18 January, 2006

Art in a Shed


Last night I was lucky enough to be taken to the "London Art Fair" by Nick Stephenson from Shangri-La. (Thank you Mr Stephenson!)

It was the preview evening, and held in the Islington Business Design Centre; which almost upstaged the actual art, given how fantastic a venue it is. An old, yet beautifully preserved, Victorian 'shed' - Nick was telling me that apparently it had been left for a considerable amount of time to literally rot. It was so decrepit during that time that trees were growing up through the building.

Not now though. It is a stunning space, with big high ceilings and Victorian ironwork throughout. It was previously the Royal Agricultural Hall, and has been restored in a way which combines the amazing architecture with a contemporary twist.

The art itself was great - although almost overwhelming in its volume. Nick was telling me that it is very much a 'commercial' fair - so the galleries who are exhibiting pay a high premium for the space; therefore they have to recoup whatever they can.

As a result, the galleries seemed to have pulled out their 'big guns'. Walking around, there were Warhols sitting next to work by Julian Opie and Catherine Yass; work by Gavin Turk, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin; and even some original Picassos, a few Lucian Freuds and some Henry Moores!

Ziggy did not buy anything. Primarily due to the fact that he couldn't afford anything.

10 comments:

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JM said...

Wow. You should have taken more pictures. Would have loved to have seen more of the art on display. But I bet they had rules against taking pictures.

running42k said...

Looks pretty cool. I could use a shed that big.

c nadeau & t johnson said...

how is nick? why did he stop blogging? why didn't he reply to my email about wine? why is he so damned mysterious? why do men wanna be him and women wanna do him? why is he gay? why isn't he around? why ziggy? why?

missy said...

yeah... why!!

heh... :-) Who is Nick?

DanProject76 said...

What Scribe said.

Jay Noel said...

Looks like a plane hanger, or Area 51.

K~ said...

Ziggy that place sounds amazing! I too would have loved more pictures of the iron work. I'm a big fan of the Victorian age.
Anyhow, when we all hit the lottery and have a few extra million to spare, then we all might be able to afford something right :)

DaBich said...

I'm waiting for the answer to Scribe's numerous questions.

ziggystardust73 said...

It was an amazing shed. And the art wasn't too bad either.

re. the other questions: this is Ziggy's blog.

And sorry, but Ziggy can't speak for Nick. :-)