High-end art bargain extravaganza Sunday May 27th Old Truman Brewery offering artwork from leading British talent
The UK’s hottest annual art fair, the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair, returns to the Old Truman Brewery with its 9th annual event on Sunday, May 27th with a fantastic line-up of over 70 top artists including Sir Peter Blake, Gavin Turk, Polly Morgan, Bob & Roberta Smith, Pam Hogg, Jessica Albarn, Pure Evil, Turps Banana, Wildcat Will and more. The event will bring together a mix of legendary and up and coming artists who will offer up exclusive and one-off pieces at the one day event which turns the traditional car boot sale on its head and has become a highly anticipated event on the Summer calendar.
The first Art Car Boot Fair was held in London in 2004 with a line-up of around 30 artists including Gavin Turk, Abigail Lane, Matt Collishaw, Fiona Banner and Bob & Roberta Smith. It has been held every year since, except for 2005, making this year the 9th edition of celebrated art fair. The main aim of the Art Car Boot Fair is to be a day when the artists let their hair down and for all-comers to engage with art and the artists in an informal way, and to pick up some real art bargains to boot.
The Art Car Boot Fair is a fun and exciting one day event combining a car boot sale and an art fair. Originated and produced by Karen Ashton, a curator and independent art consultant and writer, the ideas behind the Art Car Boot Fair developed out of Joshua Compston’s ‘Fete Worse than Death’ and Gavin Turk’s ‘Livestock Market’ and ‘Articultural Shows’, Hoxton based events that blazed a trail in the late 90’s. The first Art Car Boot Fair picked up where they left off with the intention of re-introducing some summer fun and frivolity into a thriving but increasingly commercial London art scene.
Participation as an artist in the Art Car Boot Fair is by invitation only. There is no pitch fee and no transaction with the organisers. We work with well-known and up and coming artists who all buy into the idea of making their work accessible to a wide audience on the day. The event now features a line-up of over 70 artists. The event is at once cool, stylish, eccentric and bursting with incredible art bargains.
Crowds flock to the art-packed car-park, queuing up for the chance to get their hands on one of the many valuable and exclusive pieces from the abundance of high-end art bargains on offer. Last year’s event attracted around 5,000 visitors during the six hour event with queues forming the day before leading to a line-up of 1,000 people by the time doors opened! The one day event allows artists to let their hair down and for visitors to engage with art and the artists in an informal way, and to pick up some real art bargains to boot.
Artists themselves will sell their wares from the boots of classic and vintage cars where visitors will have the chance to grab incredible art and mingle with the artists themselves. With artworks available from £10 to £1,000, the event provides something to suit every collector’s budget. The not-to-be-missed event is the ultimate bargain-hunting extravaganza which has seen sell-out stalls within the first hour of opening.
Renowned painting magazine Turps Banana is set to return to the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair this year following their sell-out appearance last year. Their limited edition prints featuring works by Damian Hirst, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marcus Harvey and Ryan Mosely became an instant collector’s item and sold out within the first hour last year’s event. This year, Turps Banana will present another exclusive edition of works from leading artists- guaranteed to be another hit.
The Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair provides not just incredible art bargains but an amusing and entertaining line-up of activities as well. This year the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair is excited to introduce to its entertainment line-up the Handbag Disco in support of Just for Kids Law charity. Visitors can get their party on while they donate to charity and enter for a chance to win a designer handbag. In exchange for a £10 ticket customers will have the chance to win a sought-after handbag worth up to thousands of pounds. The ticketed event will see DJ’s including Gaz Mayall (from Gaz’s Rocking Blues), musician and artist Wildcat Will, performance poet Murray McLachlan Young and more providing the soundtrack to a 70’s style disco where customers boogie down around handbags hidden in cloth bags. A coveted designer bag will be hidden amongst the bags and when the music stops, grab a bag for the chance to take home a stunner. There will be a bag for each disco-dancer so no one will be left empty handed. All profits will be donated to excellent and award-winning charity
Just for Kids Law who provide essential support, advice and representation to disadvantaged young people who find themselves in difficult situations with the law.
Speaking about the upcoming event, Denis Chick, Director of Communications at Vauxhall Motors UK said, “Vauxhall Motors is thrilled to once again support the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair which is a great celebration of British art and demonstrates Vauxhall’s passion for supporting up-and-coming talent. The event is a fantastic day out and with the amount of cultural activity taking place in London this year we will no doubt see pieces which are sure to become collector’s items. Vauxhall Motors will also showcase our heritage vehicles at the event including the Firenza, Victor, Viva, Chevette, Cavalier, Nova, Velux, Lightning as well as the new award-winning Vauxhall Ampera.”
With British cultural celebrations coming to a head this summer with the Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee, inspired designs and occasionally irreverent works from the participating British artists will no doubt be rife. More outrageous and eclectic entertainment will also be provided by artists who will offer special services as well as performance based pieces including the ultimate fun generators The Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club Stage, giving plenty to amuse as well as buy. Food and drink stalls including St John’s Bread & Wine and Nude Espresso will also provide sustenance to keep visitors on top bargaining form throughout the day. Look out for more updates at www.artcarbootfair.com on more famous artists who’ll be taking part along with details on activities and exclusive pieces to be on offer this year.
Art Car Boot Fair founder and curator, Karen Ashton, commented on the this year’s event, “The Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair just gets better every year and while it will be hard to top the amazing line-up we presented in 2011 we think we can, by adding elements to build and develop both our audience, our line-up and the incredible art ‘booty’ from our amazing line-up of artists.”
Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair
Brick Lane Yard, Corner of Brick Lane and Buxton Street, London E1
Sunday May 27th, 2012: 12 – 6 PM
Tickets available on the door – £3