118 ARTS
Albert Irvin OBE ‘ Presence III ’ 2012 acrylic on canvas 61 x61 cm . Courtesy of Advanced Graphics London
John Hoyland ‘ Helel Fallen Angel ’ 1988 acrylic on canvas 254 x 254 cm . Courtesy of Tanya Baxter Contemporary
Museum Partnership - Ben Uri
London Art Fair has partnered with London ’ s Ben Uri Gallery and Museum for its annual Museum Partnership . The Museum Partnership provides a prominent London platform and significant opportunity for patrons , collectors and general Fair visitors to engage with an exhibition of exceptional museum quality works – bringing some of our most important regional private collections into the public domain .
The works on display , which include paintings and sculptures , focus on the immigrant experience , speaking to the rich contribution to British art made by Jewish , immigrant , and refugee artists which is Ben Uri ’ s DNA . The collection includes Frank Auerbach ’ s Mornington Crescent , Summer Morning II , David Bomberg ’ s Racehorses and an artwork by British-Iranian visual artist Zory Shahrokhi which was commissioned by Ben Uri in response to Liberators : 12 Extraordinary Women Artists from the Ben Uri Collection .
In 2018 , the Museum published a transformative Strategic Plan which propelled a prescient shift to create the first full-scale digital museum and research centre which complemented Ben Uri ’ s vibrant gallery programming . The redefined , fully digitised unique collection reflects the wider immigrant landscape and contribution to British Art , including 880 works by 390 artists from 45 different countries of birth .
Encounters
Encounters is a new section launching at London Art Fair 2023 curated by journalist , curator , and member of the Encounters Selection Committee , Pryle Behrman . Formerly Art Projects , Encounters is a showcase of the freshest contemporary art from across the globe featuring young , up and coming galleries eager to present their emerging artists on a major platform alongside established names who are creating new and exciting work , taking their practice in a different direction .
The new section of curated solo and group presentations is where the two meanings of the word ‘ encounter ’ meet . An encounter is often unexpected , perhaps leading to the discovery of an unknown
artist or , alternatively , an unexpected style or theme ; an encounter can also suggest a confrontation between opposing positions and artworks that challenge entrenched views and understandings .
Highlights include a display by Shame Gallery whose pieces by Nathan French , originally a fashion designer , reference the multiplicity of tempers , moods and thoughts that occur inside every one of us ; Catherine Anholt ’ s paintings at TIN MAN ART see the artist exploring a range of emotions and experiences spanning childhood , parenting , the natural world , birth and death , having previously been primarily known as an author and illustrator of children ’ s books . At April Contemporary , an installation by Luqmaan Godfrey – the artist alter ego of muralist Damilola Odusote – combines mixed media drawings , poems , texts , collages , and murals to present ‘ reality ’ as a continually changing map that is both malleable and wholly transient .
THE ART OF LUXURY Issue 56 2023