Favourite Finds from The Holy Art Fair
Last week I participated in a group art exhibition in London - The Holy Art Fair. The best part about participating was connecting with other art lovers, both those exhibiting and those attending the fair. The second best part was seeing all of the wonderful creations they brought to exhibit.
Narrowing down a selection was tough, but here were the pieces that spoke to me —
Artist Yuxiao (Maverick) Ran
Chinese artist who studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and is currently in London at the Royal College of Art for painting. The painting hanging on the right of screen is titled “Ignorance Buried Here” and I loved the takes of non traditional landscapes.
Find him on Instagram @louissquare13
Artist Sander Berg
An artist who kicked off their career in 2019 and has lived in Oslo and Rome. His “claustrophobic” paintings play with the concept of confinement. His painting of the sheep for me was beautiful and emotive. I never personally felt school was a prison but that sense of dread many children felt is what the combination of chalk board and lines made me feel. The half sheered goat represented the feeling of exposure. This one really drew me in.
See more of his work on his website and find him on Instagram @s.mk.b
Artist Minju Kim
I was lucky to spend some time speaking with Minju throughout the weekend. She is a S. Korean born artist who has been in London for years. She has studied painting, fashion, and design and her current work focus on life/death. No surprise to anyone that knows me, but I fell in love with her paintings as she incorporated the movement of fabric in such a wonderful way. With nods to classic sculpture and the use of bold, almost bloody colours I had to visit her work multiple times per day.
My favourite piece she brought was “Fortune Teller” pictured below. The majority of the scene is composed of different draped fabric; the curtains and then the wardrobe of the fortune teller. It’s immaculate and these photos do not do her work justice!
See more of her work on her website and find her on Instagram @minjukim_art
Artist Helen Ardo
Helen was such a joy to meet at the fair! She was so incredibly lovely, as was her art! She made the journey over from Paris for this exhibition. Helen has received some training in classical styles, which you can see in her wonderful renditions of Raphaels’s Binto Altoviti and the male from Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Couple paintings below. She has used that to inform her works of more contemporary subjects, like her sandwich - which I loved.
See more of her work on her website and find her on Instagram @helenardo_art
Artist Charlie Constantinou
Charlie is a multi-hyphenate London based artist who has spent a good amount of time on the island of Cyprus. The works he exhibited featured architecture, furniture and humans inhabiting their homes. The Cyprion light hitting a building was one of my favourite paintings of his, though it was hard to choose. He is masterful at caputuring light and representing shadows.
Find him on Instagram @art_of_charlie_constantinou
Artist Merry Antbroidery
I don’t even know where to start when I review Merry Antbroidery, but I think I have to start with the dynamic duo, Gloria and Merry themselves. What an inspiring couple as humans and as artisans! Gloria has a background in fashion and costume design in the Hong Kong film industry and Merry is a competitive fencer and former flight attendant. They moved to London within the past year and are pursuing art full time. Each of them are both so friendly, creative and cute! I was happy to be next door to them at the exhibition.
Their work is truly magnificent. They jointly design and Gloria executes their creations which are miniature embroidered scenes based on imagery from classic Hong Kong films. The execution is immaculate and evoke a strong sense of space and place even when you are not familiar with the reference film. Her attention to detail and ability to create depth her work reminds me of what Renaissance great Donatello achieved with his low relief sculptures. I cannot wait to see the success that these two have.
Learn more about them on their website, and follow them on Instagram @merry_antbroidery
Hope you’ve enjoyed and discovered a few new artists to obsess over!
Which work above is your favourite?
