L-R: Toyin Loye, Dancer II, (2021) Ripped Photo 100x70cm, €2950, Chiefs & Spirits; Katharine Morling, Charmed (2023), porcelain sculpture, £4,400, Long & Ryle; Frisco, ‘PCH’, Limited edition archival print, £375, Liberty Gallery
- This year’s Recent Graduates Exhibition; “An Intimate Vocabulary”
showcases exciting graduate talent from across the UK’s art schools - Black History Month exhibition celebrates artists from the African Diaspora,
curated by Black British Art - Brand new installation from abstract artist Matt Dosa, known for his murals for Mayor of London and the NHS
- Art After Dark Lates on Thursday and Friday evenings, with DJs, drinks
and DIY art activities - An incredible selection of beautiful art books from new Thames & Hudson Bookshop,
and much more!
Showcasing the best in contemporary, affordable art from all over the world, Affordable Art Fair Returns with over 100 galleries and 1,000s of artists
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Autumn
Battersea Park, 19 – 22 October 2023
In partnership with JM Finn
Affordable Art Fair is delighted to announce an impressive autumn programme, showcasing the best in contemporary, affordable art from all over the world, coming to London’s Battersea Park between 19 – 22 October (with the Private View on Wednesday 18 October).
With an exhibitor line-up of 112 galleries and 1,000s of artists, visitors can expect a stunning range of contemporary art from UK and international galleries, first time exhibitors and artists making their fair debut, a special exhibition celebrating Black History Month and the return of the fair’s annual Recent Graduates Exhibition, offering the chance for visitors to snap up a work by the next big thing, before they become household names.
From Art After Dark Lates with DJ sets and welcome drinks, to a brand new talks programme where visitors can delve deeper into art during the fair’s quieter hours, and a new bookshop from Thames and Hudson stocking a wide range of beautiful art books, Affordable Art Fair offers a truly unforgettable experience this autumn.
See here for a full list of exhibiting galleries. Full programme details will be announced online one month prior to the fair.
THE DIRECTOR’S CUT
Fair Director Hugo Barclay’s personal selection of artists to watch out for at Affordable Art Fair Battersea Autumn:
- Katharine Morling (Long & Ryle) is a ceramist who has worked with the likes of Liberty London, the Royal Opera House and the Saatchi Gallery. Hugo says: “Her ceramics transport you, they make you feel like you’re inside of a novel, where there is a continued story to discover, unravelling around you.”
- Agathe Bouton (Azart Gallery) creates boundary-pushing printmaking and paper works. Hugo discovered Agathe’s work at Affordable Art Fair’s sister fair in New York, where it was one of his standout picks. Hugo says: “I really like her modern approach to printmaking and her elegant forms.”
- Hetty Haxworth (Cameron Contemporary) is known for her abstract prints inspired by patterns found in nature, particularly from the coastal landscape. Hugo says: “I have a soft spot for Scottish artists as I’m based in Edinburgh, and I’m attracted to Hetty’s approach to light and how she captures the shifting seasons of the Scottish landscapes.”
- Anuli Croon (Chiefs & Spirits) is a Rotterdam-based artist who uses structure, sharp intentional lines and pattern to create curious figurative compositions that feel truly unique and on-trend.
- Gaetan de Seguin (Galerie Barrou Planquart), whose signature works feature characters that form a crowd, gather together, and end up overflowing from the canvas. Hugo says: “I find Gaetan’s crowd paintings strangely comforting – the plurality and possibility of a crowd perhaps.”
- Kisook Lee (T&B Gallery) is a painter and sculptor who produces large canvases with a complex, texturized surface. Delicate, yet gestural abstracts, Kisook’s artworks draw the viewer in to keep looking deeper, thanks to her impressively meticulous process of sculpting and shaping to minute detail.
- Henry Ward (Kittoe Contemporary) explores the boundary between abstraction and reality in his painting work. Hugo says: “His joy for painting clearly comes through in the work, which makes them a joy to look at!”
- Catherine Pring (Panter and Hall) is attracted by the unpredictability of the process of printmaking, which pushes her to give up your sense of control. Hugo says: “Pring’s work is so alive with expression.”
Find a selection of artwork images from the Director’s Cut here.
NEXT GENERATION ARTISTS 
L-R: András Ladocsi, Dingyue Fan, Anselm Ebulue
Showcasing an exciting selection of new artists to watch, the 2023 edition of Affordable Art Fair’s Recent Graduates Exhibition, curated by Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf, is titled “An Intimate Vocabulary”, exploring how we communicate without words – momentary glances, the reassuring squeeze of a hand, or a moment to catch our breath.
For the display, guest curator Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf was inspired by the resilience and care of the 2023 recent graduate cohort, which she noticed when visiting the graduates at their end of year shows. As artists at the beginning of their careers, occupying a highly competitive place, she was struck by how much love and support they gave to each other. “An Intimate Vocabulary” is dedicated to those graduates who have grown together and how art and creative expression enable us to protect the moments, people and things we hold dear.
Artists featured in the Recent Graduates Exhibition include:
- András Ladocsi, a photographer and cinematographer from Hungary who worked collaboratively with Frank Ocean in New York in 2021-2022. Ladocsi completed his studies in MA Photography from the RCA, London in 2023.
- Ying Qi Leung, a Chinese mixed-media artist, designer and storyteller, currently based in London. She is an MA graduate of Textile Design, Chelsea College of Arts. Her research is influenced by the artist Danto and her interests are focussed on material culture and ideologies of memory carriers.
- Anselm Ebulue, an artist motivated by his curiosity, using photography to explore and question his own perspectives. Ebulue recently completed his MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at LCC and in 2019 he was awarded the Magnum Photos Intensive Documentary Scholarship and was a winner of the 2018 and 2020 Portrait of Britain Award.
- Dingyue Fan graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2023. With a focus on painting and photography, she explores the themes of the subconscious, feminism, and natural world.
- Lucrezia Abatzoglu, a London-based multidisciplinary artist. Her practice is stimulated by female figures which are formed from notions of subconsciousness and mis-anthropomorphisms, but also of emotions and uncertainties. She works with other mediums such as clays and waxes which she will later cast into silver or other metals in order to understand her work through different dimensional aspects.
Hugo Barclay, Fair Director at Affordable Art Fair, commented: “I’m really excited to showcase work by a range of new graduate artists in our Recent Graduates exhibition this October. Two artists’ work particularly captivated me: Lucrezia Abatzoglu, who creates whimsical and slightly strange figurative paintings that are both arresting and sometimes lonely, and photographer Andras Ladocsi, who captures the stillness of life in a raw, and real way. Fleeting Moments captured in time through the lens, then gone forever.”
Shining a light on the next generation of creatives, Affordable Art Fair is also partnering with Arts Emergency as the Fair’s Charity, set up by comedian Josie Long and activist Neil Griffiths in 2013 to address the need for better access to the arts and creative industries. For over 10 years they have helped 16 – 25 year-olds without connections follow their passions and navigate their way into the creative and cultural sectors.
Arts Emergency will be presenting an exhibition of works for sale at Battersea Autumn, including artwork donated by comedian Joe Lycett, whose proceeds will be going straight back to supporting the charity’s work: making sure all young people have a fair shot at a life in the arts. Visitors can support Arts Emergency with a £5 donation when buying their ticket, visiting their stand at the fair or signing up to be an industry mentor.
FRESH ART THIS AUTUMN
With hundreds of artists showing at the fair for the first time, 10 galleries will be making their debut at Affordable Art Fair Battersea Autumn, including: esteemed London-based gallery Long & Ryle, whose dynamic portfolio of modern and contemporary artists includes award-winning ceramicist Katharine Morling and captivating garden paintings by Dylan Lloyd; photography specialists ADM PHOTO, founded by photographer and artist Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints, with stunning Astro-photographs depicting the Northern lights; Munich-based Gallery Ritter, representing an eclectic mixture of European contemporary talent, with cutting-edge sculptures from Isabel Ritter and Daniel Engelberg; New Yorkers Azart Gallery with boldly bright works by Fara Thomas and beautiful abstracts by French-Afghan artist Manaz Raizadeh; rich colours and textures from a host of innovative South African artists at AITY Gallery; and Art Upstairs, who represent renowned ceramist Sandy Brown – her work is part of over 30 international collections including the V&A, Adolf Egner Collection in Munich and the British Embassy in Tokyo.
Other artist highlights include:
- Sandy Brown (Art Upstairs) is an internationally renowned ceramicist whose recent ‘Earth Goddess’, the tallest ceramic sculpture in the UK, attracted national TV attention. Her work is part of over 30 international collections including the V&A, Adolf Egner Collection – Munich and the British Embassy, Tokyo.
