Review: Women in Art Fair

I visited the inaugural Women in Art Fair (WIAF) at the Mall Galleries this morning.  The art fair is new and is the first art fair dedicated to redressing gender imbalance in the art industry.

Below I'm going to indicate:

• some positive impressions 
• artwork I liked; and 
• some aspects which need improving before the next one!

The WIAF is on this week 11 October to 13 October, 10am to 6pm; 14 October, 10am to 4pm

Entry is £5 and Concessions at £3.50. There is no catalogue or any listing of artists in the fair.

Positive Impressions

• much more contemporary artwork on show than we've typically seen in previous exhibitions by mainly/only women artists
• SOME of the artwork was excellent, a lot of it was good. Relatively little was "walk past fast".
• Some innovative media has been used for some of the artwork - which generally impressed
• There's a variety of price points on the walls with some good representation within the affordable price range - which I think will do well.

Artwork I liked

There was artwork to like in all three galleries. I'm going to highlight those which grabbed my attention.

West Gallery

View of the West Gallery from the Messanine.

Blackbird Rook is showing two works by Marilyn Hallam who reminds me very much of Bonnard. She lives and works in south east London and St Leonards-on­Sea and has a space in the APT Studios in Deptford. She develops her paintings using a number of processes including sketchbooks, drawing, tracing, collage and painting.

To me they just seemed arresting and luminous.

Two paintings by Marilyn Hallam

The end wall of the West Gallery contains six works - from the "Five Times More" series by textile/ fibre artist Maggie Scott on the end wall of the West Gallery at the Women in Art Fair. I was so impressed by them they're now the feature image on my Making A Mark Facebook Page!

"Maggie Scott creates art from the particularity of who she is: a black woman, a feminist, a daughter, a mother, an activist and a British textile artist. Born in London, Scott graduated from St. Martin’s School of Art in 1976 with BA honours in Fashion Textiles and set up her first studio in London in 1980. Scott became well-known for her sumptuously crafted felt textiles to wear. Her life as a textile artist had existed in parallel with her involvement in gender and race politics, but it was an experiment with a series of large, autobiographical textile pieces which allowed her to combine art an activism. "

Textile art by Maggie Scott
felted Marino wool on silk and stitch

Maggie Scott’s practice is informed by the experience of being black, British and a woman. With Five Times More she depicts the intimate relationship between mother and child, reflecting on both personal and collective experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.

I was completely intrigued by how they are made. Somehow or other silk has been attached to felted marino wool and then stitched on top. Photography is definitely involved and there's a hint of a screen print about it too. I found it both simple and relatable and complex in terms of concept and process - and very impressive!

Scott’s technical practice is unparalleled in the landscape of contemporary British art, sitting at the boundary of tapestry and digital media, she employs a combination of photography, digital collage and silk and then injects colour by laboriously pushing vibrant merino wool fibres through silk in a process known as nuno felting. The intensely physical process of felting is followed by the careful process of using stich to emphasise the smaller details of an image, evoking both the physicality of childbirth and the careful attention and tenderness of what follows. In working with fibre Scott pushes a medium traditionally associated with craft into the realm of fine art. As a textile artist Scott employs distinctly feminine materials, but with soft images she speaks hard truths.

Nessie Ramm is an artist producing very unusual art and exhibiting with the brand new Women in Art Gallery in Lewes in Sussex.

I am, of course, a big fan of all those who paint plants, particularly wild/native plants - so I was riveted to see paintings of plants which can be found by the side of the road. 

Nessie produces road verge paintings combined with road signs!  The paintings below are from her 'Reduce Speed' series and are very topical - not to mention sustainable! There was an article about her my road verge work in the February 2023 issue of Countryfile Magazine

NEW: Art Fair and Art Auction at the Mall Galleries - this week!

This week there are two new initiatives this week at the Mall Galleries.

• one is in the galleries - the Women in Art Fair (WIAF) (11th to 14th October 2023)
• one is ONLINE ONLY - the Art for All | Fundraising Auction (9th - 16th October 2023)

Below is a short narrative about both - and I'll be visiting the Women in Art fair tomorrow when it opens and will report back.

