The London Art Fair (16-20th Jan,2008) turned out to be a mixed-event inspite of showcasing the best of contemporary and established modern British art says Jeff Ross, ArtVantage (UK)

My UK based colleague, Mr Jeff Ross, visited the London Art Fair last week and was somewhat disappointed by the trip. He commented - ‘…try to imagine a shopping mall for Art Dealers and Galleries, all that was missing was the Starbucks and the MacDonalds. Probably not surprising after 20 successful years, there was a lot to see and a lot of people milling around fairly aimlessly maybe it was just too much choice, or possibly too little? Over 100 galleries from across the UK turned up with a varied mixture of paintings in a variety of forms, and strong photographic displays, a few sculptures and art pottery to spice up the offering of modern, contemporary and established artists. In truth, there were some very interesting pictures on view, but also a lot, the vast majority, of fairly predictable wares that seemed to be selected by the Galleries with a strong eye on the market place of Loft Apartments and safe art, with selection by price tag and size, rather than imagination and challenge.  One wonders just how much the programme of talks and debates added to the event, and how much it provided the visitors with the opportunity to sit down. With a few notable exceptions, nearly all the paintings fell in to the same sort of price range and it was often quite difficult to tell one gallery stand from another. Well, the Gallery owners are in business to make money from Art and they can hardly be blamed for that and if you wanted to get a good snapshot of what the market place offers in the £1000 to £5000 (sterling) price band you would not be disappointed in that, no but you just might possibly be disappointed in the predictability and repetitiveness of much that was on show.’

For more info on the article, please contact Joy Roy Choudhury at artvantage.uk@gmail.com