Melbourne Art Fair 2014
Every second year, Melbourne Art Fair (MAF) rolls into town, and is one of our favorite events for the year. MAF sees over 70 leading Australian and international galleries showcase a wide range of artworks from around the world. Established and emerging artists’ artworks in a variety of mediums are on display in the beautiful Royal Building Exhibition.
Usually, The Poolboy and I attend the Vernissage opening night on the Wednesday evening and then go back for at least another full day to take in all the artworks. This year, a scheduling clash meant we were only able to go for the one day on Friday.
Woah…it’s a big ask to absorb all the galleries, artists and their works in a single day. In addition, we tacked on a quick visit to Spring 1883 afterwards (which is 20 more galleries, each showing in a suite at The Windsor Hotel). So by the time we headed home, my head was spinning with everything we had seen. So much so, The Poolboy and I totally forgot that we had left my car parked at the girls’ school (but that’s a whole other story…which came to light when I went to drive to The Impossible Princess to her netball game this morning…oops.)
Anyway, back to MAF. This year the layout was much more spacious than in previous years, as there seemed to be less galleries participating. I noted a few big-name regulars who weren’t there.
There was however, a wide range of artworks in a variety of mediums ranging from traditional painting through to sculpture and video art. There didn’t appear to be any obvious trends, but I did feel that overall the exhibition lacked the edginess of previous years. Galleries appear to be taking a much more commercial and accessible approach…which I guess is indicative of the mood of the art-buying market.
In previous years part of the fun was to walk away from some exhibits shaking the head and saying, “What the…?“, but I didn’t get much sense of that this year. I could immediately imagine most of the artworks having a place in someone’s living room. Not necessarily mine, but someone’s. There wasn’t much that was really challenging, but there was a lot that was beautifully executed and of a high quality.
Social Capital projects (a Melbourne Art Foundation initiative) did offer a quirky aspect. These were five performance-based artworks that aimed to blur the line between the artist and the viewer. One of these: Closed to the Public (By Amy Spiers and Catherine Ryan) basically consisted of a 2 x 2 metre area of empty space taped off on the floor and guarded by two uniformed security guards who ensured that none of the public stepped across the line. The day we were there, the square was in the middle of a thoroughfare between the entrance and the food outlet. So, it was hilarious to watch people chastened by the guards for stepping over the line and then their bemusement when they realise that there is ‘nothing’ inside the space. I was one of those people.
Another head-shaking exhibit was that of Fehily Contemporary whose entire stand consisted of ‘The Last Suppermarket,’ by Ken and Julia Yonetani. It was a supermarket filled with baked goods, fruit, vegetables, seafood and meat which were all made of white salt. The attendants in white coats offered shopping baskets, and you could buy the individual items. Punnet of salt strawberries for $250, anyone?
Otherwise, there was a lot of items that caught my eye. This is just a very small selection:
One thing I would like to see changed for future MAFs is the gallery labeling. Gallerists need to realise that having no artwork signage (‘Oh, that’s so that visitors engage with us in discussion…‘), or signage that is tiny, with fine font and placed in inaccessible locations does not enamour them to the MAF visitor. 70 galleries is a lot to get around, and having to get down on your knees to read fine print placed at floor level is not fun. Big font near the respective works please, gallery-people.
If you’re in Melbourne and would like to see the Art Fair, there’s just one day left. So get on down there tomorrow (Sunday). Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait until 2016.
Melbourne Art Fair 2014
www.melbourneartfair.com
A biennial event – next held: August 2016.
