NEW YORK SPRING 2019 PROGRAM
Affordable Art Fair NYC is more than just an art fair, with an array of inspiring and interactive activities for friends and family to enjoy. We create an experience fully equipped to help you fall in love with art, and our friendly and welcoming team is on hand to help you find your perfect artwork.
FEATURES
YOUNG TALENT EXHIBITION
Affordable Art Fair NYC’s Young Talent Exhibition is a dedicated platform that supports emerging artists and curators within the contemporary art community. This spring, New York-based artist, Mónica Hernández, will showcase her thought-provoking oil-on-canvas works featuring the female figure and the power of the female gaze in the fair’s Inspiration Lounge on Level 1.
Always looking to challenge how women represent themselves, Mónica is certainly one to watch as a breakout emerging artist, with 103K followers on Instagram and recently named 30 under 35 in CULTURED for 2019. She graduated from Hunter College with a BFA in 2017.
LIMITED-EDITION TOTE BAG
For the first time ever, we are offering beautiful limited-edition tote bags for sale, which have been designed by photographer Imogen Forte. Imogen was selected as the Grand Prize Winner from hundreds of entries into the Bridgeman Studio Award, 2018 and by purchasing a tote, you will be supporting our Official Non-Profit Partner, The Art Therapy Project, a mental health organization providing free art therapy services to trauma survivors.
This year, the purchase of each limited-edition tote bag supports the organization’s programs for young adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Art Therapy Project works with several local housing organizations, who help young adults find permanent housing, employment and careers. Art therapy helps to stimulate personal growth and build the confidence necessary for long-term sufficiency.
THE PIGEON CAFE BY JJ GALLOWAY
In true New York fashion, Affordable Art Fair NYC’s café brings together many walks of life, including the city’s most popular pet, pigeons! Created by multi-disciplinary artist, JJ Galloway, Affordable Art Fair NYC is excited to feature The Locals, an installation of pigeon sculptures sitting above the café walls, waiting for a chip to drop. Additionally, guests will be immersed in a series of quirky limited-edition paintings that will evoke the senses - featuring food and animals in unexpected ways.
UNDER $500 WALL
With a dedication to presenting affordable art that everyone can discover and collect, Affordable Art Fair NYC is excited to showcase a collection of works – all priced under $500. This is the perfect place to find great art for the new or emerging collector!
PERFORMANCES
Art After Dark on March 28th from 6pm - 9pm, will feature a performative experience by the talented Philadelphia-based painter and musician, Vessna Scheff. Colors, movements and sounds will come together in a multi-sensory experience as Vessna and her collaborators – Shanina Dionna and Bethlehem Roberson – pair acapella and acoustic sounds, dance, percussion and paint on the surface of a giant canvas, spread across the fair’s Inspiration Lounge on Level 1.
STROLLER HOURS
A new program launching this spring is Stroller Hours, a fun and accessible way for parents to enjoy the fair, discover art and shop with their little ones, hassle-free. With crowded sidewalks and the endless onslaught of bikes, buses and people, parents are hard-pressed to secure elbowroom on a casual stroll with their children and strollers. Affordable Art Fair NYC eliminates this struggle, with doors opening early for parents and children-only, before opening to the public, on Saturday and Sunday mornings, March 30th and 31st, 10am - 11am.
Purchase your Stroller Hours ticket here »
TOURS
Director’s Tour with Vanessa Seis
Preview Affordable Art Fair NYC with our Fair Director, Vanessa Seis as your guide! Explore fair highlights and our international roster of galleries on Saturday, March 30th from 3pm - 4pm.
Purchase your tour ticket here »
SELF-GUIDED TOUR
With 1000s of artworks on display, it's understandable if you aren't quite sure where to start! So, to help you discover the perfect piece, we've created three handy self-guided tours. If you're an animal-lover, our Circle of Life tour is perfect for you. On a budget? Check out our Works Under $3,000 tour. Or if you're on the hunt for a tangible, textural piece for your pad - why not follow our Sculptures.
