London Art Fair 2014 at Business Design Centre

The 26^th London Art Fair takes place in Angel’s Business Design Centre from the 15^th-19^th January 2014, where around 120 galleries showcase work from established artists and emerging talent alike in a cornucopia of artwork. The event is spread over the ground floor, mezzanine level, and gallery levels 1 and 2 and encompasses tours, talks, and a film screening room, the Art Project section. It features contemporary art from around the world and Photo50, a collection of contemporary photography, guest curated by the directors of Edel Assanti, Charlie Fellowes and Jeremy Epstein.

Wednesday 15^th January is Photography Focus Day and sees activities centred on contemporary photographic concerns and practices – with a talk from Anders Petterson, founder and managing director of ArtTactic – on the latest developments and trends in the modern and contemporary photography market, and public discussions led by industry professionals.

The London Art Fair transforms the Business Design Centre into a vast, glass Aladdin’s cave, and to discover all its wonders would really occupy as much exploration time as could be spent there. A scattering of interesting and forceful metal sculptures from artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink, Sean Henry, Paul Mount, Geoffrey Clarke, Peter Thursby, Robert de Quin and Susie MacMurray shine, wrestle and lustre among the extensive art on show. These works, from a range of galleries, display perfectly the expressive versatility of metalwork, evoking a spectrum of moods ranging from the delicate to the industrial.

This contrast is encapsulated perfectly in MacMurray’s work, displayed in the Merville Galleries exhibition; entitled Rapture 2013, a thick handmade chainmail rope snakes around itself on the floor next to two wall-mounted, beautifully delicate ink on paper drawings of hairnets charged with the free-fall motion and tangible softness of the objects from which they take their image.

With outstanding exhibitions from so many galleries, including Pertwee, Anderson and Gold; VIGO; The Cynthia Corbett Gallery; the Multiple Store; TRYON St; Paisnel Gallery; Osborne Samuel; Danielle Arnaud; Union Gallery and Paul Stolper Gallery to name but a few, the fair really has to be experienced first-hand as a journey of discovery.

Day tickets are £15.50 in advance or entry is £17 on the door, a concessionary rate of £12 is also available for Senior Citizens, students and the unwaged, and children under 12 visit free. A six-day ticket is available online for £33.50, or £35 on the door. 

Iona Thomas
Photos: Francesca Capra

The London Art Fair runs from 15^th – 19^th January 2014. For further information or to book visit the fair’s website here.