London Art Fairs: A Beginner’s Guide - Londonist
It seems like London plays host to an art fair every other weekend. How do you decide which one’s are worth going to?
One major differentiator is who’s at these fairs. Some are gallery fairs where all the stands belong to established galleries representing their artists. The advantage here is that the galleries have already screened the artists and selected who they want to represent. This means that the art quality should be high, but also that the gallery will take a hefty commission on purchases. Brace yourself for higher prices.
The other type – we’ll call these artist fairs — are where the artists represent themselves. The organisers of the fair do some screening, but the quality of the work on display is usually a mixed bag. The advantages are you get to talk to and negotiate with the artist directly. This is your chance to discover up-and-coming artists before they make it big.
The third type we’ll refer to as genre fairs. These are aimed at a niche, specialised market and might be the best place to go if you know the exact type of art you’re after.
Gallery Fairs
London Art Fair
Venue: Business Design Centre
When: Every January
Price Range: No limit
Verdict: One for the high rollers, you’ll see artworks going into six figures that are likely to include works by notable artists such as Damien Hirst and Picasso. The level of quality here is very high and is great for browsers but only for serious buyers.
Affordable Art Fair
Venue: Battersea Park and Hampstead Heath
When: Bi-annually in Battersea (March and October), annually in Hampstead (November)
Price Range: £50 to £4,000
Verdict: The title is a little misleading as the prices tend to be more towards the upper limit so may not fall within your definition of affordable; but there is usually much high-quality work on display. Most artists represented are already well established so you may have to settle for their smaller works as their larger pieces often tend to exceed the upper limit of the fair.
Frieze Art Fair
Venue: Regent’s Park
When: Every October
Price Range: Undefined
Verdict: Similar in scope and price to the London Art Fair. This is full of well-established galleries from around the world and this is reflected in the quality of the art and the prices.
Masterpiece
Venue: Royal Hospital, Chelsea
When: Every June
Price Range: Undefined
Verdict: It’s probably unfair to classify this as an art fair as it’s all about masterpieces — from art to food and on to classic cars. This is another one for those with bulky wallets or for those wanting to see what high society is all about.
20/21 British and International Art Fairs
Venue: Royal College of Art, South Kensington
When: Every February (International) and September (British)
Price Range: Undefined
Verdict: A duo of gallery fairs that has one show for British galleries and a separate fair that opens the doors to other art dealers from around the world. The fairs are smaller and less populist so offer a much more relaxing environment for buying and browsing in comparison to the bustle of some of the aforementioned.
Pinta
Venue: Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre
When: Every June
Price Range: Undefined
Verdict: A fair that specialises in bringing across work from the emerging Latin American contemporary art scene. A rare opportunity to see art that doesn’t get a huge showing in the UK.
Artist Fairs
The Other Art Fair
Venue: Ambika P3
When: Every May
Price Range: £50 to c£5,000
Verdict: This is one for spotting the ‘next big thing’. Artists here are unrepresented and are usually very early on in their careers. Hence, there are plenty of bargains to be had. On the flipside, the quality of the work can be variable but don’t let that put you off because there are hidden gems to be found.
Parallax Art Fair
Venue: Chelsea Town Hall
When: Quarterly in February, May, July and October
Price Range: c£50 to c£2,000
Verdict: The very definition of low key. This is an international art fair where up-and-coming artists showcase their work at surprisingly reasonable prices, especially for Chelsea. There are lots of talented artists on display that you might not find elsewhere.
Wimbledon Art Studios — Open Studios
Venue: Wimbledon Art Studios
When: Bi-annually, Summer (May) and Winter (November)
Price Range: c£50 to c£10,000
Verdict: A truly unique event where artists let you wander around their paint-stained studios. There are usually a few hidden talents waiting to be discovered and it’s an opportunity to enter artists’ creative worlds. It also stands apart for being the only free art fair on this list.
Genre fairs
Kinetica Art Fair
Venue: Ambika P3
When: Every February
Price Range: c£50 to c£75,000
Verdict: A great mix of science and art with quirky inventors displaying their wares. Our top recommendation for browsers as you’re unlikely to find these creations in any mainstream gallery.
Animal Art Fair
Venue: South Bank
When: Every May
Price Range: £150 – £30,000
Verdict: Animal lovers won’t want to miss out on this one. If you’re a fan of animal art then this is the place to look for that painting or sculpture you’ve been searching for.
Pick Me Up
Venue: Somerset House
When: Every March/April
Price Range: c£15 to c£1,000
Verdict: This fair is all about contemporary graphic art and bargains abound with signed prints available from as little as £15.
London Original Print Fair
Venue: Royal Academy
When: Every April
Price Range: £100 to £100,000
Verdict: This is the more refined and pricier cousin to Pick Me Up. The higher price range is justified by the more notable names and galleries represented but we prefer the edgier Pick Me Up.
Collect
Venue: Saatchi gallery
When: Every May
Price Range: Undefined
Verdict: The most notable crafts fair in London (though we don’t know of any others). If you’re looking for something that’s both functional and aesthetically pleasing then this is for you.
Did we miss any? Let us know below and we’ll add them to the list.
Watch out London Collections: Men, here come the Women - fashion.telegraph.co.uk
The British Fashion Council has announced plans to promote London designers' womenswear collections with a special showcase in June.
BY Olivia Bergin | 21 May 2012
A model backstage at Matthew Williamson spring/summer 2012 Photo: SEAN CUNNINGHAM
The gap between February and September's London Fashion Week is a large one, so the British Fashion Council have today announced that they are filling the void with a new event, London Collections: Women.
Hot off the heels of the inaugural London Collections: Men - a three-day showcase of the capital's brightest menswear brands and new talents from June 15-17 - Women will promote the growing number of brands and designers selling mainline or Resort collections during this period.
READ: What to expect from London Collections: Men
"Many designers showing at London Fashion Week have now introduced pre-collections, some for the very first time this season," explains Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council.
"There are great showrooms here in London and we want to encourage as many as orders as possible to be written here."
READ: Prince Charles to host London Collections: Men reception
Designers who have been in business for at least three years will be eligible to apply to show under the umbrella. Their applications will be reviewed by an advisory panel comprised of leading opinion formers, press and retail representatives. Established names such as Matthew Williamson, Mulberry, Alice Temperley and Issa have already signed up. June 18 is slated as the official launch date, but designers have flexibility over the duration of their showroom openings.
London ticket grumbles seen as price of success - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Complaints over elusive and expensive tickets for the 2012 Olympics are a product of unprecedented demand to see live action from Britons, the man behind the policy said on Monday.
"I'd build a stadium with a million seats because we had more than a million applications to see the opening ceremony and the 100 metres final," Paul Williamson, London 2012 director of ticketing, told the Global Leadership Summit at the London Business School when asked what he would have done differently.
Demand for tickets has far outstripped supply, leading to grumbles from Britons about the initial allocation via online ballot, prices and the number of tickets going to sponsors.
Tickets for the opening ceremony cost from 20.12 pounds ($31.80) to 2,012 pounds ($3,200).
Williamson said London organisers had to market tickets for sports like handball which is a mystery to many people in this country. He said handball and other "challenging sports" like archery, shooting and wrestling would now be played out before full houses.
Athletes could also look forward to having their heats staged in a busy Olympic stadium.
"Morning sessions at the athletics, when the preliminaries are held, were always in a half empty stadium," said Williamson.
"We'll have 60,000 plus in London, so we must have got some of the pricing right. It'll be a different audience from the evenings, more families, but a vibrant atmosphere."
Some of those ticketing grouses were voiced at the conference. Brigitte Ricou-Bellan from online ticket market place StubHub told the conference that her company had surveyed Britons and found dissatisfaction "not just on prices but on delivery of tickets".
However, London organisers won heavyweight support from Michael Payne, former marketing chief for the International Olympic Committee, noting demand for tickets.
"This is viewed internationally as by far the most successful (ticket) marketing programme," Payne told the conference. "It will be the model for Rio (in 2016). The problem is success," he said.
Williamson said a further batch of Games tickets would go on sale on Wednesday and that he expected almost everything to sell out in London.
Tickets for soccer at venues like Newcastle and Glasgow were proving harder to shift, he said.
London organisers had talked of selling excess tickets at booths in the capital before the start of the July 27-August 12 Games but Williamson said he did not expect many tickets to be left over to sell in this way.
($1 = 0.6326 British pounds)
(Reporting by Keith Weir, editing by Justin Palmer)
London NHS trust fined £90,000 for data breach - BBC News
An NHS trust has been fined £90,000 after 59 patients' details were sent to the wrong person.
Personal data, including diagnoses, was faxed to a member of the public 45 times for three months from last March.
The Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust did not have sufficient checks in place, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said.
The trust said the breach was regrettable, but it intended to appeal against the the fine.
'Acted incorrectly'Stephen Eckersley, the ICO's head of enforcement, said: "Patients rely on the NHS to keep their details safe.
"In this case Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust failed to keep their patients' sensitive information secure.
"The fact that this information was sent to the wrong recipient for three months without anyone noticing makes this case all the more worrying."
A spokesman for the trust said: "We deeply regret that the Information Commissioner has decided to impose a fine and so we have instructed our lawyers to commence an appeal against this.
"We consider that the commissioner has acted incorrectly as a matter of law and so we have no alternative but to bring an appeal."
But she added that protecting patient confidentiality was a top priority and the incident, which was a result of human error, was "hugely regrettable".
The trust had apologised to those affected and changes have been made to procedures following an internal investigation.
London 2012: Ticket design features sporting pictograms - BBC News
Pictograms of sporting events - including cycling, swimming and equestrianism - feature on the design of the London 2012 Olympic tickets.
Tickets, which are being sent out in the next few weeks, are colour coded according to the venue where the event is being staged, to help spectators.
In a bid to reduce counterfeiting, a hologram, barcode and the name of the booker will be printed on the ticket.
Delivery of Olympic tickets, travel cards and guides will begin this week.
Olympic organisers Locog commissioned branding specialist company Futurebrand to help design the tickets.
Every ticket will have the purchaser's named displayed, with the idea that tickets can be easily traced.
Paul Deighton, chief executive of Locog, urged spectators to keep their tickets in a safe place.
"With the Olympic Flame now making its journey towards the Olympic Stadium and with less than 100 days to go before the Paralympics, I cannot remember a more exciting week on the road to London 2012," he said.
But he issued a warning to sports fans without tickets not to be tempted to buy from unofficial websites or touts.
"In many cases, they [the websites] simply do not have tickets to sell and there is a real danger people will end up being out of pocket and missing out on seeing the Games."
With tickets for the Paralympics still on sale, Mr Deighton urged potential spectators to check the Locog website to be certain tickets were bought from an authorised source.
Det Supt Nick Downing from the Metropolitan Police urged people to check their tickets for the in-built security features.
"Genuine tickets will have a number of security features built into them to minimise the risk of counterfeits," he said.
"The safest way to ensure that your ticket is genuine is to only buy from an authorised seller which can be found on the London 2012 website.
"If you buy from an unofficial site, you risk paying over the odds for a ticket that may not exist, may not be genuine and you risk not getting to see the Games."
London close: Stocks rebound, EU summit eyed - Life Style Extra
- Hollande expected to push eurobond idea to Merkel
- Risk-on as financials, miners advance; defensives sold
London's FTSE 100 finished firmly higher on Monday following a poor performance last week which saw the blue chip index slump to its worst levels since mid-November 2011. Despite the rise though, the mood was still cautious as uncertainty over Greece's future in the Eurozone continued to dampen sentiment ahead of a meeting of European leaders scheduled for Wednesday.
New French President Franois Hollande is expected to press German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the implementation of the so-called 'eurobonds' (debt issued and backed by the entire Eurozone together) at the informal European Union meeting to be held on May 23rd. Merkel has long opposed immediate implementation of eurobonds because she feels it would hinder member states from becoming fiscally responsible and following through on structural reforms.
Leaders are also expected to discuss the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the idea of giving it the capability to directly recapitalise struggling European banks, something which Germany has also been long-opposed to.
As expected, the Group of Eight (G8) world leaders this weekend spent a great deal of time focusing on efforts to promote global economic growth and particularly on the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis while showing their support for Greece remaining in the single currency. "We agree on the importance of a strong and cohesive Eurozone for global stability and recovery, and we affirm our interest in Greece remaining in the Eurozone while respecting its commitments," the joint communiqu said.
"With Germany continuing to oppose relaxing the austerity measures and issuing eurobonds, the options are starting to run out for the ailing Eurozone economies, with some unable to borrow in the open market due to the excessive borrowing costs and Spain and Italy only hanging on in there," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.
In other news, there were rumours that China could act to counter a slowdown after Premier Wen Jiabao called for "putting stabilising growth in a more important position". According to the Chinese Securities Journal, the world's second-largest economy could announce stimulus measures in the near term.
FTSE 100: Financials, resource stocks provide a lift; defensives sold off
The financial and resource sectors were making gains today, rebounding after a poor showing last week as they bore the brunt of the Eurozone-fuelled sell-off.
Hedge fund manager Man Group jumped after saying it is set to pay up to $142.8m for FRM Holdings, a global hedge fund research and investment specialist. Man and FRM's combined multi-manager business will have total funds under management of approximately $19bn, making it the largest independent non-US based fund of hedge funds.
Global banking group HSBC rose after completing the sale of 195 US retail branches to First Niagara Bank for $0.9bn, first announced in July last year.
Barclays was on the rise after announcing its intension to dispose of its entire holding in BlackRock.The transaction will be by way of an offering and related buyback by Blackrock itself, and is likely to cost around 3.8bn based on the valuation at the close of trading last Friday.
Mining stocks were broadly higher on the back of stimulus hopes in China with Vedanta, Polymetal and Xstrata making gains as copper prices ticked higher. However Fresnillo was in the red as precious metals prices came under pressure.
Real estate investment trust British Land rose after revealing profits ahead of expectations and net asset value (NAV) growth in the 12 months to the end of March. Underlying profits before tax rose 5.1% while NAV grew 4.9%.
Defensive stocks were firmly out of favour today as investors tapped into 'riskier' assets. Utility peers Centrica, United Utilities, Severn Trent and SSE were among the worst performers of the day.
FTSE 250: Resources on the rise, Lamprell drops after downgrade
Resource stocks were leading the risers on the second-tier index as copper and oil prices edged higher. Heritage Oil, Petropavlovsk, Afren, Ferrexpo, Cairn Energy, Wood Group and Talvivaara Mining all made decent gains.
Heading the other way though was oil, gas and energy engineer Lamprell after Nomura downgraded its rating from buy to reduce on the back of last week's profit warning. "We believe Lamprell's execution and operational strategy is fundamentally at risk and we were wrong to previously assume the company had turned a new leaf. In our view, the root cause of the problems announced lies with management's inability to execute lump-sum contracts," analysts said.
Newsletter publisher and exhibitions organiser Informa fell after sticking with its full-year guidelines despite admitting that renewal and new subscriber cycles are taking longer than they used to.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,008.00p +5.16%
Man Group (EMG) 78.80p +4.65%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 20.80p +4.05%
Polymetal International (POLY) 828.00p +3.63%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,328.50p +3.26%
Xstrata (XTA) 943.00p +3.09%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,373.00p +2.77%
IMI (IMI) 881.50p +2.68%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,503.00p +2.52%
Aggreko (AGK) 2,084.00p +2.46%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,319.00p -2.87%
Centrica (CNA) 310.60p -1.40%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 237.90p -1.33%
Tesco (TSCO) 311.15p -0.81%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 617.50p -0.80%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,644.00p -0.66%
SSE (SSE) 1,325.00p -0.60%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,030.00p -0.48%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 801.00p -0.44%
BT Group (BT.A) 203.20p -0.39%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Heritage Oil (HOIL) 124.60p +8.25%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 411.60p +5.11%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 50.85p +4.85%
Henderson Group (HGG) 96.40p +3.82%
Inchcape (INCH) 323.30p +3.56%
Salamander Energy (SMDR) 165.00p +3.45%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 709.00p +3.43%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 218.10p +3.36%
Cape (CIU) 331.90p +3.04%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 294.40p +2.94%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 101.10p -6.65%
Northgate (NTG) 171.00p -6.10%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,725.00p -4.55%
RPS Group (RPS) 206.50p -3.82%
Informa (INF) 369.60p -3.72%
Savills (SVS) 312.20p -3.61%
TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 61.40p -3.31%
Lamprell (LAM) 117.00p -3.31%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,151.00p -3.28%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 492.50p -3.24%
BC
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