Download our self-guided tour maps below or pick them up at the front of the fair to get started!
Download self-guided tour maps here »
PERSONAL SHOPPING SESSIONS
In these intimate one-on-one sessions, we offer an insider’s loo by providing professional art-bying advice. Our Fair Director, Vanessa Seis, will take you to several carefully selected booths on a personalized tour to help you find the perfect artwork for your home!
Limited appointments are available from Friday through Sunday, March 29 - 31.
SOLD OUT
TALKS
Lunch Time Talks hosted by Crea in partnership with the Black Artists + Designers Guild
Lunch Time Talks are inspiring and engaging conversations at the intersection of art, design and architecture for interior designers, architects, art advisors and the curious and creative-minded visitor. Hosted by Crea (“cray-uh”), an online magazine that creates a more inclusive conversation on art and design, these 45-minute talks explore mission-driven topics as well as hands-on advice.
The BAD Guild (Black Artists + Designers Guild) is a curated collective of Black artists + designers throughout the African diaspora. The guild creates contemporary art, textiles, furniture, interiors, and architecture for bespoke residential, commercial and hospitality spaces.
Thursday, March 28, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
The Revival: How the 21st century reimagining of traditional and contemporary African art as a luxury design movement is captivating both designers and collectors.
A conversation with Ivy N. Jones, Owner of Welancora Gallery and Júlio Leitao, Artist and Choreographer, moderated by Everick Brown, Interior Designer at Everick Brown Design.
About the speakers:
Everick Brown, Interior Designer at Everick Brown Design
Everick Brown Design is a full service interior design firm based in New York, offering residential and commercial solutions. Our style is, “Modern Classic with a Global perspective “. Current projects include; No Studios, Coveleigh Club, and US Open to name a few.
Ivy N. Jones, Owner, Welancora Gallery
Ivy N. Jones is an African American art dealer who is the founder and owner of Welancora Gallery, a space located in a brownstone in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The gallery name is an amalgam of the names of Jones’ parents and older brother. The gallery specializes in representing artists and placing their works with individual collectors and institutions; publishing fine art books and exhibition catalogues; and, organizing, planning, and curating art exhibitions. At the onset, the gallery established itself as a unique entity by mounting exhibitions in a non-traditional space at a time when few people wanted to live or work in Bedford Stuyvesant.
Jones was born in Brooklyn, New York and is the younger of one sibling. She holds a bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration, respectively. She got her start in the art business in 2002 when she opened her own gallery as a part-time endeavour. In 2014, she decided to re-launch the gallery and run the space on a full-time basis.
In addition to placing works with collectors, Welancora designates space in its schedule for guest curators of color to put together exhibitions that allow them to explore their career goals in a professional environment. The gallery also works closely with writers of color as it pertains to publishing exhibition catalogues and artist monographs.
A few of the more memorable exhibitions at the gallery include, Conjure a solo exhibition of works by Aisha T. Bell, curated by Derrick Adams; Mirrored by Nature, featuring works by Oasa DuVerney, David Rios Ferreira, Tajh Rust and Adrienne Elise Tarver, curated by Corrine Gordon; and, In the Future When... featuring work by Damien Davis, Delano Dunn and Tiffany Smith, curated by Daricia Mia DeMarr.
Júlio Leitao, Artist, Choreographer
In 1975, my hometown had become the front line of the Angolan civil war. At nine years of age, I found myself fleeing Angola on foot, on a journey of almost 500 miles that took me through the bushes and swamps, from Luena to Maeba, Zambia. For months my family was divided, having fled in many different directions.
In 1976 we were reunited in Portugal, where I remained until 1985, relocating to New York that same year. In New York City, I saw—and felt—the sense of separateness that circumscribed peoples of African descent, and their struggle to reconcile their lost and often forgotten cultural heritage with geographic identity. To help bridge that divide, I began teaching African dance to children, informally, in playgrounds in Harlem.
