What an Emerging Artist Does All Day

Shelfie - for World Books Day, 2015

Now, you may wonder why there's a big gap since my last post and that's because I have recently started to explore the murky work of funding.

As an artist, I have had to get to grips with the thorny issue of having a more defined attitude to selling work, rather than just hoping some exhibition visitor will make enquiries. To this end I have been attending a series of workshops run at the NN Contemporary gallery in Northampton. Over three workshops Tracey Clarke, a business development bod for the Crafts Council and NN, has been gently guiding us through the steps we can take to lead us From Art to Commerce.

With the exception of a couple of professional artists who had lost their direction in their practice, most of the attendees had mainly sold via friends or family. What we lacked was a plan as to how to create sustainable incomes.

There is no quick fix, as we found. As artists we need to research our field and be more business-like as well as have the courage to continue perusing our creative paths. After the February workshop I had several things on my to-do list, one of which was to update my blog, so here we are.

As for my bookshelf, that now contains books on funding and business as well as art, not as a result of the workshop but rather due to a part-time job for a charity, which I started at the end of last year. Although charities seem to be largely interested in grant applications and government-led funding, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and just ask people directly to help your cause. Active fundraising, research and marketing go hand in hand, as Tracey pointed out to all us emerging artists in the workshop. Dealing with funding issues for a charity has certainly helped me think more carefully about how you ask people for money and I aim to have fine-tuned that skill by the end of this year. 

Let me know what you think about arts funding. Is it getting better where you are?

Chat to me on Twitter or Facebook.

London Art Fairs, October - Dec 2014

Frieze London: Big art in a big tent.

Art fairs are one of several great ways to see contemporary art and for buyers to take their first steps to invest in an artist. They can also be good places for artists to gauge current trends, network and meet galleries, depending on the type of fair.

The a-n 2014 degree show guide has this advice on buying work by new artists

At this point I was going to write a bit about Frieze week but I've been very busy recently and there are some good articles in the press:
The Guardian - Why the Frieze art fair works and The best of Frieze art fair 2014 – in pictures
The Independent - Frieze: Co-founder defends 'Ikea for millionaires'

Your big fat London art fair diary

Frieze London & Frieze Masters,  October 15-18
Regent's Park / +44 (0)20 3372 6111 / http://friezelondon.com/
Frieze London is the main event to see contemporary art by established artists. This large show is an expensive ticket but has so far been very popular with the public. The project spaces are worth seeking out to see smaller galleries and artist's groups sharing their wares.
Sadly the ticket prices have now reached eye-watering heights, which I find off-putting as an emerging artist. The fair organisers seem unfazed by this, stating in The Independent that "We sell out all our tickets in advance". In fact their Student/Child/evening and Combined tickets have sold out but the other three ticket types still seem to be available when I checked on Thursday evening.

Sadly the existence of any other art fairs is overshadowed by Frieze, though they also benefit from galleries and dealers descending on London en masse, as some people visit more than one event and the following list of events reflects that fair-hopping opportunity.

The Other Art Fair, October 16-19
The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL / +44 (0)20 7886 3062 / http://www.theotherartfair.com/
Blurb: 'The Other Art Fair is a unique platform from which [undiscovered artists] can independently showcase their work: to gallerists, curators, critics and collectors.'
In 2014 The Other Art Fair contained rows of white-walled stands, with artists apparently roughly grouped according to the type of work on show. In general the work was sometimes engagingly fresh but also predominantly commercial, with the occasional homage to/copy of better known artists. The Other Art Fair shares a ticket and floor space with Moniker, which had a slightly more lively approach to stand design, borrowing Frieze stand typography for its spaces and using a open floor spaces for performances by the bar area..

Sunday Art Fair, October 15 - 18
Blurb: Sunday Art Fair specializes in contemporary art.
35-100 Marylebone Road, Ambika P3 / sunday-fair.com

1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, October 16 - 19
Blurb: 1:54 is a leading platform for galleries, artists, curators, art centres and institutions promoting African and Africa related projects.
Somerset House, Strand  / +442081443694 / 1-54.com

Kinetica Art Fair, October 16 - 19
Blurb: 'Championing innovation, providing a global platform for galleries, curatorial groups & artists working with interdisciplinary new media art.'
"This exhibition showcases interactive, multi-media artwork." - The Independent
In 2014 the ticket price I overheard was £16, which seemed a bit high to me, but the fair seemed popular with families who could put their small children in front of shiny, twirly art objects.
The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane  / +442073929674 / kinetica-artfair.com

Affordable Art Fair Battersea, October 23 - 26
Bills itself as "London’s friendliest art fair" The advertised ticket prices are more than The Other Art Fair but less than Kinetica, make of that what you will.
Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, London, SW11 4NJ / +44 (0)20 8246 4848 / http://affordableartfair.com/uk/

Sluice Art Fair - last event in October 2013
This fair will be back in October 2015, according to Karl at Sluice.
In the meantime they seem to be getting stuck into #ExchangeRates in Bushwick, Brooklyn / 23rd-26th Oct 2014
/ + 44 (0)1273 488996 / www.sluice.info/ / https://twitter.com/sluice__

Big Deal seems to have morphed into Big Deal! Marvellous MIx-UpsX1, which happened in July 2014, so we've missed it already!
[Big Deal No 5 (2013) was held in the Cavendish St underground car park] / contactus@deal-big.biz / http://www.deal-big.biz/
Big Deal! Marvellous MIx-UpsX1 http://www.deal-big.biz/big-deal-2-shows.html



You can see my blog entries about Big Deal No5 and Sluice Art Fair 2013 on my Facebook page.
These fairs were both free to attend and I'd recommend emerging artists make time for them when they surface again.

For more art fair listings also see ArtForum's listings.