Women in Art Fair

The Women in Art Fair a NEW Art Fair specifically celebrating art by women.

website: https://womeninartfair.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womeninartfairofficial/

Women in Art Fair seeks the best in contemporary art, photography, textile and sculpture; all mediums. 

Key Features:

A new initiative, WIAF is dedicated to redressing the gender imbalance in the art industry and will take over all three spaces at Mall Galleries (totalling 450 sqm)

The layout of WIAF

• West Gallery - a booth style art fair - with 9 different booths (not the 21 as indicated)
• East Gallery - a curated exhibition titled Unnatural Women - The show features seminal artists, such as Paula Rego and Jean Cooke alongside established contemporary names and emerging talent.
• North Gallery - an exhibition of artwork selected from an Open Call (which I obviously missed!)
• Theme: The World is A Family. 
• Artists were invited to submit work for exhibition, alongside galleries, for the inaugural WIAF in October 2023. 

WIAF seeks to create a positive global fair, from which women and those identifying as women, are given an opportunity to show their work and contribute to developing the exchange of ideas around gender, and culture.

It will be very interesting to see how people have responded to this new event. It sounds promising and I'm looking forward to visiting.

Event: Expert Panel Discussion

Review: Portrait Artist of the Decade

The first episode of Portrait Artist of the Year this year was devoted to the competition to find the Portrait Artist of the Decade - from the winners of the previous series.

The sitter for this momentous occasion was Dame Judi Dench - who promised to nod off in the afternoon but stayed bright and alert all day by the look of the programme.

Participants in Portrait Artist of the Decade

You can find out who took part and take a look at the portraits they produced - courtesy of their Instagram posts below.

Plus at the end I'll tell you 

• who the sitter chose
• who the independent judge chose 

Thanks also to Samira Addo who was the only person to post a group photo to their Instagram account!

Portrait Artists of the Year (2014-2022)

What I found particularly interesting about the show was how people had developed since they won - or continued in the same vein. 

It was also absolutely fascinating to see their portraits lined up next to one another.

The participating artists were :

• Series 2 (2014) - Christian Hook -  born in Gibraltar in 1971. He studied illustration at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, and then worked as a part-time lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London. He's had a very successful career since he won - with lots of commissions for lots of famous clients! His approach is always interesting and somewhat magical!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by christianhookofficial (@hoookart)

 

• Series 3 (2017) - Gareth Reid - Born in Belfast, Gareth studied at University of Ulster, Glasgow School of Art and Florence Academy of Art, and now lives and works in Glasgow. Has also had work included in BP Portrait Award Exhibitions. He also won the BP Travel Award in 2007 - see BP Travel Award: Gareth Reid and the Finnish winter bathers - which was an exhibit I really liked for the choice of subject and execution.  He now mainly paints (very slowly) portraits in oils - but chose to go back to charcoal for the four hour stint. He works slowly with the big decision being how to crop a photo and where to place the head on the support

"If you don't have structures and relationships correct, you're fighting a battle through the whole process"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by G A R E T H R E I D (@garethreidart)

 

Is a minimum price for artwork in open art exhibitions necessary?

This post argues that the use of a MINIMUM price for artwork entries for an OPEN art exhibition/competition needs to be ELIMINATED.

In my view, any use of a MINIMUM price for artwork entries for an OPEN art exhibition/competition needs to have 

• a clear and cogent business purpose - based on facts and not assumptions
• which generates positive results i.e. more income not less
• produces better value than no minimum sale price!

READ ON:  My investigations to date have produced no good reason for the use of a minimum price - and even less for raising it above the affordable art level if it is used!

PS. If you want to know why I write about the money side of art a lot, you might want to look at my background.

The Open Art Exhibition / Competition

The basic business premise of an open art exhibition / competition  is that it aims to

• attract lots of entries - and thereby generate funds via entry fees 
• get lots of good calibre art entered
• select art which is good AND is priced to appeal to buyers
• which sells well - and thereby generates funds from sales 
• which means more exhibitions next year!

However it cannot just be about wishful thinking.

