Have you ever seen four Mini Coopers wrapped in artworks? This is just one surprising thing you’ll find if you head to The Other Art Fair this month. The BRAG speaks to co-directors Emilya Colliver and Zoe Paulsen about bringing this artist-led fair from the UK to Sydney for the first time, and the extensive four-day program that’s planned.

[Above:Start The Riot by Kim Leutwyler]

The Other Art Fair showcases the works of emerging and undiscovered artists – including two artist collectives – and features mediums such as painting, printmaking, photography, installation, sculpture, mixed media and video works. At a conventional art fair, you meet with gallery representatives; at The Other Art Fair, you meet the artists themselves.

“It is essentially run in a traditional art fair way [but] other art fairs are all gallery-represented – the galleries choose what artists they want to be represented at each fair,” Colliver explains. “The main point of difference is the fact that this is an artist-led fair. We have about 85 unrepresented artists and they will all be manning their booths, selling direct to the public.

“The audience has the opportunity to meet and talk and engage with the artist directly, and on the flip side, the artist has the ability to engage with their buyers and sell work direct to their buyers,” Colliver adds. “It’s that direct engagement with the artist, and I think it’s so important, because I think it gives the buyers a different dimension and a different insight into the work they are potentially going to be walking away with.”

She also points out the benefits for the artists, offering them “the opportunity to learn how to market themselves, to learn how to engage with the public”. Paulsen similarly agrees The Other Art Fair is significant as it ensures that “emerging artists have a voice”.

The directors emphasise the interactive nature of the fair as well. “We want people to come over, meet the artists, have a conversation, have a drink with us, so it’s a whole experience that we’re trying to offer,” Paulsen says. “What we’re trying to do is have a hub of creativity. We’ve got some really great programming on as well – we’ve got live music and the Powerhouse Youth Theatre and also some DJs.” There will even be free public workshops held by the Derivan Stencil Art Studio, where the artist Chris Tam will teach attendees how to make their own eco-friendly stencil art without using aerosols.

If you’ve never bought an original artwork before, but think you might want to, The Other Art Fair is a great place to start. In Colliver’s view, “That’s one way for us to attract a different audience, who as you said might not necessarily be coming to the fair to purchase work. But hopefully what this fair does for people who are maybe a little bit intimidated about buying their first piece of work [is] it will hopefully foster this kind of environment which is more inclusive and is breaking down those barriers of the white walls of the gallery.

“Not only could you purchase your first piece of work at a very affordable price, those more serious collectors might want to come along and have a look at these artists who have been hand-picked, because you never know – there could be some work there that could potentially turn into a bit of an investment.”

Paulson adds, “We’ve got a couple of amazing artists in there that I think are going to be picked up by galleries.”

Indeed, the range of artists represented at The Other Art Fair is extensive. They include American-born and Sydney-based painter Kim Leutwyler (an Archibald Prize finalist in 2015), British illustrator Sarah Beetson, Wollongong photographer and obstetrician-in-training Sarika Gupta, Melbourne diorama maker Tinny (Danielle Emery) and Sydney photographer Rachel Wells. There are also two artist collectives: the Sydney-based Black Parrot, whose members include the 2014 Sulman Prize-winning artist Andrew Sullivan, and the Korean group Reissue Korea, which will show sculptures and installations.

While The Other Art Fair features a combination of breakout artists and more established practitioners, all the participants were chosen from a large pool of applicants. “[The artists] have all been hand-selected by the five people on our committee,” says Colliver, “and they’re well known, really respected people in the art world. We’ve got Mikala Dwyer, who’s obviously the artist; we’ve got Meg Robson, who’s an assistant curator at the MCA; Dr. Dick Quan, who’s one of Australia’s biggest collectors; we have Virginia Wilson, who’s a public art advisor, and Paris Neilson, the former White Rabbit Gallery manager … [This is] a point of difference as well, with this kind of artist-led fair, that there is a selection process in place.”

The Other Art Fair runsThursday September 10 – Sunday September 13 at theAmbush Project Space, Central Park.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine