Attending this year’s British Art Fair as a first timer I found it to be a more pleasant experience than the London Art Fair at Islington’s Business Design Centre. The large hall and sheer size of the London Art fair can feel overwhelming whereas meandering through the various rooms on the three floors of the Saatchi Gallery on Duke of York Square in Chelsea feels more intimate.

There is a wonderfully balanced mix of fine, modern and contemporary art from established blue chip names to emerging talents which makes for a day of viewing some exquisite art.  There is also a healthy amount of more affordable prints to peruse. The fair has over 70 galleries exhibiting who collectively succeed in catering to collectors, enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

Clarendon Fine Art (stand 51) presented a wall of Damien Hirst’s The Secret Gardens Paintings. While not my favourite pick of art at the fair it is certainly enlightening to see where Damien Hirst is positioned now. Clearly there is no need to shock his way to fame anymore. Being such a provocateur and at times polarizing he seems to have mellowed considerably over time and his preoccupation with mortality appears to have gone out of the window. In art we have seen all manner ofgardens and fields filled with flowers, but these did not excite.

On the other hand, Banksy is probably at the forefront of ourcollective minds after a prolific nine days creating his street art throughout London in August this year. He remains an intriguing, relevant and exciting artist. One of the many DI-faced Tenners is displayed on the Clarendon Fine Art desk. The source of the notes is from stunts performed in 2004 by dropping suitcases full of these counterfeit notes into the crowds at Notting Hill Carnival, Reading Festival, and Liverpool Street tube station at rush hour in 2004. Despite the stunt being 20 years ago, it was a treat to see the DI-faced tenner in the flesh.  They are not exactly rare as there are approximately 100,000 notes in circulation, as Banksy printed £1millions worthbut each note is certainly valued at more than a tenner. At first, the Di-Faced Tenner looks almost identical to a traditional £10 note, apart from the swapped portraits. But on closer inspection Banksy has altered a few more key parts. Instead of ‘Bank of England’ at the top, the note reads ‘Banksy of England’. Directly underneath, in a sharp comment on the fate of Princess Diana at the hands of the media, reads “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the ultimate price”. On the reverse side,underneath the portrait of Charles Darwin, Banksy has included the ominous statement of “Trust No One”.  Banksy’s art reliably always has something to say.

The Cynthia Corbett Gallery (stand 17) is showing a couple of recent works from Andy Burgess a British artist now residing in Tucson, Arizona. His work shows interest in strong colour, light, abstraction, architecture and all things vintage, retro and analogue. His practice includes making collage both abstract and representational from found and collected vintage papers, such as 1930’s and 1940’s Matchbooks. He is best known for his abstract depiction of modernist architecture and mid-century modern homes. The two works displayed are reminiscent of certain David Hockney’s paintings of homes in California, yet still feel unique to Burgess with his abstract and colourful style.

Beaux Arts Bath (Stand 47) has some strikingly modest still life works by Helen Simmonds which imbue a sense of calm and tranquillity from our hurried lives. Aptly said in a quote by Patrick McGuiness “Less is not always more. Sometimes it is everything.”

Blond Contemporary (Stand 14 &15) had on display all the hard hitters. David Hockney’s The arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire (2011), a large-scale iPad drawing in colours on wove and two more recent works from 2021- still lifestyle images again created on iPad and printed on paper 23rd March, Flowers in a milk bottle and 24th February. Red, Yellow and Purple Flowers on a Blue Tablecloth. Various galleries showcased works by Bridget Riley but Untitled (Fragment 5) (1965) edition of 25 was the standout, with an alluring smooth texture and subtle sheen from being screen printed on Plexiglas. There are a pair of Damian Hirst’s oil on canvas Oil Blossoms (2021). Lastly the pièce de resistance for me, Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure (1948) Edition of 30 is a stunning screenprint on linen which I felt privileged to have seen.

Lastly filmmaker and ‘digitalist’ Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou and her team have curated a new section PIVITOL dedicated exclusively to a cutting-edge digital art exhibition. The section includes AI photography, AI and blockchain art and NFTs. She says, “Digitalism at British Art Fair aims to unequivocally establish this long overdue movement in art, which encompasses a myriad of innovative forms of digital creative expression.”

Experimental art collective Untold Garden, known for its physical installations, virtual sculptures and alternative social networks, are debuting new work, as will the London artist known as X New Worlds, whose popularity has led to recent exhibitions in New York, Seoul, Porto and Barcelona.

The blend of established and emerging talent combined with each galleries’ considered curation makes this art fair a must see.

Date: 26 — 29 September 2024. Location: Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York HQ, King’s Road, London SW3 4RY. Price: £26.50. britishartfair.co.uk.

  Words by Natascha Milsom