Function
And more importantly: is the work on display worth the price?
“How hard can it be?” was the question I asked myself after asking a hypothetical but realistic question budget of $500 at the Affordable Art Fair. I quickly realized there was work to be done: I spent the entire three-hour opening last night searching through the 90 exhibitor booths to see if there was any work. was actually available in that range.
The fair, which promotes a range of global art priced between $100 and $12,000, returned to the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea for the spring run through Monday, March 22. The fair positions itself as an accessible environment for and young collectors, while also welcoming experienced enthusiasts. There’s something for everyone here when it comes to taste, but that doesn’t necessarily mean what you like is within your reach – especially considering that affordability varies drastically from person to person.
So what can $500 actually get you? at the Affordable Art Fair?
To state the obvious: you have to think small. And I mean small. For example: bite-sized chunks in the most literal sense of the word. I love to create and watch small art, but this fair made me think twice about the legitimacy of expecting people to drop half a tire on something the size of a coaster. I really liked Marike Andeweg’s tulle and resin works, which almost glowed on the walls of the ART_020 gallery stand, but the smallest one would fit in my pocket for a hot $450.
I encountered the same dilemma with Sasinun Kladpetch’s demonstrably beautiful moss and concrete wall hangings at the Themes+Projects booth. Another admirer turned to me, sighed and said: bluntly: “The problem is you need them all.” And that visitor was right. Although they can stand alone, these small works function best as a series.
Speaking of bite-sized works, I should note that $500 puts us in the running for a lot of food-themed art. Macaron sculptures and confectionery paintings at New England Contemporary stood out as good examples, as did the fusion menu of sushi, cupcake and soup paintings at JJ Contemporary.
The Kai Gallery booth offered some strong pieces for the price: Chinese artist Yuan Lin’s pearl-on-porcelain paintings were thoughtful and resonant, and most of them would make me enough money to take an Uber home to Brooklyn. Jared FitzGerald’s geometric drawings on parchment, priced at $250, were snappy at the same time and elegant.
Korean-American artist Hoya Chung’s paintings and illustrations were a nice treat at JC Contemporary, and I was charmed by the fact that he was showing work next to his father while his mother did the sales. I also appreciated Joyce Pommer’s dozens of small, abstract mixed-media paintings for over $500 each.
I must underline that I had to put on my blinders and purposefully look for the work I have mentioned so far. It’s sidelined by the fluorescent rainbow palettes, splatter-painted Marilyn Monroes, resin casts and corny, large-scale street art of Times Square and subway maps that dominate the Affordable Art Fair. In the friendliest possible form In short, these cacophonous variations on normie pop art clichés don’t really suit my taste. That said, I hesitate to be an idiot about it when she provoked such profound emotional responses and genuine joy from so many fairgoers. Ultimately, that’s probably true not worth living on – especially considering their hefty price tags.
But to the fair’s credit, it did one thing well: it inspired me to prize my own work higher. (If I end up making some again, that is.) Then I can try it again, possibly on a four-figure budget next time.
