Since its foundation in 2004, The Art Car Book Fair has offered the most covetable art work at heavily discounted prices. This May it will prove once again to be the most fun way to buy art. The art that is shown is exclusively commissioned for the event and offered at unique prices by the artist in person. This line-up is star-studded with Polly Morgan, Pam Hogg, Marcus Harvey and Rankin showing their work, alongside many exciting newcomers such as Emma Douglas and Maisie Cowell. From the 15th- 17th May, their springtime Flora & Fauna edition will be showcased on their new digital platform designed by award-winning developers Affinity and design team Fruitmachine, which promises all the delight that the ACBF team routinely delivers. With the art fair accessible via their digital platform, the fair remains true to their DNA as a democratic art fair, widening their audience (and potential customers) further.
While you shop the artwork, you can take part in their Programme of the Day which aims to replicate the festival-style atmosphere of the fair in your home. Among the many activities, you can take a look at Louisa Buck and Nancy Dewe Matthews’s Critic’s Choice Selection; listen in to The Masons’ discussion on diversity and inclusion in photography or to gardener and photographer Isabel Bannerman read an excerpt from her forthcoming book The Star Nosed Mole. There is also the opportunity to hone your own artistic abilities by watching a masterclass in painting held by the talented Aaron Bevan Bailey, or by taking part in a life-drawing class with Robert George Sanders & London Drawing and Euan Roberts’ kids’ lockdown drawing class to which all adults are welcome.
Flora & Fauna celebrates the natural world as we gradually emerge into it from our locked-down dwellings. For the edition, ACBF’s artists’ responses to nature have produced a plethora of works featuring flowers, shoots, and perennials, as well as strange creatures, and creeping spirits. If this is not enough to convince you to buy a ticket, here is a taster of the work on offer.
EMMA DOUGLAS
Emma Douglas is an artist based in London whose sensitive and emotive work is autobiographical, drawing on memories, particularly of her son Cato who passed away in 2010. She is working on developing a hieroglyphic language related to memories.
She works in a diverse range of media and her works on display will be watercolours, etchings, limited edition giclee prints of sculptures and small oil paintings.
THE MASONS
The Masons’ photography practice is inspired by brave people who break down barriers, through whom they explore diversity and equality. The duo consists of real life partners for over a decade Maruska and Donna-Marie. Their work moves between luxury advertising campaigns and art and in both spheres they encourage diversity and positive representations of different cultures.
DAVID EDMOND
Based in South London, David Edmond is a figurative painter working in oil. He has been featured in shows nationally including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition for the last two years. Edmond is selling a series of small oil paintings on Fabriano Telata paper.
CHRIS BURNS
Chris Burns’ work is largely figurative and centres on painting and drawing. He has been a practising artist since leaving College in the 1990s and is currently represented by Aleph Studios. To further develop his painting practice, he has enrolled in the Turps Offsite program.
MEKIA MACHINE
Marco Walker’s practice encompasses a range of media, such as photography, collage, alternative print and photographic installation. His work has been shown internationally as well as featured in a number of media outlets, namely Vice, i-D, The New York Times and AnOther.
MAISIE COWELL
Maisie Cowell is a London based artist, who graduated from Brighton’s illustration degree in 2020. About her narrative and comic work she says: “It’s a bit masochistic, I think sometimes my work is a bit of an exercise in poking fun at the things I don’t really want to admit about myself.” Her work is largely illustrative, while she also makes larger-scale acrylic paintings and writes comics.
Tickets are £12, available to purchase on their website.
