London Art Fair 2014 - review

Doing #LAF2014 like a VIP

"For those seeking out the freshest work and emerging talent, Art Projects features large-scale installations, solo shows and curated group displays from across the globe"
- Sarah Monk in the London Art Fair programme book.

LAF2014 at the Business Design Centre, Islington.

Last year I started to broaden my attendance of art fairs, in a personal quest to understand the art world better. This is partly as an extension of my final year degree project and due to a practical need to understand better how to function now I've graduated. My initial explorations took me off to Big Deal No 5 and Sluice Art Fair, a couple of the many events running during Frieze week in London, though a derailed train prevented me from attempting to include The Other Art Fair as well. Having visited Frieze in previous years as an arts student, to see what were the big names on show, I was slightly uncomfortable with having to pay full price for a ticket especially now that the fair had spawned Frieze Masters. That cost and a curiosity about where graduates went after art school led me to shift my awareness to the venues that would host emerging artists, as opposed to established talent.

It was with this in mind that I gratefully accepted an offer of a free VIP ticket from Axisweb in order to explore The London Art Fair, at the Business Design Centre in London. Having just complied a list of art fairs to visit in 2014 I was keen to start sampling these events to see what opportunities exist for emerging artists like myself.

It was my first trip to this event and so I was surprised to find that it has been going for many years now, in fact the London Art Fair is now in its 26th year. Why it wasn't on my radar may be explained by the fact that the Frieze art fair has drawn more press attention in the last few years and has attracted the general public as well as the arts community. The London Art Fair 2014 is somewhat of a less sexy event, the buzz and vigour of Frieze that comes from having flashy art, big name galleries and two massive tents of art in a London park is absent here. There is a champagne element for VIPs and galleries, with sparkling wine making an appearance everywhere on preview day, leading to a relaxed atmosphere in the evening.

Like Frieze, art as a commodity was also a feature of the LAF2014, with one talk titled 'Is Art Really a Good Investment?', but more disturbing for artists was the booth that purported to offer bespoke art market research to help speculators to track artists' fortunes like stock market investments, with graphs based on 'research and market analysis'. As an established artist your career trajectory is being mapped out for you every 6 months, according to sales of your work. Fortunately the rest of the fair seemed to be more old-school and simply interested in just getting people to take an interest in the work.

Inside LAF2014

The London Art Fair includes artist groups and less-established artists, in the Art Projects section. This is an addition made just nine years ago, which I suspect may have been inspired by the success of Frieze art fair, which also has a large projects area and threads some of its projects throughout the fair.

Up to LAF Art Projects and the cafes.

The LAF2014 layout had the more established and commercial galleries taking up the ground and mezzanine level. The Art Projects took a bit of seeking out, as they were up another flight of stairs (see picture) sharing the Gallery Level 1 floor with the main cafe. You needed to climb yet another flight of stairs to find Photo50 up on the top floor. In some ways the Art Projects, where I finally found Axisweb at P27 and The Catlin Guide on P25 were well-catered for, with their own stand guide and gallery listings but they didn't feel like they were central to the event with their remote location. There are pros and cons to this of course, the problem being that you'd have to feel energetic and motivated or visit over more than one day to have time for both the central galleries and the project spaces. The pros seem to be that the projects get good press coverage and having their own space gives it a community feel. Certainly, once the preview evening kicked off there was quite a party atmosphere in this section.

The Axisweb team at P27.

In the Art Projects my first port of call was Axisweb, whose stand was next to the Film Screening Room, where I found a chatty Lesley and Ruth and a retiring Mark. They helpfully explained their role in promoting their 2000+ selected members, including the four artists' work they were showcasing for this fair. An earlier search of the site's member's list had revealed some Axisweb artists I know in my area. They also explained their multi-tier membership plan - they recently introduced 'Early career' membership options for recent graduates, which I found helpful to know as it's cheaper than their standard membership. According to Lesley and Ruth, Axisweb publicise themselves to universities but it is hard to say if mine mentioned them. I think I discovered Axis via Facebook and Twitter initially, but obviously I'm happy to have heard of them now.


