Inside Eye of the Collector Art Fair in London
I’m a big lover of Art because it truly does lift my spirits. As I share in some of my favourite quotes, Dante Alighieri quite famously said: ‘beauty awakens the soul to act’; beauty has a transformative superpower to wash away the mundane and compel us to want to be a part of it. Which is why I often go by what I like and what makes me feel good, not by what I think I should like in order to make me look good.
As a born and raised Londoner, there is a lot that I have seen and done in the city and whilst some of it never gets old, unsurprisingly there comes a time when you do start hunting for more novel experiences.
Eye of the Collector is a recent example of this hunt for the novel, in particular where London's Art scene is concerned. It's an Art Fair located within a Historic Central London location, one which resembles a house to enable the visitor to interact with the Art differently and envision what it may look like in a home… as opposed to Art being presented in a large gallery or purposely built fixture.
Whilst all Art Fairs’ purpose is to sell tickets (and Art) it is true that upon entering the room I did feel excited and inspired because the building itself lent a unique charm to viewing and engaging with the Art (although, I also really enjoy classic Art galleries with white walls so am not against that approach either. Masterpiece in London is a great example of a classic Art Fair which never gets old).
The Fair was hosted at 2 Temple Place, a minute walk from Temple station, and was spread across two floors with installations dotted around the place. So my journey felt like I was indeed visiting someone’s home, from entering the drawing room, heading to the grande stairwell and making my way up to the bedrooms.
Despite attempting to discern its set up from other Art Fairs, ultimately what differentiates Fairs is the curation of the Art itself and here I do think Eye of the Collector deserves credit. I loved a lot of the pieces; the overall collection was a blend of contemporary and abstract consisting of fresh, original and captivating work. The fair did a great job of bringing together Art which not only conceptually explored new perspectives in a unique way such as motherhood, religion and different cultures, but the execution of the work itself was captivating.
It’s a ticketed fair, but worth a visit and back next year. Here are some of my fave highlights of this year’s exhibit…
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