The concept of the art fair is one replicated the world over.
Designed to bring together a myriad of artists and galleries for a few days under one roof, they can be hugely entertaining, as well as making it easier for gallery-goers to explore a wider range of work than they would normally find in their local gallery.
At the highly selective end, one finds the likes of the Frieze London and the Armory Show in New York, which aim to show the best of international contemporary art, commission new works and create art installations, introducing a conversation about art to temper the eye-watering prices. Others are aimed squarely at the office market, with easy-on-the-eye works that critics would say field largely mediocre wall-fillers. Many fall somewhere between the two, like Glasgow's own former Art Fair, which folded in 2011 after 16 years amid accusations that it was no longer selective enough. Even Frieze has not been immune to accusations that it is too commercial - an 'Ikea for millionaires'.
But then selling art is at heart what an art fair is about. And for the inaugural Glasgow Contemporary Art Fair, their credo is affordability. If works at Frieze, whilst starting at roughly £100, frequently lean towards the more astronomical end of the collecting range (the average is £20,000 although for a market which started out with Damien Hirst 12 years ago and this year fielded Martin Creed, Cathy Wilkes and many other international names, it is not surprising that prices can top the £100,000 mark), GCAF has set a ceiling of £10,000 with many works much below that.
Among this inaugural year's diverse crop of mostly small commercial galleries representing established and emerging artists, the Scottish Furniture Makers Association makes an interesting addition. For Glasgow furniture-maker Chris Turner, the idea of putting furniture in an art fair is a no-brainer. "People who are interested in buying pieces of art are also interested in buying furniture. They're buying pieces that could be family heirlooms," he points out. "For me, furniture is that mix of the practical and design. It's about making beautiful pieces that can be used but also make an artistic statement."
Stuart Clachan, who runs his West of Scotland bespoke furniture company, Clachan Wood, along with his wife Janey, is exhibiting a finely worked coffee table made out of a single rare piece of burr elm. "This is the first time we've exhibited at an art fair," he admits. "Most of our work is private and small commercial commissions, and we wanted to exhibit to reach new customers."
Another member of the Scottish Furniture Makers Association, Edinburgh-based Jonathan Lassen, whose Art Deco-inspired contemporary furniture will not be exhibited at GCAF because he wanted to display larger-scale works than the stand allowed for, expands on the point. "When you're selling furniture, you do a lot of exhibitions without selling anything. But you have to exhibit somewhere. You have to keep doing it and hope that you will reach new areas of the market."
And art fairs are not just, he says, about the work that is on display. "In the end, most of my works are usually made to commission. Art fairs are about meeting people and making contact, rather than just selling what you have in the show."
Glasgow Contemporary Art Fair is at the Old Fruitmarket, from April 24-26. Booking line for preview tickets is 0141 353 8000; full info at www.gcaf.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article