Clear Your Walls for Affordable Art Beijing (AAB) 2012
Posted: April 25th, 2012 | Author: LumDimSum | Filed under: Art, Upcoming Events | Tags: AAB, Affordable Art Beijing, Art, Art Fair, The 798 Space, Tom Pattinson | No Comments »
Time to clear your walls and make room for the hot new art on sale at Beijing’s most popular art fair of the year, Affordable Art Beijing (AAB).
Already in its 7th year, Beijingers go mad for this art fair. Long queues form before the doors even open (they expect to see up to 10,000 visitors) and once they do start letting everyone in, floods of people rush in as they grab as much as they can (it’s first come, first serve) before it’s all disappeared.
For those unfamiliar to the AAB Art Fair, it was founded in 2006 by art addict Tom Pattinson who realizes there are plenty of people out there who are keen to start an art collection with a limited budget.
“AAB gives the public an opportunity to be able to afford high quality works of contemporary art and enter the art market, whilst giving young artists a platform to show and sell their works to a large audience.” - Tom Pattinson, Founder of AAB
Whether or not you’ve caught the art-bug, this is one of the rare occasions you can both familiarize yourself with China’s local and foreign contemporary artists and purchase masterpieces at a price anyone can afford from a few hundred RMB to a max of RMB 20,000. This is your chance to snag some real steals, but be careful not to get carried away with impulse purchases.
“There are some incredibly works that will be on offer from some very hot young artists. Last year Liu Aijing sold all six of her works in under five minutes, and Guo Hongjie also sold out within an hour, so we are looking forward to having them both take part again in 2012.” - Tom Pattinson
My favorite bit about AAB is knowing that each of the art works available has been individually hand-picked by the AAB Team. This ensures the overall quality and consistency of both the featured artists and their works of art. According to Tom, they have received submissions from over 1200 artists this year. Out of this massive pile to choose from, only 255 of those artists made the cut.
“We spend all year visiting art schools, going to artist villages and working with art professionals to find the best in new talent from across the country. This year we have artists from Liaoning in the north to Sichuan in the west.” - Tom Pattinson.
So get ready, you have just over a month to start saving up your piggy bank as it’s just been announced (hot off the press!) that AAB Art Fair will be happening on the first weekend of June: Saturday, June 2-Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 in Beijing’s 798 Art Space (same location as last year).
Once again, the two-day fair will showcase hundreds of contemporary Chinese art of various styles and mediums – from small prints to large oil paintings, to hand painted sculptures and photography.
To wet your appetite for contemporary art, here are my top picks that will be up for grabs at the AAB Art Fair -
“Tug of War” 拔河 by Cao Xihui 曹锡辉
“37″ by Du Qingfeng 杜青峰 / ”Van Gogh” 梵高 by Ge Duo 戈多
“Birds on a Rock” by Huang Shaojie 黄绍杰 / 以物喜 以己悲 系列 Series by Ling Guiyuan 凌贵元
河岸 “Riverbank” by Chen Bo 沉波
Two Pieces of 谁 or “Who” Series by Guo Hongjie
Works by Cai Jun
Animation by Tian Xiaolei / 蝴蝶 “Butterfly” by Li Jinguo 李金国
诱饵01 “Bait 01″ by Gao Feng 高峰 / Tian Xiaolei 《山水小品》
Works by Celia Chi
戴帽子的女孩 no.2 “Girl Wearing a Hat” by Chen Beibei 陈蓓蓓 / 鱼 “Fish” by Liu Sicong 刘思聪
Works by Dong Kui
Ian Webb – “New Year’s Day iii”
Last, but certainly not least, this year AAB will be working with WABC, a charity that uses art therapy to help mentally disabled patients.
“Through creative expression patients can often improve their emotional and psychological health. By demonstrating their artistic talents, the project also aims to bring more awareness of the mentally disabled as a part of the community. AAB will dedicate an exhibition space at the event to sell WABC art works, with all the proceeds going to the charity.”
城市系列 “City Series” by Zhang Shiying 张世英
Event Details:
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Dates: Saturday, June 2- Sunday, June 3, 2012
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Time: 11:00 – 18:00
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Location: The 798 Space
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Address: Ceramic 3 St. 798 Road, 798 Art District, 4. Jiuxianqiao Road
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Website: Click here for AAB’s Official Website.
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Contact: Christine@affordableartchina.com or call +86 10 6407 5314