The Catlin Guide were two stops down, with book of 'New Artists in the UK' in a handsome blue slipcase. Their guide fits in with my position as an emerging artist who has just graduated. The guide showcases new work by 40 graduate and post-graduate artists that had their final show a year ago, to hold a window up to work made 'during the crucial first year after leaving art school'. [1] The guide is presented as a lovely, high quality book but the selection of artists does seem biased towards UCL and UAL graduates, though nine other universities do get a mention. Also I'm a bit skeptical as to which 'crucial first year' they mean seeing as many of the graduates are at MA/MFA level. Still, I'm sure they mean well and it is great publicity for some artists' names.

Axisweb tote bag.

Now I had promised to compare LAF2014 to the two other fairs I mentioned earlier. First impressions? Overall, as an emerging artist, I preferred Big Deal No5 and Sluice 2013. Yes, their locations were a challenge, BD5 being hidden in an underground car park behind Oxford Street, Sluice requiring a trip accross London to a hired space in South London. Yes, that meant that these fairs were probably less likely to attract big collectors and press attention. However they were free entry, they had the cool buzz of running in the same week as Frieze, at the stands I had the opportunity to see and talk to other artists as they set up or manned their stalls. The atmosphere drew you in with the frisson of participatory and performance art alongside traditional media and I felt that these were events I'd happily visit again.

How does the LAF compare with Frieze, BD5 and Sluice? Obviously this fair is on at a completely different time of year. It's an established London event but relatively low-key. As an emerging or mid-career artist you'll probably have to entice people upstairs to see your work. Groups like Axisweb can give you a place to meet other contemporary fine artists with a less commercial angle. I found it a fairly sedate event with some commercial stands showing depressingly derivative 'art' but then large art fairs aren't usually aimed at conceptual artists. As Sarah Thornton notes in Seven Days In the Art World, this kind of art fair may be less interested in art that can't become an easily retailed commodity such as invisible or ephemeral art. [2]

Although the focus of LAF2014 seemed to be on British art, there was a also healthy international presence in the Art Projects. The talks, performances and film screenings give the projects area a live presence, even if they are hidden away upstairs. I missed the talks but the film room seemed very popular, even with its dodgy projector, and was packed to the hilt the time I popped in. I also found art I enjoyed at the Hanmi Gallery stand where there were clever videos, by South Korean artist Junebum Park, that I could relate to my own practise in terms of modern urban landscapes and their social impact.

A friend asked me about the LAF and I confirmed that yes there were 'weird artists' there but, no, the fair seemed mainly aimed at buyers, potential funders and maybe other dealers.. As Axisweb explained to me, the London Art Fair was mainly showing traditional media in 2D and 3D. This meant that there was nothing too strange, difficult or flashy in most of the spaces or on the walls, though there were art films in the corner screening room.

Overall, the London Art Fair looks like it'll retain its place as a fixture in the calendar for contemporary artists as it is a tried and trusted means of kicking off a new year of art events and it's in a central London location with good transport connections. As I was lucky enough to have a VIP ticket, I didn't have to face paying for entry myself. Its value to the emerging artist is probably mostly as a way of gearing up for the year ahead and as an opportunity to take part in a showcase, so put it in your diary for next year but get a discounted ticket from Axisweb or The Art Fund, or even better bag a free VIP ticket from a stand if you can.

LAF2014 VIP art swag

[1] Hammond, J. (2014) The Catlin Guide 2014, Caitlin Holdings Limited. 
[2] Thornton, S. (2009) Seven Days In the Art World. Granta Books, London, p. 104

More Axisweb LAF blogs at http://www.axisweb.org/features/news-and-views/in-focus/laf-bloggers/