- Andy Lo Po (Crane Kalman Brighton) is an Australian photographer whose latest series captures, pier jumpers in Brighton, suspended in action. The photographs were taken last summer on the hottest day ever on record in the UK, 19 July 2022, when temperatures reached 40.3°C. His constructed images amplify and focus the viewer’s attention on everyday people as they’re jumping, falling, dropping, turning, twisting and somersaulting into the sea.
- Rajan Seth (Mayne Gallery) came to art after a career change from working as a chartered accountant. Rajan is now a full-time independent abstract artist, with a following of over 177k on Instagram and his abstract paintings are housed in collections of celebrities including Fern Cotton, actor Luke Evans, cricket player James Anderson, Denise Van Outen and more.
- Egon Digon (Galerie Neuland) makes unique sculptures made of wood, continuing the long-established tradition of woodcarving in Val Gardena (Italy). Egon has found his own way to transform a hard material into a form that appears as soft as foam rubber.
- Lerato Motau (AITY Gallery) is a South African artist that puts embroidery and particularly the act of stitching at the centre of her work, where each stitch is a symbolic journey. The materials she uses comprise mostly of fabric, and she defines her artmaking practice as Fibre Art.
- Katya Timoshenko (Artists in Residence) is a Ukrainian artist, overseeing the print workshop as a senior technician at Middlesex University. This position aids her experimentation and tactile exploration of the technique of printmaking.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITORS
Showcasing a wide range of local, national and international exhibitors, Affordable Art Fair Battersea Autumn offers visitors the chance to purchase the very best affordable contemporary art from all around the world. This year, the Fair sees a particular growth in the East Asian art market, with 10 galleries bringing work by leading Asian artists to the London art scene.
From South Korea to Canada, South Africa to Estonia, international galleries hailing from 17 countries outside the UK include: Alida Anderson Art Projects from Potomac (USA), a visual arts enterprise that combines the commercial fine arts experience with both non-profit projects and educational research; Visus Gallery from Lasne (Belgium), who represent a brilliant variety of minimalist painters and sculptors; The Tolman Collection from Tokyo (Japan), who stock modern Japanese prints and also publish contemporary Japanese graphic art; New York-based Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Fine Art (USA) who have been exhibiting Vietnamese fine art for over 25 years; Parisian LE FOLLOW 13 (France), founded by Laurence Boyer; Eye Contemporary Art Gallery from Hong Kong, who represents artist from the UK, Jordan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Hong Kong, Japan and more.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BLACK BRITISH ART
Celebrating Black History Month, “Abstract Contemplations” is a captivating new exhibition that celebrates the rich and diverse creativity of African Diaspora artists through the lens of abstraction, curated by Lisa Anderson and Brian Maina of Black British Art.
This thought-provoking showcase brings together an array of artistic voices from across both Affordable Art Fair’s and Black British Art’s communities, transcending geographical boundaries and exploring the myriad experiences of the African Diaspora. Through a kaleidoscope of colours, forms, and textures, the artists featured in this exhibition invite viewers to embark on a visual journey of self-discovery and contemplation. Each artwork tells a unique story, reflecting the artists’ personal narratives, cultural heritage, and intricate relationships with the world.
Lisa Anderson is also the Managing Director of the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton, whose mission is to collect, preserve and celebrate the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in the UK.
CAMPAIGN ARTIST: MATT DOSA
A new installation from Matt Dosa, the star of the Battersea Autumn advertising campaign, will welcome visitors as they enter the atrium of the fair. Graffiti artist turned muralist, Matt Dosa is known for his vibrant large-scale murals and has produced major commissions for the likes of the NHS, Mayor of London and Universal Music’s infamous BRITs after-party.
PARTNERS
JM Finn, wealth and investment experts are Lead Partner of Battersea Autumn, alongside Fair Charity Arts Emergency; London’s hottest new hotel, art’otel London Battersea Power Station (just a stone’s throw from the fair, with impressive views of the Thames); boutique gin from Spirit Partner Silent Pool Gin; international publisher Thames & Hudson as Art Literature Partner; and curatorial research group Black British Art as Programme Partner of the Black History Month exhibition.
INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
Alongside exhibiting artists, we can offer Affordable Art Fair representatives and art market experts: UK Fair Director Hugo Barclay; CEO and Founder, Will Ramsay; UK RMD Jennifer Conner; curator Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf and campaign artist Matt Dosa for interviews and comment relating to the Fair and other art world news. Campaign artist Matt Dosa is also available for interviews and studio visits in October.
