Monday 15 October 2007

Bridge Art Fair London 2007

Swanky hotel, just off Trafalgar square, which meant dodging the seething tide of tourists all wanting to ride the big lions. Showed our press tickets to the bored attendant and took the lift to the first of five floors of pure artage.

Each hotel room still retained all the normal furnishings but the walls, ceilings and sometimes bathrooms were jammed pack with different kinds of art. Of the five floors and various artistic mediums there was one constant. Each room had at least one representative from the gallery that was showcasing.


We would sometimes be greeted with a polite, “hello” or “hi” or even “howdy.” Then things would go either two ways: the attendant would be laid back and genuinely happy to have someone to talk to or they would pretend to be completely oblivious to our existence and form a face like someone just farted. Lucky for us, most were friendly and more than happy to discuss the various pieces.


I’m unconvinced by the hotel room format for show casing but with a little imagination (the gallery from Antwerp recreated the room like a mini squat rave, banging bass et al) these crampt confines can be made ideal for fobbing off frescos.

I crawled out of the Bridge Art Fair, eyes bleeding and brain pounding. Taking in thousands of images and styles in the space of a couple hours is truly a unique experience.

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