Battersea Spring: Meet Three New Galleries

When we’re not busy opening the doors to one of our three UK Fairs, we are out there scouring the globe for fresh, new galleries to bring to the next edition. It’s the variety and breadth of artistic practice – from exquisitely simple sculpture to expressive abstract paintings – that we love to showcase, so finding fresh talent is something we take very seriously. That’s why, if you visit our Battersea Spring edition this year, you’ll find more than 20 brand-spanking new galleries to get to know. Art-buying bliss!

Drum roll please as we introduce you to three exhibitors making their Affordable Art Fair debuts this spring. 

CHARISSA RISLEY

Founder of Artfully Sorted, Stand D9

We think the ‘A’ in your DNA must stand for Art, tell us more…

“My passion for art developed from a young age. My mother, Fereshteh Stoecklein, is an acclaimed artist, who critically taught me that a piece of art “should not only be beautiful, but deeply emotive and personal to its owner”. My father’s profession as a hotelier meant we lived all around the world. This immersed me not only in many different cultures, opening my eyes to a wide array of artistic expressions and heritages, but also to the awesome interiors of those fine establishments. After a career in finance and raising our two lovely boys, I decided to pursue my lifelong passion and enrolled in a course at Sotheby’s and I’ve never looked back.“

What makes Artfully Sorted different to the rest?

“We believe wholeheartedly in our artists’ talent and we’re not afraid to take a risk, with that in mind we’re showcasing a number of them for the very first time this spring! Look out for Alanna Eakin, Katharine Rowe, Kate Kelleher, Richard Young, Mieke Douglas, Jan Erika, and Fereshteh Stoecklein. We also want to help future generations continue to engage with the creative arts, so a portion of sales are donated to children’s charity, Artists in Residence.“

KERRY HAMMOND

Founder of Powderhall Bronze Editions, Stand J10

The thing we love most about Powderhall is that you help to turn artists’ ideas into a reality, tell us more

“With more than 30 years’ experience, and a unique knowledge of ancient lost wax processes, we’ve helped to create a collection of work that we’re not only immensely proud of but that we think showcases what’s possible with this beautiful material – bronze. Over the years we’ve worked on a range of public and private sculptures and some of our most recent works can be found dotted around central London with Kenny Hunter’s ‘Blackbird (the persistence of vision)’ in Leicester Square and his ‘Southwark Memorial’ in Elephant and Castle. Most-notably we worked with the much-loved David Shrigley to realise his commission for The Fourth Plinth, ‘Really Good’. We guess you could call that an art world goal!“

We love that you’ve kept it in the family for this fair, who will you be bringing?

“We’re extremely excited to be exhibiting this March as a family led gallery. Some of the work we will be bringing is by our daughter Lucy; a textile and print designer, whose recent work is inspired by urban landscapes. Lucy’s work focuses on construction sites as they offer a magnitude of interesting shapes, patterns and colours and her latest obsession happens to include the incredible (and very local) Battersea Power Station development.“

WALTER DIEM

Founder of Galerie Kunst Zürich Süd, Stand B6

You’re a practicing artist yourself – what made you want to start your own gallery?

“I wanted to create a space which could be a platform for other local contemporary artists to display their work all year round. My mission has always been to create a permanent presence for our artists, and involve the local community wherever possible. We may have started in Zurich, but I’m always thinking about the next step, and fairs like the this give us the opportunity to shares experiences and ideas with other international galleries and artists… as well as discuss future possibilities for collaboration!“

We’re excited to see work by so many new artists, who should we look out for?

“This is Wioletta Gancarz (pictured), one of the artists I’ll be bringing to the Battersea Spring Fair. I was immediately drawn to Wioletta’s paintings, something about them just holds you there… for me I think it’s her colour choices and the fact she’s not afraid to work big. Although her paintings are created in expressive, wild dynamic brush strokes, all elements are balanced and energised.“

A big thank you to the galleries for sharing their stories, we can’t wait to see what they bring to the Battersea Spring edition of the Affordable Art Fair, taking place 12 –15 March at Battersea Evolution. Don’t forget to snap up a ticket in advance, to browse thousands of works all priced between £50 and £6,000.

Header Image: Fair photography by Guy Bell.

Images top to bottom: 
Charissa Risley. Artwork: Fereshteh Stoecklein, Visual Poetry, Acrylic on canvas.
Fereshteh Stoecklein, Waterfalls, acrylic on canvas.
Kerry Hammond, Lucy Caster and Brian Caster. Photo courtesy of Kerry Hammond.
David Shrigley, Really Good, Bronze cast by Powder Hall Bronze, in situ at Trafalgar Square. Photo courtesy of Kerry Hammond.
Walter Diem standing in front of his own artwork.
Wioletta Gancarz working in her studio.