Leaf : The Other Art Fair Featured in the New York Times

ANTI-FRIEZE ART FAIRS ABOUND IN BROOKLYN

By Brook S. Mason

The Frieze New York art fair has long lured deep-pocketed collectors like Henry Kravis, Eli Broad and Dasha Zhukova with its million-dollar, cutting edge contemporary offerings and top-name galleries in a bespoke white tent. But down the East River, Brooklyn is brimming with fairs of its own touting emerging artists, many with budget prices. Even where costs are higher, looking is free and worth the trip.

The Other Art Fair, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Moniker International Art Fair and the Fridge Art Fair are running through the weekend, and they could be viewed as anti-Frieze events. Tapping into an overlooked market, they predominantly spotlight young talent. Although each fair has the requisite roster of lectures and guided tours, there's also a host of performances. Some of them have craft beers and food trucks. And Brooklyn art fair tickets begin at $15 to $20. Here's a sampling of what you can find.

The Other Art Fair

May 3-6, Brooklyn Expo Center; theotherartfair.com

The model for The Other Art Fair, or TOAF, differs from that of other events. 'We offer up artists on their own, rather than through dealers,' said Ryan Stanier, the fair's founder, who has expanded from Britain to Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles, with a Chicago fair slated for September. The Other Art Fair made its New York debut last year.

Staged at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint and presented by the Saatchi Art enterprise of Santa Monica, TOAF showcases 130 international artists with prices ranging from $250 to $10,000. Rebecca Wilson, the chief curator of Saatchi Art, and Mary Rozell, global head of the UBS Art Collection, sifted through some 1,000 applications.

'It's really an effective springboard for talented emerging artists to raise their visibility in the eyes of both seasoned and novice collectors while clinching sales,' Ms. Rozell said. Visitors may even get to actually meet the artists.

There is an experiential cast to the fair, with local D.J.s and the Brooklyn tattoo artist Scott Campbell, whose clients include Penélope Cruz and Sting. The illustrator Amber Vittoria (whose clients include The New York Times) will sketch portraits for free.

Here you can find a Maryland newcomer like Hannah Sarfraz, whose delicate 2017 'Blue Feather' drawing is $1,500, or her prints, for $150. The New Orleans photographer Dan Tague, whose inkjet prints are in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, is here with limited edition photographs, including 'Keep On Spending In the Free World,' capturing crumpled up dollar bills, in an edition of five for $6,000.

From Bogotá, Colombia, the artist Lorenza Panero is showcasing her 2017 'Luminous River,' which comprises 29 framed aluminum glass panels lit from beneath. At 3 feet wide and 4 feet long, it can serve as a floor installation, or even be hung, for $5,410.

Raúl de la Torre, whose work is featured at the Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi and Morgan Stanley offices, is showing his 2016 'Serendipity X (10)' works on paper, which he both paints and embroiders, for $500. Nadia Attura's beguiling editioned photographs are the same price…

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