We’ve been asking the many art collectors within the Affordable Art Fair team to explain what has inspired their #myaffordableart purchases.
We’ve been asking the many art collectors within the Affordable Art Fair team to explain what has inspired their purchases. With 1000s of artworks on display at each of our fairs, it’s not surprising that their explanations are as unique as the artworks themselves!
This week in our latest #myaffordableart we hear from collectors in our Italian, Hong Kong, digital and design teams.
The tone and colours in my painting attracted me at first sight, practically speaking I was also drawn by the affordable price! I like that the painting portrays a common scene in our daily lives – a person trying to check their phone while the weather is cold. I bet everyone has had such a dilemma in life!
The artwork itself struck me in a few ways: the necessity of solitude in that moment but the cosy colours and title (Together with kindness) hint that they are not alone; the happiness of having our bodies wrapped up in warm clothes during cold weather; plus the small size of the artwork makes it fit perfectly on my bookshelf. Finally, I am a big Japan-aholic, and the artwork was created by a young Japanese artist called Tsukika Hoshiba! Thanks to MASATAKA & RISE for helping me with my purchase at Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, 2018.
I’ve always had a love of the ridiculous and tend to go for art that makes me laugh out loud. I fell in love with Sarah Crouch’s crazy ceramic cats at our Battersea Autumn 2018 fair, and bought two on the spot. It was a nice surprise for my husband when I got home – he’s only just getting used to my spontaneous approach to buying art!
We love their funny little expressions, their bright colours and comic poses. They remind us of our pet guinea pigs, but are thankfully much easier to care for. We keep one in the bedroom on our fireplace (it definitely didn’t give either of us nightmares when we first put it there). The other sits proudly in our dining room, next to a snow globe containing a middle finger, a commemorative plate celebrating 40 years of refuse collection trucks and a vase shaped like a cactus – an eclectic collection!
The Francis Illes Gallerists were super friendly and told me all about the artist’s quirky personality, which made me feel like a kindred spirit. We’re both crazy cat ladies!
I have loved 3punts, its artists and artwork, since the first time I visited their gallery in Barcelona, many years ago. And when they decided to exhibit at Affordable Art Fair Milan, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take one of their pieces home, I just had to buy one!
I was immediately inspired by Gerard Fernández Rico’s paintings from his mixed-media series “Through the line” which he created by applying different resins and pigments onto wood. Over the past year and a half his work has been exhibited in various national and international galleries and art fairs in Barcelona, Madrid, Miami, Berlin, etc… I’m fascinated with the artists technique, he produces compositions which at a first glance seem messy and chaotic, but they are also infused with serenity and harmony. Chance/fate is a major element in how viewers appreciate his work, as it seems to create a unique emotional response each time someone looks at it.
Having loved art from an early age and grown up in London around some of the biggest art collections in the world, I never dreamed of owning a piece of art. When I was younger, I thought of art as an elevated and elitist form, bound for museum and gallery walls, not my own. Fast-forward to 2019, and I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Henrietta Dubrey painting. I gleefully purchased this work at our Battersea Spring fair earlier this year, and it is the first piece of original art to grace my walls. I loved it as soon as I saw it – the minimalist aesthetic, muted tones, ambiguous subject – and knew I had to have it. Although the price was a little out of my budget, I was able to buy the painting on a 10-month, interest-free instalment plan which helped seal the deal.
I am always blown away by the variety of art on display at our fairs and feel lucky to have found my first original piece at work! Buying art is a personal process which can’t be rushed, and Affordable Art Fair is the perfect place to lose yourself in a world of creativity and (hopefully) find the piece you have always dreamed about.
From calming abstract works to crazy cats, one of the best things about choosing an artwork is that it’s so personal to the buyer. We’d love to hear about the stories behind the artworks you’ve purchased, tell us all about them by posting on Instagram using the hashtag #myaffordableart, plus don’t forget to tag us!
Like their style? Well you’re in luck! We’ve created a curated collection of artworks inspired by their good taste – enjoy!