While I’ve been working with Affordable Art Fair Hamburg (14 – 17 November, Hamburg Messe) for more than five years, I’m still impressed by the diversity of the artist’s work at the fair, variety is the spice of life for the art lovers that visit us! And while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my five personal artist picks for the upcoming fair – three of whom are in the Emerging Artists exhibition.

Affordable Art Fair Hamburg Top 5 Art Picks

Asana Fujikawa

Asana Fujikawa is one of the three Emerging Artists, exhibiting in this year’s special exhibition. I became aware of her work for the first time during the annual exhibition at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK), since which I’ve had a soft spot for her ceramics and graphics (main image and below). The Japanese-born artist from Hamburg combines stories from Greek and Japanese mythology in her sculptures, along with oral narratives on current political subjects. For Asana, clay as a material represents the “original maternal” material and has a semantic association. She is strongly inspired by the human–nature relationship and draws attention to this in a humorous and touching way.

Malte Stienen

I’ve also been keeping an eye on Malte’s career for several years and have been continually impressed by his socially relevant themes, and the way he translates these through his varied work. Automated, scary sculptures, video loops of romantic landscapes – accompanied by a sonorous computer voice – or video-generated avatars, which prepare themselves for the end of the world are just some of the media and themes Malte uses and they all bear witness to (virtual) realities. All of these works create spectacles which draw the viewer into his virtual worlds and at the same time add to the environment. Don’t miss Malte’s installation in the Emerging Artists Exhibition.

Florentijn de Boer

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing gallery owner Pien Rademakers to talk about her roster of artists, which drew my attention to the work of Florentijn de Boer. The Dutch artist creates large-format paintings on untreated natural canvases, creating fascinating colourful works. The flowing organic forms are almost abstract and their interesting titles such as ‘How happy is the little stone’ or ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’ make me smile and take my thoughts off in a new direction. I’m really looking forward to seeing her work on the Rademakers Gallery stand (C6).

Emilia Kubacki

It was a sunny afternoon when I entered the gallery of the HFBK and first saw Emilia Kubacki’s work: the sun shone on the shiny surfaces which intensified their interesting materiality. In an elaborate process, Emilia pours liquid polyurethane onto canvas made of untreated linen and incorporates salt or lava sand, creating layers of paint and material. The initially abstract plane works slowly become three-dimensional sculptures, which change mysteriously as soon as the light in the room changes. You will also find Emilia Kubacki’s work in the Emerging Artists exhibition (opposite stand G11).

Alma Bucciali

One medium that fascinates me a lot is printmaking. And one artist that has mastered this technique particularly well, is Alma Bucciali. Having studied narrative and illustration at the École Supérieure d’Art de Lorraine in Epinal, Alma’s works in printed graphics, textile art and embroidery designs. In her aquatint works Alma explores her fascination with symbolism from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods. From this, her interesting hybrid creatures emerge: half human – half animal, who tell stories in a wonderful way. Together with her father, Remy Bucciali, who is a recognized French graphic publisher, she runs Éditions Bucciali, who will be on stand D2 at the fair.

About her work, Alma says: “I work between things. Media, categories, typifications: I don’t want to adapt, I want to break with conventional perspectives, I want to avoid classifications. Neither decorative nor artistic, neither human nor animal, neither only about me nor only from the outside, that’s my work.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak peek and insight into my five artwork picks at this year’s Affordable Art Fair Hamburg. It goes without saying that there will be thousands of works at the fair, all with stories and artists as fascinating as those that I’ve chosen for this blog – snap up a ticket to join us at Hamburg Messe, 14 – 17 November, and you’ll be able to discover these artists and more in person.

Main Image:
Asana Fujikawa, Waldmensch (rechts), 2016, etching, 37 x 52 cm, Edition of 10, €1,800.

Featured images from first to last:
Isabel Deimel, Fair Manager, Affordable Art Fair Hamburg.
Asana Fujikawa, Ein Waldmensch versucht, während seiner Metamorphose seinen Arm abzuschneiden, 2016, ceramic, 35 x 27 x 23 cm. Photo credit: Martin Meiser.
Malte Stienen, Untitled (Angst), 2013, multi-media installation, €2,000.
Malte Stienen, Untitled (Angst), 2013, multi-media installation, €2,000.
Rademakers Gallery during the Only Women exhibition, 1 June – July 2019, featuring works by Florentijn de Boer and Colette Vermeulen.
Florentijn de Boer, How happy is the little stone, 2019, oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm, €5,900, Rademakers Gallery.
Emilia Kubacki, Detail wogen (still), 2018, polyurethane, lava sand and salt on linen, 53 x 81cm, €2,800.
Emilia Kubacki, Detail wogen (still), 2018, polyurethane, lava sand and salt on linen, 53 x 81cm, €2,800.
Alma Bucciali, L’odorat, 2018, aquatint, 50 x 56 cm, Edition of 30, €300, Editions Bucciali.
Alma Bucciali, Les Athéniens, 2017, aquatint, 45 x 56 cm, Edition of 30, €300, Editions Bucciali.