Invest in Emerging Art

At Affordable Art Fair we pride ourselves in giving a platform to emerging artists who are just breaking through into the contemporary art world. In turn, we provide you with the opportunity to invest in the next big thing which proves time and time again to be both rewarding and valuable.

Made in Arts London, run by the Students’ Union at University of the Arts London and devoted to showcasing young talent, are returning to Affordable Art Fair Hampstead next week with this year’s curated display of emerging artists. Their exhibition within the fair is titled ‘Imagined Landscapes’ and the work of the twelve selected students explores the visual representation of reconstructing a space; both in reality and the imagined. The artists have embraced alternative understandings of place in contemporary art and the role the artist plays as narrator. This curated collection never fails to challenge the boundaries of contemporary art, and we have delved deeper with four of the artists that you’ll find at the fair next week to give you an insight into the inspiration and processes of this year’s rising stars.

From ceramics to c-type prints, and collage to carborundum prints; ‘Imagined Landscapes’ brings to life the capability of contemporary art to expose important sociological patterns, as well as the therapeutic nature of creativity. And the best bit… All of the artworks are for sale! Read on to discover more about the display, and get a taste of what’s to come at Hampstead.

LIZZIE REID

“My work is heavily influenced by subconscious thought and emotion.

My lines are guided by instinct and trusting my eye for visual balance using satisfying combinations of colour, line weight, and composition. My poems are conversations with myself which acknowledge and talk through my inner hypocrisies and negative thoughts to return to a place of rationality. My work therefore poetically creates life lessons, through self-reflection and analysis.

Both art forms began as a challenge to my meticulous nature to over-plan and control. Now, they are therapeutic releases which remind me that great things also come from living in the moment and trusting all that you are is enough for now.”

CHRISTOPHER PEARSON

“I am an artist working between sculpture and printmaking. My practice is driven by alchemic material reactions, the everyday tactility of the world around us, and the physical process of making. This leads to an ongoing exploration of how materiality performs itself, not just as a record of the human body’s gestural and sensory capacities, but as a transformative event which activates both my body and that of the viewer.

My work relishes the material unpredictability of process-led sculpture and its anthropomorphic qualities, producing a broad language of contrastingly fluid and frozen forms. My metallic embossings echo the actions of my predominantly sculpture-based practice and simultaneously subvert their impulsive nature through the reproducibility of carborundum printmaking. They establish a dialogue between the unending movement of ‘real time’ and the static, ‘frozen gestures’ captured in each reflective composition.”

MOLLY BROCKLEHURST

“Painting has become a sort of therapy to me. It allows me a way in to explore and make sense of events from the past that have otherwise become discarded.

Being inspired by old found photographs, I reconstruct images of historic groupings through paint. I want the familiar to seem unfamiliar. Bringing together a sense of community that we no longer have, I use a muted palette and distinct layers of visibility and repetition, to address ideas of time, loss and hauntology. I aim to trigger a feeling of memory within the viewer by using old evocative imagery to cross the boundary between nostalgia and the anticipation of the unknown. The paintings become strange fictions that blur the boundary between document and fantasy.”

ANKE BUCHMANN

“I look deep inside myself for inspiration, and my practice varies between performance, sculpture, writing, and embodied experiences. My investigations are informed by my personal experiences as a forced right-hander and the resulting challenges of this body-mind disconnection. I create a dialogue between my body and the material, resulting in objects that carry my very presence of a single moment.

My process starts out with body-clay experiments in which I use clay as my tool to arrive in the here and now. It is an investigation into how clay can help us be present in our body. As a reaction to the hectic and distracted every day, my work is an invitation to slow down, connect with myself, and simply observe. I only find justification for the existence of an object if it has the potential to raise our awareness of ourselves.”

If you’re interested in investing in the next big thing, or simply love the work of some of these seriously-talented students, then don’t forget that all artwork in the showcase is available to buy. Visit Affordable Art Fair on Hampstead Heath next week, 9 – 12 May, to explore the rest of the artists in the exhibition and invest in emerging art!

Image captions:
Lizzie Reid, It Hurts (detail), spray paint, emulsion paint, oil pastel and white ink on paper, original, 42 x 42cm, £450.
Lizzie Reid in her outdoor studio, photo courtesy of the artist.
Christopher Pearson with his work, photo courtesy of the artist.
Christopher Pearson, ‘Metallic Gestures I’, carborundum embossing with metallic chine-collé, original, 43.5 x 53.5cm, £350.
Molly Brocklehurst in the studio, photo courtesy of the artist.
Anke Buchmann in the studio, photo courtesy of the artist.
Anke Buchmann, Vase No. 03, earthenware ceramic with underglaze, glaze and enamel print, original, 32 x 11cm, £500.