A soon-to-open art show in New York City stands out: The Other Art Fair is coming to Brooklyn this weekend.
The show will bring together more than 120 acclaimed and up-and-coming artists, half of them New Yorkers, half from around the globe, and over 9,000 art pieces will be at ZeroSpace in Gowanus from Nov. 9-12.
The Other Art Fair is composed of multiple community-led projects featuring artists from Brooklyn-based Arts Gowanus, the art gallery 3walls, and the Bed-Stuy Art Residency — all working to support and advocate for emerging artists in New York City. Throughout the weekend, guests can look forward to unique installations, one-on-ones with the artists and their work, virtual reality experiences, hands-on workshops, live DJ sets, drinks, and snacks.
Since its launch in 2011, The Other Art Fair has worked with over 3,000 artists from more than 20 countries and now hosts 11 fairs annually across the U.K., the U.S., and Australia.
“Following the success of our spring fair in Brooklyn, and highest art sales to date, we’re thrilled to return to New York in a new, larger venue,” said Ryan Stanier, founder of The Other Art Fair, in a release.
Among the highlights of this edition is the work of the international street photographer and composition artist, Xan Padron.
“This is the only art fair I go to in person,” said Padron. “It’s an artists’ fair and I always learn the most from other artists —about the art scene and other methods of art. It’s curated and it is wonderful to get to explain your work. Artists have so much fun there and we transmit it to the people.”
Padron is known for his time-lapse pieces taken around the world. He chooses a single tiny spot in a non-touristic area of any city, jumps off the bus and becomes “invisible,” he said, for the next two hours, to capture what happens in a moment in life.
“We take for granted many things in our lives: the way people dress, the feeling of a neighborhood,” said Padron. “Just sit on a bench and look at people. People watching is our way to be, to live in the city. It’s how we interact. It’s a way to conquer the public space and it’s really fulfilling.”
The photographer has captured moments in Chinatown and Harlem, rivers of people in Midtown Manhattan, and snippets of life in Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, London, Trinidad and La Habana. The idea for his time lapses came from examining a strip of film and the influences from his background in music.
“You can see the beat,” he said. “The rhythm of these has the power to cause a feeling in anyone who has been in those neighborhoods.”
“The fair is a mini homecoming for artists,” said Brooklyn fair director, Emily-Jean Alexander. “They are there each day and the experience is rewarding.”
One of the goals of the fair is to make art accessible to many people. Some of the selected pieces start at $50.
“Artists sell out,” Alexander said.
The event has moved around Brooklyn over the last few years. It first happened in Williamsburg, then the Navy Yard. As it has continued to grow, it has landed for the first time in Gowanus.
“It’s big,” said Alexander. “ZeroSpace is a cool studio and it just makes sense to have it in Gowanus, a hub for so many artists.”
Other program highlights include an installation by Danny Cole, 23, a hyphenate artist known for his ongoing art project Creature World, a manifestation of the universal human spirit, that exists purely without age, gender, or nation. Tattoo artists Evan Paul English and Maggie Stockman will also be there, offering flash tattoos in their personal style.
“The fair looks different every single day,” said Alexander.
The Other Art Fair is at ZeroSpace on 337-345 Butler St. from Thursday, Nov. 9, to Sunday, Nov. 12. Hours vary per day, and ticket prices begin at $24.99.
