London Art Fair 2022
Contemporary art on show
London Art Fair 2020. Image ©Mark Cocksedge
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Since its inception in 1989, London Art Fair has been providing a unique space to showcase exceptional Modern and Contemporary Art, discover emerging and established artists and engage in buying great works of art.
This year the fair returns from 20-24 April 2022, highlighting an impressive array of more than 100 galleries from the UK and beyond. London Art Fair also reflects contemporary practice and collecting trends within the art world through its critically-acclaimed sections, curated in collaboration with leading experts such as Platform, Museum Partnership, Art Projects and Gold Circle's favourite - Photo50. In this review we highlight a selection of works that stood out for their highly aesthetic and conceptual qualities. |
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Photo50
No Place is An Island
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The latest edition of Photo50, No Place is An Island, curated by Rodrigo Orrantia, presents works by British and UK-based artists responding to the idea of an island. Echoing John Donne’s celebrated book No Man is an Island, the exhibition explores what it means to be an island and its multiple possibilities towards the future.
The title of the exhibition also alludes to the idea that contemporary photography is not in itself an island or an isolated medium. The selected artists will showcase photography as part of a wider practice, pushing and redefining its boundaries through sculpture, performance, moving image and sound. “The works in this show connect with the topical issues of our time, but also to a universal narrative, the journey to an idealised place. I’d like to start conversations about what it means to be an island, and how we construct it in our minds. No Place Is An Island talks about connectivity, about the fact nothing exists in isolation, it is merely a fiction, a fantasy.” Curator Rodrigo Orrantia Artists on show include - John MacLean, Eva Stenram, Dafna Talmor, Martin Seeds, Tom Hunter, Tom Lovelace, Andy Sewell, Aliki Braine, Esther Teichmann, Bindi Vora, Shepherd Manyika, Alexander Mourant, Sarah Pickering and Hannah Hughes. |
Dafna Talmor
Untitled (MU – 1818181818-1), 2019,
C-type handprint made from 5 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
24” × 33.7” (61 × 85.5 cm)
C-type handprint made from 5 negatives Edition 1/5 + 1 AP
24” × 33.7” (61 × 85.5 cm)
Exhibition view of ‘No Place is an Island’ at Photo50 curated by Rodrigo Orrantia.
Image shows works by Dafna Talmor and Hannah Hughes
including the collaborative piece 'Archipelago: The Space Around Edges, 2022'
Image shows works by Dafna Talmor and Hannah Hughes
including the collaborative piece 'Archipelago: The Space Around Edges, 2022'
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Dafna Talmor's and Hannah Hughes's works were presented side-by-side, showcasing a unique collaborative piece that was created for 'No Place is an Island' exhibition at Photo50 - a piece that expands the artists' framework to reflect on the notion of islands, based on the individual forms that shape and inform their work.
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Hannah Hughes
Tuck III, 2020,
2 Part C-Type photographic collage,
100 x 78.7cm, Edition of 3 + 2AP
2 Part C-Type photographic collage,
100 x 78.7cm, Edition of 3 + 2AP
Hannah Hughes
Outer Movements, Position XIX, 2020,
Digital black and white Fibre Print,
30 x 30 cm, Edition of 5 + 2AP
Digital black and white Fibre Print,
30 x 30 cm, Edition of 5 + 2AP
Aliki Braine
Where Two Seas Meet, Skagen #2, 2018,
Image Courtesy of the Artist
Image Courtesy of the Artist
John MacLean
Hometown of Richard Long,
Bristol, Somerset, 2017,
Image Courtesy of Flowers Gallery
Bristol, Somerset, 2017,
Image Courtesy of Flowers Gallery
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Three artist highlights from the Main Fair
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Night in the Tiltyard, 2021, Mezzotint, 50 x 50cm, Edition 40
Sarah Gillespie
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Specialising in original prints and works on paper, Rabbles Gallery has brought a stunning selection of works to the London Art Fair including Rebecca Salter’s monotypes and Sara Gillespie’s poetic mezzotint prints. The tonal, handcrafted prints by Sarah Gillespie are a particular draw. British artist Sarah Gillespie, makes mezzotint prints, an old, slow and painstaking method that produces unique velvet blacks and soft tones. Her work encourages us to refocus our gaze toward the everyday and the overlooked; moths, blackbirds and winter-suns. Through this slow and painstaking method, Gillespie draws from the toothed surface of the printing plate by burnishing the light, trapping the detailed pattern, tones and shape into the surface. There are no hard outlines as gradual tones edge to the darkness surrounding them. Presented by Rabley Gallery
rableygallery.com |
The Same Blackbird, 2021, Mezzotint, 50 x 50cm, Edition 20
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Tender Is The Night, 2019, Archival Pigment Print on Museum Glass,
Hand gilded with Rich Rose Gold leaf, Edition of 5 + 2APs
Hand gilded with Rich Rose Gold leaf, Edition of 5 + 2APs
Valda BaileyMMX Gallery's offering at London Art Fair adds a vibrant tone to the event. With an impressive selection of represented artists specialising in contemporary photographic practices, this exhibition stand is a showstopper. The gallery has chosen for the London Art Fair to showcase the work of British artist Valda Bailey amongst others, whose painterly photography is beaming with flair. Her work is greatly informed by her background in painting and influences come as much from artists as photographers. Her intention is go beyond portraying literal visual representations and onto conveying feelings evoked by the landscape, which she achieves using a variety of techniques to blur detail and abstract shapes. |
'Inflorescence' - Hand Gilded With White, Lemon & Red Gold, 2019
Photographic print on Museum Glass, Hand Gilded with White, Lemon and Red Gold, Edition of 5
Photographic print on Museum Glass, Hand Gilded with White, Lemon and Red Gold, Edition of 5
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‘Twilight's Path 001 - Cedars, 2019’,
Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Galeries Smooth Pearl, Edition of 3 + 2 AP
Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Galeries Smooth Pearl, Edition of 3 + 2 AP
Jasper GoodallAnother notable selection by MMX Gallery was Jasper Goodall's work, which included a stunning set of images from his Twilight and Dark Flora series. The masterfully crafted images, depicting scenes of the night forest, are captivating for their immaculate composition as well as their ability to present the familiar in a new way. In the artist's own words, his aim is to "bring a sense of unfamiliarity into the images; to present commonplace nature in a peculiar way. This is, in part, a reaction against our over sanitised and conditioned lives. The night forest is devoid of people. It is an undomesticated wilderness right on our doorstep.” |
London Art Fair 2020. Image ©Mark Cocksedge