In 1990, I founded Batoto Yetu (Swahili for ‘our children’), a nonprofit that provides pre-professional African dance training and performance opportunities to inner city youth. Our young dancers have performed around the world, sharing the stage with legends like Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, and appearing on national TV. More than 27 years later, Batoto Yetu continues to thrive, and my work in sculpture and mask-making continues to feed my soul and draw a personal connection between me, my ancestors, and my ancestral home.
Friday, March 29, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
What sells? Exploring the tension between commercial and fine art, and how the placement of a work — in a gallery, in a home, or on a city street — affects its narrative, perception, and impact.
A conversation with Koray Duman, Architect at B-KD (Büro Koray Duman), Rhea Karam, Artist and Photographer and Yolande Batteau, Interdisciplinary Fine Artist, moderated by Kate McTigue, Founder of Crea.
About the speakers:
Koray Duman
An architect hailing from Turkey, who leads a research-driven architecture and design studio based in New York City.
Rhea Karam
Rhea Karam is a Lebanese artist and photographer; whose documenting skills, along with her fascination with imagery and text, gives her art work a particular ability to capture a city’s history and urban identity.
Yolande Batteau
An interdisciplinary fine artist who brings decades of materials and methods investigation to her 'art for architecture' studio.
Special ticket required*. Ticket includes a complimentary boxed lunch as well as re-entry to the fair during General Admission hours.
Social Impact as Inspiration
Saturday, March 30, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
For the artist, inspiration can come from many places: personal relationships, inner turmoil, the beauty around us or the existential. Throughout history contemporary art often reflects the issues society is currently grappling. This was as true in ancient Greece and China as it was in America during the Revolutionary War or during Paris from the late 19th to mid-20th century. Today, social impact issues such as Female Empowerment, Climate Change, Access to Education and other issues are at the center of the conversation. What role does art play in the public discourse as we tackle these issues? How can collectors enrich and engage with the conversation?
Join Brendan Burns, CEO of See.Me; Alex Nero, Creative Director of See.Me; Jia Jia, Chief Curator of Standard Arts; Vanessa Seis, Fair Director of Affordable Art Fair NYC; and Anita Durst, Founder and Artistic Director of Chashama for an engaging talk about how social issues impact the creative industries, from artist to collector.
*General Admission ticket required
In Conversation with Mónica Hernández
Sunday, March 31, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Drew Beattie, Director of the Kossak Painting Program and Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College and Mónica Hernández, Young Talent Exhibition artist are in conversation covering a range of topics relating to her works of art. Who are the women in her work, and how much are they her or not her? What in her work is cultural reporting, and what is private reverie of her invention? How for her do social and political meanings mix well with visual making? In a lively and engaging conversation, professor and past student will elaborate on Monica’s work and her ideas about painting past and present.
*General Admission ticket required
FOOD & DRINKS
Café by Monterone
Make a day of the fair by enjoying breakfast or lunch onsite after you peruse thousands of works of art. Located on Level 2, the Café by Monterone offers a full range of delicious beverages, sandwiches, and salads while providing you with a place to relax and re-energize during your visit.
Creative Cocktails by Van Gogh Vodka
Since 2000, Van Gogh Vodka has been perfecting The Art of Vodka. While striving to create a masterpiece worthy of the name Van Gogh, they recognized the importance of choosing a distiller who shared the same passion and commitment to crafting the highest quality vodkas. Immeasurably skilled and immensely passionate, third-generation master distiller, Tom Vos meticulously handcrafts each vodka using nothing but the finest ingredients and a unique, multi-step distillation process. Their signature Van Gogh Vodka is crafted from a premium blend of wheat sourced from Holland, Germany and France to give it a soft, well-balanced taste by undergoing an all-natural double infusion process, giving each drop of vodka its vibrant signature flavor. Each sip transports you to a fragrant apple orchard, a luxurious chocolate shop or your favorite coffee house.
It’s not just the art that will get you in touch with your creative side! Enjoy complimentary cocktails* during the Private View and Art After Dark events courtesy of Van Gogh Vodka.
*Must be 21+ to enjoy. Please drink responsibly.