SPRING 1883: Art Luxe

Spring 1883 Art Fair returns to Sydney this September, bringing with it an exciting energy and change of pace. The Art Fair, which coincides with Sydney Contemporary, takes over the Establishment Hotel for four days, aiming to blur the lines around how audiences interact with the works and their artistic spaces.

This sixth iteration of the fair sees 24 handpicked galleries – from Australia, New Zealand and the USA – each present work in the luxurious CBD hotel suites, seeking to provide an intimate counterpoint to the at times overwhelming atmosphere of larger art fairs.

60 per cent of this year’s exhibiting galleries are taking part for the first time. The Renshaws make an exciting return after a 5-year hiatus of their Brisbane-based Ryan Renshaw gallery, showing a solo by Michael Georgetti. This Is No Fantasy present a duo show of work by Alexander Standen and Simon Degroot, while Christchurch’s Jonathan Smart Gallery makes its way across the Tasman with work by Sanjay Theodore, Saskia Leek, Robert Hood, Zina Swanson, Kristy Gorman and Judy Darragh.

Charles Nodrum Gallery debuts at the fair with a showcase of the gallery’s interest in Abstraction and taste for artists who don’t happen to fit the art history cannon but are nonetheless exemplary in their skill and quality. The gallery will present work by George Johnson, Trevor Vickers, Norma Redpath, Clive Murray-White, James Gleeson and Edwin Tanner, among others.

Other newbies include Mercy Pictures from Auckland, Andrew Baker Art Dealer from Brisbane, Moore Contemporary from Perth and The Vivian from Matakana. They’ll exhibit alongside Spring veterans including Murray White Room, Neon Parc and Sarah Scout Presents.

SPRING 1883 was established in 2014 by Neon Parc’s Geoff Newton, Sarah Scout Presents directors Vikki McInnes and Kate Barber and art advisor Vasili Kaliman. The shift towards a more intimate and authentic experience was driven by what Spring co-founder Kate Barber says was a demand from both galleries and audiences for a more experience-driven version of the art fair format: “SPRING 1883 responds to a more intimate encounter with contemporary art. Both audiences and collectors enjoy discovering challenging and cutting-edge contemporary art behind each new door.”

Spring 1883 2019 lineup:

The Renshaws

Mercy Pictures

Arts Project Australia

Success

Tributary Projects

Sarah Scout Presents

Jonathan Smart Gallery

THIS IS NO FANTASY

Andrew Baker Art Dealer

The Vivian

LON Gallery

Charles Nodrum Gallery

Blockprojects

Suite

Funaki

Murray White Room

Moore Contemporary

Neon Parc

Sumer

Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art

Cement Fondu x Daata Editions

Image: The Sarah Scout Presents suite at Spring1883, Sydney, 2017. Photo: Zan Wimberley