London Art Fair: The Hepworth Wakefield and International Dialogues in Art Projects, 15–19 January, Business Design Centre, Islington, N1

KLARI REIS, Hypochondria, 2013, Petri Dishes, Tee Nuts and Steel Rods, Photo credit Cynthia Corbett Gallery

It is hard to believe that the very popular London Art Fair which celebrates Modern British and Contemporary Art marks its 26th edition this year.   For the first time the Fair has a Museum partnership; this year with The Hepworth Wakefield who will present a special exhibition focusing on “Barbara Hepworth and the Development of British Modernism”.  This year sees the 10^th edition of the acclaimed Art Projects section and there is new series of international ‘Dialogues’, curated by Adam Carr of MOSTYN, to mark this.  This year the theme of the annual contemporary photography section Photo50, is ‘Immaterial Matter’ and its curators are Charlie Fellowes and Jeremy Epstein, Directors of Edel Assanti.

Barbara Hepworth – Kneeling Figure 1932 – Wakefield Permanent Art Collection ©Bowness, Hepworth Estate

 The Fair really does cater for all levels of collecting with its heady mixture of established and up-and-coming new galleries from the UK and elsewhere.  Among new galleries at the Fair are Goodman Fine Art, Jenna Burlingham Fine Art and the Tokyo-based Whitestone Gallery.  The latter is showing examples of Gutai, Japan’s leading avant-garde artist movement of the 1950s, with an emphasis on the work of the artist Chiyu Uemae.

Chiyu Uemae – Yellow. Courtesy of Whitestone Gallery Japan

The Art Projects section will also host the launch of the fifth edition of The Catlin Guide which not only acts as a show case for the forty most talented new graduate and postgraduate artists from the most recent round of BA, MA and PG Dip final shows but also gives an idea of the trends and future paths in contemporary art. Among this year’s crop are painters Charlie Billingham (Royal Academy Schools) and Neil Raitt (Royal College of Art), multi-media artists Ophelia Finke (Central Saint Martins) and Saejin Choi (Glasgow School of Art), photographer Chloe Rosser (Falmouth University), sculptor Sungfeel Yun (Slade School of Fine Art) and the enigmatic Mr. & Mrs. Philip Cath (Goldsmiths).

The above can only give a hint of what an exciting and vibrant fair it is.  It really is a place to visit and experience for yourself.

Brian Crouch, Discs 1964. Oil on canvas 102x76cm. Courtesy of the artist and Waterhouse & Dodd

London Art Fair 2012 at Business Design Centre, Islington, credit James Champion