Art 15

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At Art 15, as with so many contemporary middle-market fairs, Asian artists and galleries seem to be quite dominant. Among a varied selection of works, there are a few pieces that manage to stand out from the general sea of uncertain art lacking innovation. One gets the feeling that there are talented young artists out there, but who are getting lost in trying to faithfully reproduce and reinvent the work of Modern masters.
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Ren Ri at Pearl Lam 


Pearl Lam, the mega star of the fair, has brought out works by the talented young painter Ben Quilty, shown alongside Ren Ri Beehives. Whilst La New gallery from Madrid is showing a duo show of work by Cristina de Middel and Andrés Pachón. Middel's series This is what hatred did takes cues from Amos Tutuola's My life in the bush of ghosts, producing stunning photos of the 'floating slum' that is the Makoko district of Lagos. 
 
Whilst the downstairs section hosting most of the big-name galleries seems a little cluttered in terms of overall curation, the mezzanine is far calmer where arguably the most interesting section of the fair can be found, London First, housing galleries that have existed for less than five years and participating in a London fair for the first time. One such stand, Galerie Laurent Mueller, is presenting a neat monochromatic exhibition of three artists: London based Adam Ball and James Brooks, and Parisian Laurence De Leersuyder.
 

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Left: work on paper: Overtone Adam Ball, sculpture: Moule perdu Laurence De Leersuyder. 
Right: Empreinte de bitume Laurence De Leersuyder at Galerie Laurent Mueller


October Gallery is presenting an iconic 2014 El Anatsui piece. Whilst it is one of the most important works at the fair, it is still on the stand unsold. At £1.2 million the gallery might have misjudged its audience. As gallerist Laurent Mueller explained to us, the fair doesn’t necessarily attract connoisseur collectors, more so Londoners with stable buying power. Citibank is the principal sponsor of the fair with spaces and tours put on especially for its employees, the fair's ideal targets.
 

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El Anatsui, Timespace (2014)