The Other Art Fair is set to thrill Sydney this October, exposing the talents of raw and undiscovered artists. Tickets are available to BresicWhitney readers here.

Ryan Stanier founded the fair in the UK as a platform for emerging artistic talent and since 2011 has presented editions in London, Bristol and Sydney. Each year showcases a new collection of self-represented artists, with artworks for sale from as little as $100. Sydney 2016 will be the 15^th edition and offers an expanded vision curated around the theme of ‘Making Art Fair’ from newly appointed Fair Director, Laura Richardson.

A major partner of The Other Art Fair, BresicWhitney have commissioned three new video art animations as part of the People’s Choice Award, to acknowledge the outstanding artists of the fair. The four-day event (27 to 30 October) will be hosted at the COMMUNE  on Bourke Street, Waterloo.

Left: Sarah Beetson, Lena Dunham. Right: Sarah Beetson, Exotically John Galliano. Cover image: Cathyann Coady, Chill Pill.

Roslyn Oxley and a panel of art experts including Amanda Love and Ben Quilty have selected the 100 artists to participate in the fair. Roslyn Oxley’s gallery, Roslyn Oxley9, was established in Sydney in 1982 and has a rich history of supporting contemporary art. She has personally fostered the careers of some of the most influential Australian artists working today, including Tracey Moffatt, David Noonan, Fiona Hall, Patricia Piccinini, Bill Henson and Dale Frank.

We caught up with Oxley to find out what we should expect from this important new creative breeding ground and why you should pay a visit to The Other Art Fair.

Isabella Connelley with Bethan Mooney, Titty Tassels.

Artists are surprising

“People tend to think of artists as being a different kind of breed. A bit more relaxed, a bit more chilled out, but they’re not really. Most really good artists spend a lifetime doing it. They are not your sort of ‘Sunday painters’.

“They start working early in the morning and they go all day. Good artists have an incredible work ethic. I think they become quite obsessive as well. I find it really interesting to see how committed they are. Artists, or at least the good ones, spend years working on their practice.”

Art is fun

“With art, you have to jump in. I think it’s particularly appropriate to go to The Other Art Fair and to look at a whole lot of artists all at once, all together and then to collect what you think you might like. If you go to The Other Art Fair you are going to see quite a vast array of stuff, it’s not going to be that expensive and that’s fun.

Martine Vanderspuy, Emerald Seas.

“As with everything, just buy what you love. You can’t buy something irritating – even though it might be the most expensive thing on the earth. You have to work out what sort of thing you want around. Last year The Other Art Fair was very successful. There were queues of people snaking around the block!”

Art is a good investment

“I also think The Other Art Fair is a fantastic thing to put money into because it is money going in the right direction. That’s why it is good to have initiatives like The Other Art Fair in the market, so people can get in on the ground floor and start off on the whole journey. Fairs like this are a training ground for collectors,” Oxley says.

“To become a good collector you just have to start by buying something. The best thing about an art fair like this, is that that if you buy something that you love, it turns into a good investment.”

TOAF selection committee including fair director Laura Richardson and Ben Quilty, Roslyn Oxley, Amanda Love and Leif Podhajsky.

Participating artists

More than 100 of Australia’s most talented emerging artists have been selected to participate in The Other Art Fair Sydney. The selection committee of contemporary art experts is comprised of Ben Quilty, Roslyn Oxley, Amanda Love and Leif Podhajsky, which Richardson says ‘select artists based on their merit rather than experience, social status, gender, ethnicity or their financial position.’

Artists presenting at The Other Art Fair 2016 include: Chrysa Koukoura, Celeste Wrona, Mark Collis, Ben Hosking, Joe Helmore, Sarah Beetson, Timothy Jones, Bianca Beetson, Martine Vanderspuy, Chocolate Einstein and Kirsten Jackson, representing a range of mediums including painting, resin, photography and illustration.