Review: 20/21 BRITISH ART FAIR

20/21 British Art Fair 2009:

This fair is the first event of the autumn season. It attracts a loyal following of Modern British dealers and collectors in the very pleasant surroundings of the Royal College of Art in Kensington Gore, adjacent to the Royal Albert Hall. I still feel that the fair was better housed in the old Commonwealth Institute  designed by Robert Matthew/Sir Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners, architects. The Art blended perfectly with the the stylish grade two listed building in High Street Kensington.

20/21 is more 20 than 21. It desperately needs an injection of young new dealers to liven it up, however now in it's 22 year, the fair has continued to impress us with a solid array of works by Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and Victor Pasmore. There always seems to be one artist that is in abundance each year and in 2009 it was the abstract expressionist William Gear. Gear is a fine painter although the prices on many of the works seemed a bit optimistic in my view.

There is no question that the fair is filled with some very good examples by some of the biggest names in 20th century British art. As long as you are expecting a walk (or preferably a shop) through Tate Britain rather than Tate Modern it will not disappoint.

This years notable exhibitors were Antony Hepworth displaying an impressive Art Deco oil by Christopher Wood titled Exercises from 1925 along with a selection of work by Frink, Vaughan and Alan Davie. Henry Boxer always shows imagination displaying his undeniably strange, Outsider Art and Julian Hartnoll presented us with some new interesting Bratbys along with other examples of the Kitchen Sink School.For more contemporary work, Jill George got the mix right with works by Alison Lambert, Mark Firth and Christina Niedberger. While Rebecca Hossack bravely filled her stand with prints of books by Phil Shaw...not quite sure I get it really...

This is a fair to saviour like curling up in your favourite chair with a glass of port. The book would be Graham Greene and the port....umm Sandeman's.

ArtBitch September 2009