Moniker Art Fair, one of the events on the week’s busy schedule in London, opened with a private view on the 17th of October. Sharing a venue with Other Art Fair, these two events attracted a huge mass of art collectors, enthusiast, gallery owners and artists. In a relaxed atmosphere, the crowd was able to enjoy some works from the street and urban art movement. Presenting both young and emerging artists, alongside some established and names, these two fairs were a great opportunity for young artists to get a good exposure to the wider crowd, and for art lovers to get introduced to some fresh names. With works ranging in size, technique, medium, theme and price, everyone got to find and enjoy the kind of art they prefer.
Two large pieces by Miss Bugs exhibited by Coates & Scarry welcomed visitors by the entrance, utilizing unusual items as art medium (razors, bullets, glass, mirror, etc). Displayed alongside recognizable DeeDee Cheriel’s panels, as well as some gorgeous oils by Christian Rex van Minnen, and together, these pieces were highlights for many visitors of the show. Next to it was an interesting setup by young British artist, David Shillinglaw. Setup as part his studio, part his collection of private memorabilia, this booth varied in types of artwork exhibited – from conceptual pieces involving magnets, to sculptural works, pieces from his graphic travel journal, works on found objects, to canvas pieces. London’s StolenSpace showed two massive works by both D*Face and Andrew McAttee (seen above) which included an installation built especially for the fair.
Amsterdam’s Andenken Gallery brought a new body of work of American artist Amanda Marie, which gathered a lot of interest from local art collectors. As the works were selling and coming off the walls, a big mural she created was slowly getting revealed. With her newer works including even softer tones, and some new imagery, Amanda kept the familiar retro/vintage feel to her works. Across from her, Spanish street artist Vinz has his own installation, as well as a big collection of his newer works painted on documents, newspapers, book pages and magazines. The highlight of Hang-Up Gallery’s booth, and one of the highlights of the fair in general, were impressive biro drawings by Mark Powell. All drawn on old, historic documents and papers, showing birds and portraits of old people he meets in his real life, his works have incredible amount of detail rarely seen in done with this unforgiving medium.
Legendary street art pioneers, The London Police, built an impressive installation in collaboration with Zeus for Look For Art Gallery. With their “lads” and “dogs” getting more depth and dimension using new panel cut technique the styles of the two artists were complemented each other just perfect. Among other works, the bar area displayed recognizable Matt Small portraits on found objects, as well as massive Shepard Fairey panel. Jealous Studio had a huge collection of their previous print releases on show and available, as well as their fair exclusives that were getting printed at the show, with artists singing them on the spot. Souled Out Studios tent was one of the busiest and most popular points of the show, with works by Bon, Mau Mau, Alex Face, Martin Whatson and others getting sold within the first two hours.
The Other Art Fair was hosted a wide range of artists that were mostly there to present their work. With 50+ artists showing their works in different mediums and styles, it is very hard to cover all the interesting ones, but the personal highlights included oils from the Abandoned Dollhouses series by Mackie, Rutie Borthwick panels, Hanna ten Doornkant works, and live taxidermy display presentation.
Photos credit: saL.
