The Director’s Cut: Battersea Spring 2023

With just a month to go until the spring edition of Affordable Art Fair Battersea (9 – 12 March), we asked Fair Director Hugo Barclay to take us through some of his personal highlight artists and galleries. Over to you, Hugo!

One of my favourite parts of fair planning is to sit down with a cup of coffee and pour through our fantastic exhibitors’ offering. This Fair is jam-packed with inspiring contemporary art from all over the world, so there really will be something for everyone to discover, experience and take away from our Spring 2023 edition.

I couldn’t possibly mention the 1,000s of artists on show at the Fair, but here are some of my personal favourites…

ONES TO WATCH

I’m really proud that our fairs help to establish the careers of so many emerging artists. At Spring, I’ll be watching out for Ana Monsó (Pigment Gallery, stand D1), Kay Gasei (Art Friend, stand C9) and Kristina Chan (Hancock Gallery, stand F3) who will all be showing at the fair for the first time. Kristina’s practice spans printmaking, photography and installation, exploring the boundaries between individual and collective memory – and how memory affects our relationship with places. I think her works will resonate with our visitors as they do for me personally.

Contemporary painter Kay Gasei also looks to collective memories, focusing on mythical and historical narratives. He cites Francis Bacon and Goya among his influences, but his artistic voice feels truly unique. Ana Monsó’s new series of paintings are an ode to the cheerful inner child that we all carry inside. Bringing the inner artist to the surface and promoting creativity unbridled by limitations, Ana’s work is innocent, yet slightly hard to pin down. She’s causing quite a buzz in her hometown of Barcelona.

My advice to collectors: snap these artists up now – who knows where they will be next year!

WORKS ON PAPER

We have a range of cutting-edge printmakers exhibiting at Battersea. Look out for first time exhibitors Pigment Gallery from Spain (stand D1), who will be introducing us to a range of Spanish artists including Juan Escudero. Escudero’s work explores patterns and imperfections in nature, from Pyrenees mountain ranges to ocean waves. His etching ‘Tsunamisurf’ is exacting in its detail, visually demonstrating the purity of imperfection and instinct.

I’m also excited to see new work from Japanese printmaker Chika Osaka (Hanga Ten Contemporary Japanese Prints, E9), who creates charming scenes inspired by her own writings on daily life. She says her works are tributes to ‘those who drift through the banalities of daily existence’. Chika won the inaugural Jerwood Printmaking Today Prize in 2019. Teresa Schippel Hales is another artist whose works caught my eye – look out for her atmospheric black and white etchings of landscape photography at North London Printmakers’ stand – the perfect addition for lovers of monochrome.

COLLAGE IS COOL

I love these irreverent paper collage sculptures by Irish artist Gráinne Nagle, represented by Smithson Gallery (stand H1). Gráinne takes the often hard to define subject of abstraction and makes it accessible. Through her curiosity and playfulness, she creates pieces that question form and composition They have a real sense of fun.

Collage also takes centre stage in our advertising campaign for Battersea Spring (maybe you’ve seen our posters around London!) and the work is by a brilliant artist, Clare Packer, who takes inspiration from classical figureheads from ancient Greece and Rome, but gives them a decidedly modern twist. You can find more from Clare at Kittoe Contemporary, stand J4!

KOREAN ART

From big blockbusters Squid Game and Parasite to pop bands Blackpink and BTS, it’s safe to say Korean culture is having a moment. This is reflected in the art market too, with a host of Korean artists being snapped up by collectors.

We’re thrilled to welcome a cohort of South Korean galleries to our London Fairs; at Battersea Spring, look out for Seoul-based gallery, Mookji Art Collaboration (stand B4), who specialise in promoting the work of early career and emerging Korean artists, and first-time exhibitors, Gallery Millcreek, hailing from Gyeonggido.

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Also not to be missed is our curated exhibition celebrating inspiring female artists to mark International Women’s Day, and a brand new, site-specific work by mural artist David Shillinglaw, created live throughout the fair! At an impressive five metres long, it won’t be for sale, but fans of Shillinglaw’s work should head to Turner Art Perspective (stand D2) for more apartment-appropriate pieces.

Our full programme will be announced very soon – stay tuned!

If that’s whetted your appetite, be sure to snap up a ticket for Affordable Art Fair Battersea – here for one week only this March!