A TOUR IN THE WORLD OF "LONDON ART FAIR 2015"
LAZAGNE MAGAZINE By Sara Foschini
The twenty-seventh edition of the London Art Fair was held on the 21st to 25th of January 2015 at the Business Design Centre in London.
The fair presents an overview of the contemporary art world with 128 exhibitors, a mix of British and international galleries, presenting both established and emerging artists. Every year, the program is very rich, including exciting debates, films and performances, and this year is no exception.
Prior to entering the Business Design Centre, visitors are greeted with two grand aluminum sculptures by Eduardo Paolozzi in the outdoor space.
Inside, Lund Humphries, sponsor of the event, celebrates the work of Paolozzi dedicating a stand and a bust of the artist made by his friend and renown fashion designer, Nicole Farhi.
Amongst the many spaces that requires mentioning, is certainly the Pallant House Gallery. Simon Martin, the artistic director of the gallery, curated a special exhibition showing paintings, drawings and sculptures by some of the most important and influential British figurative artists of the twentieth century, such as Walter Sickert, David Bomberg, Lucian Freud, William Coldstream and Frank Auerbach, to name a few. This special pavillion explores the various interpretations of the human figure in the course of the last century.
Among the peculiarities of this edition is the photographic section called Photo50 "Against Nature", curated by Sheyi Bankale, founder of the magazine Next Level. Nine artists have been selected to explore, through their works, the contemporary photographic practice. They wonder if it’s possible for a photographic image to be elevated to the status of work, action or even as an intervention on reality. We are, therefore, faced with works that are not content to find their own form of expression in the simple photographic image, but overflowing in sculpture and sometimes in performance.
As I make my way through the fair, one can sensed and noticed the large number of work featuring arts and crafts and manual skills. For example, the fabulous wooden sculptures of Joseph Walsh in the Oliver Sears Gallery, while the two London galleries, Crane Kalman Gallery and Erskine, Hall & Coe, featured works by contemporary potters. This exposition converys a very strong organic theme: many artists, in fact, seem to prefer, in their compositions, the use of materials such as leaves, flowers, paper, wood and shells. Materials and techniques are amalgamated, resulting in amazing collages and installations.
Finally, this nostalgia for everyday
materials and traditional arts can also be seen in the pictures, which is, once again, becoming increasingly figurative, depicting scenes or every-day-life objects, with a particular focus on still life and the theme of family intimacy.