A Tiny Hot Dog Art Show and Other Treasures at Affordable Art Fair
Dylan Martinez's glass-blown water balloons, Deanna Billy Projects' mini wiener paintings, and Abu Oluwaseyi's abstract portraits all caught my eye at this year’s NYC edition.
Depending on who you talk to, "affordable art" could qualify as a million-dollar steal for a blue-chip painting or a $2 plastic-wrapped print at Washington Square Park. While the latter tends to be more within my tax bracket, I found myself sticking mental bookmarks into some artworks at the opening of the New York Affordable Art Fair last night.
Running through this Sunday, September 20, the semiannual Affordable Art Fair returns to the Starrett Lehigh Building in Chelsea with artworks from 620 artists, most of whom are based outside the United States, according to a press release. With pieces ranging in price from $100 to $12,000, the atmosphere feels a touch more approachable than some of its more exclusive counterparts. Along with a dedicated "Works Under $1,000" wall, many booths designated a pile of prints under a certain price range.
While milling around with plastic thimbles of wine, about a dozen visitors mistook me for a staff member or exhibitor, given my all-black uniform. I witnessed a couple fighting over whether to purchase a display of vintage cookbook spines that had been glued together and one attendee compared Gabe Benzur's surrealist oil paintings to their last trip on LSD. Later, while rifling through a pile of under-$1,000 butterfly prints, a patron thrust the ones they liked into my arms.
As I noticed during my accidental stint, the crowds were chatty if not endearing, willing to strike up conversation about anything from Deanna Billy Projects' miniature hot dog paintings ($150 a wiener) to Amelia Coward's vintage map assortment that looks like bubble wrap from afar (around $1300 to $3500).
