Since it made its Melbourne debut four years ago, the Affordable Art Fair has become an eagerly anticipated event!
From Thursday August 31 – Sunday September 3, the creative fair will once again open its doors for art enthusiasts to browse and buy from 54 galleries across the country.
The four-day event will be held in the newly restored Royal Exhibition Building and will feature an incredible selection of affordable art, as well as an engaging program of interactive workshops and guided tours.
Below, we’ve pulled together a list of 14 artists and their respective galleries we’re excited to see at the fair. Plus, scroll on to enter our giveaway to win two VIP four-day passes to the Affordable Art Fair for you and a friend, along with an exclusive fair director’s introduction and a bottle of bubbles!
Blue and Orange, by Llael McDonald.
Figs, Cheese and Champagne, by Llael McDonald.
Butter, Milk and Eggs, by Llael McDonald.
LAEL MCDONALD
Represented by Sketch Co
Llael McDonald’s work is moody and nostalgic, capturing ‘the ordinary’ with familiar flair. Whether it’s a cracked egg on a kitchen counter or a mismatched collection of blue crockery, Llael’s paintings stir emotional connection and memory to moments gone, and no-doubt yet to come.
Left: Silent, $1400, by Chanel Durante.
Right: Timeless, $1350,by Chanel Durante.
Seed 07, $1600, by Berny Bacic.
Seed 03, $2950, by Berny Bacic.
CHANEL DURANTE + BERNY BACIC
Represented by SIBU Gallery
Italian-born, Sydney-based Chanel Durante says she doesn’t paint landscapes, but ‘the moving gaze of them’. Working with oils on canvas, she expertly blends a palette of soft hues to capture a fleeting moment in time.
At SIBU Gallery you’ll also find the eye-catching, abstract work of Berny Bacic, whose impressive portfolio also encompasses graphic design, art direction and textile design. ‘My artwork draws energy and inspiration from the land in its many interpreting forms, the layers of impasto and graffiti-like marks are evident within my mixed media palette which at times comprises of acrylics, collage, aerosol, gouache, ink and graphite,’ she says.
Pas De Deux, by Cally Lotz, $2,100.
A Change in Reality, by Cally Lotz.
CALLY LOTZ
Represented by West End Art Space
Cally Lotz is another Melbourne-based artist, who creates engaging still-life paintings with everyday objects such as buckets, parcels, plastic and crockery. She chooses these subjects, not for their beauty, but as signifiers of implied meaning, and for the potential they offer her as a painter.
If You So Desire (It’s Yours Until They Say So), $1350, by Emma Currie.
Tempest, $1795, by Kels O’Sullivan.
EMMA CURRIE + KELS O’SULLIVAN
Represented by Outré Gallery
We’re thrilled to see Emma Currie at The Affordable Art Fair this year. Emma’s distinctive style captures the balance between fluid shapes and hard edges as she explores both abstraction and figurative motifs through geometric colourblocking. We’re big fans!
Another artist who beautifully captures the abstract harmony between soft shapes and hard lines is emerging artist Kels O’Sullivan. Her inspiration — the discipline of modernism and the pattern and textile of mid-century design — is front and center in her deconstruction of shapes to create emotive compositions.
Left: Karaa Secret, $4,900, by Melissa Ladkin.
Middle: Kuribibi Stream II, $4,900, by Melissa Ladkin.
Right: Kuribibi Stream I, $4,900, by Melissa Ladkin.
MELISSA LADKIN
Represented by The G Contemporary
Melissa Ladkin is a contemporary Aboriginal artist living on Bundjalung country, Northern NSW and is a proud descendant of the Awabakal/Wonnarua/Bundjalung peoples. Her art has a strong connection to the land, not only in subject but also material, as she works specifically with ochre, carefully and respectfully collecting and processing this pigment for her pieces.
Wishing Between Dreams, $1600, by Belinda Wilson.
Left: With You IX, $2000, by Stacey Mrmacovski.
Right: With You XI, $2000, by Stacey Mrmacovski.
BELINDA WILSON + STACEY MRMACOVSKI
Represented by Manyung Gallery
Established and award-winning Australian artist Belinda Wilson is a must-see at the Affordable Art Fair this year. Her work champions the Australian landscape in spectacular blues, created using a mix of oil paint, watercolour and gouache.
Stacey Mrmacovski is another contemporary artist whose energetic take on landscapes is hard to forget. Greatly inspired by impressionism and expressionism, her work features highly textured brush strokes to create both real and imagined landscapes.
Left: Interior Study With Vessels, $2580, by Laura Vecmane.
Right: All Things Fragile, $3320, by Laura Vecmane.
LAURA VECMANE
Represented by Stevens St Gallery
Latvia-born, Sunshine Coast-based artist Laura Vecmane spent the early years of her artistic career in Europe. This time travelling and soaking up international inspiration has been a significant influence in her art, which features still-life vignettes often with a strong link to nature.
Golden Banksias & Morning Tea, $2650, by Melanie Vugich.
MELANIE VUGICH
Represented by Sarah Birtles Art + Advice
Melanie Vugich’s passion for colour is evident in her joyful still-life paintings. Her work celebrates the beauty of Australian native flowers and everyday household items with a flourish that can only come from having designed fabrics for Oscar de la Renta and Victor Bellaish.
Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) – Pirlinyarnu, $2280, by Julie Nangala Robertson.
Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) – Ngarlikirlangu, $3850, by Sabrina Nungarrayi Gibson.
JULIE NANGALA ROBERTSON + SABRINA NUNGARRAYI
Represented by Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
Julie Nangala Robertson has been surrounded by art nearly all her life. Her early years spent around Warlpiri painters working in Alice Springs and Yuendumu, and absorbing the rhythms and movements of her mother Dorothy Napangardi’s paintings have helped her developed a beautiful style of refined dot painting. As the traditional custodian of Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming), Julie’s paintings rely on her unique blend of stylised experimentation and ancient narrative to express the story and culture of her ancestors.
When Sabrina Nungarrayi isn’t painting, she’s singing in the church choir, or hunting with her family. The Nyirrpi-based artist started painting in 2010 with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginial Corporation, and much of her work highlights her grandfather’s Country, associated with water and lightning dreaming.
Left: Grapes, by Georgia Pricone.
Right: Magnolia and Figs, by Georgia Pricone.
GEORGIA PRICONE
Represented by P3 Collective
Melbourne-based artist Georgia Pricone’s paintings have a Renaissance-esque flair. Her latest body of work features family heirlooms and homegrown botanicals on darkly mysterious backdrops. But, far from being ominous, the stark presence of her backgrounds instead creates a sense of space and serenity.
Buy tickets to The Affordable Art Fair Melbourne (on August 31 – September 3) here, or enter our giveaway for your chance to win VIP passes below!
Please note this competition is now closed. The winner was drawn and notified. See here for the T&Cs.