Generating sales at an open exhibition/competition needs to be focused on:

• good calibre art - which appeals to people AND art buyers
• artists understanding how to price their art to sell (see How to Price Your Art) 
• including art which people can afford to buy (see my previous two posts: 
• What is "Affordable Art"? and
• The important things to know about pricing Affordable Art)
• attracting and getting visitors who want to buy - and not just look at art
• creating funds so you can do it all again next year!

Generating funds is about:

• covering the direct costs of the this year's exhibition
• making sure next year's exhibition can take place i.e. creating a reserve for expenses related to running next year's open exhibition - many of which need an outlay in advance of the exhibition opening
• contributing to the overheads of running the organisation / art gallery / competition etc
• making money for the artists 
• paying taxes!

What the exact business model is varies according to every open exhibition, its organiser and their business aims and financial / budgeting expertise.

So it's worth looking at what currently happens....

Specifically in relation to the concept of "the minimum price" for art entered into an art exhibition / competition.

What is a minimum price?

Very simply, SOME open exhibitions or art competitions require that art entered must be priced at or above a minimum specified price.

However, this is NOT a rule. It is NOT required. It is an OPTION.

I've rewritten this blog post a number of times. It keeps foundering on trying to define any sort of rationale for a minimum price - of which more below.

Who uses a minimum price for art in an open art exhibition/competition?

A number of open art exhibitions stipulate a minimum price for artwork entered into open art exhibitions. 

BUT NOT ALL DO. Below I've identified whether or not art competitions and open exhibitions use a minimum price

ABSOLUTELY NO MINIMUM PRICE

Call for Entries: Series 11 of Portrait Artist of the Year

At noon today, the competition to enter Series 11 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 OPENS. 

• This is a prestigious art competition - televised by Sky Arts
• It has a £10,000 commission as first prize.
• The deadline for entries is NOON on Friday 2nd February 2024 (Note it's not uncommon for the deadline to be extended)

This is about:

• The nature of this art competition
• WHO can enter
• HOW to enter
• What the day of filming is like - and how long it lasts!
• Plus TIPS about this art competition
• AND TIPS about juried art exhibitions and art competitions generally (at the end).

About the competition

Quotations below are from the Terms and Conditions of the competition or as indicated.

This is an art competition as a television show. 

The winner is awarded a commission - worth a taxable fee of £10,000 - to create a portrait of a notable person for a (usually) prestigious organisation. 

If you want to know why the prize money is taxable (which I think is a new word in the T&Cs) see my page on my website Art Business Info for Artists about Tax on art awards and prize money and/or Do artists have to pay tax on art prizes?

How it works - a summary

• Filming of Series 11 of Portrait Artist of the Year is planned to take place at (very probably) the Battersea Arts Centre in April 2024. (see below for dates in April)
• In effect this is a 'reality' (i.e. real people/artists) knock-out competition for portrait artists.
• Nine artists compete in each heat
• there are three "celebrity" sitters (some you will know/ some you won't! There's a good mix of age, sex, gender, ethnicity and background)
• each sitter has three artists drawing / painting / printing their portrait - in various 2D media
• you have just four hours to complete a portrait - unless you work through lunch which some do.

The Shortlisted Artists will have a maximum of 4 hours over a 5-6 hour period (or such other period as the Producer at its discretion may determine) to complete their Heat Artwork.

• The Sitter gets to choose a portrait - and if it's your portrait this is gifted to the sitter.
• The Heat Winner - from a shortlist of three - goes through to the semi-finals
• Eight heat winners get to compete at the Semi-Final 
• Three people from the semi-finals are selected for the Final  which involves:
• a commission completed between semi final and final
• four hours to complete the portrait of the celebrity sitter in the final

The dates and times that the Finalists shall be given to complete the first of the Final Artworks shall be determined by the Producer, and may be within a set time period on a single day or over a number of days, and the Producer may film any or all of this process. A space of the contributor’s choice must be provided free of charge by the contributor to film any or all of this process.

I'm guessing that if the National Portrait Gallery is open again by the date of the Final that the Final might be there - as it used to be in previous years prior to the works to renovate and develop the NPG.

TIP You need to know about the location conditions!

Artists have just four hours to complete their portrait

HOWEVER: