By Jessica Columbus and Henry Walsh
The latest Sydney edition of The Other Art Fair at the White Bay Cruise Terminal showcased the work of more than 120 artists over the first weekend in October. It was a very special affair.
The Other Art Fair is a global series of art fairs hosted across Australia, America and the United Kingdom.
First launched in London in 2011 by Ryan Stanier, The Other Art Fair has grown to multiple cities throughout the world since its inception.
It was created to provide emerging and independent artists with a platform to showcase their work to the public, bypassing traditional gallery representations.
The Other Art Fair’s first Australian event was held at Sydney in 2015 at the aMBUSH gallery at Central Park, Chippendale.
Over the years it has been held at prestigious locations such as the White Bay Cruise Terminal and The Cutaway at Barangaroo.
This year’s opening night attracted hundreds of art enthusiasts from far and wide, punters walked the terminal browsing the incredible work on display while DJs spun tunes and bubbles flowed.
This edition of The Other Art Fair was the 100th global event and organisers were keen to make it extra memorable, installing a series of interactive works for the public.
Throughout the fair we looked at many amazing works and chatted to some artists, the vibe was high as artists did their best to persuade would-be buyers into purchasing their work.
We chatted with Benjamin Van Elkin, an artist from Canberra who showcased his wide variety of experimental art with us.
“This is my work, it’s called Diagnosed with Doodleism,” said Van Elkin. “It’s part of my healing process I’m going through, the imagery represents both the physical and psychoactive trauma I’ve induced.
“This work here the painting is torn, that’s the trauma component, the ink is the dark places where we go when we suffer the trauma, and the gold represents the healing path.”
There was an extensive amount of work on display, such as ceramics, drawings, screen printings, sculptures, photography and a wide variety of paintings.
Another artist who was keen to share some of their work was Jess Curran.
The multi-disciplinary artist, currently studying at UNSW, has a passion for health, gender and shame-based issues within society.
Showcasing a series of paintings on pillowcases, the works were made completely from donated and recycled linen.
“I hit up Bed Threads who sent me a bunch of old recycled stuff which I’ve used for heaps of my work,” said Curran.
“For the pillow cases I did a natural dying process using teabags, mint leaves, onion skin and avocado seeds and skin.”
Curran was the recipient of The Other Art’s Future Program, designed for first-time exhibiting artists to break down traditional barriers of the contemporary art world.
Recipients are selected in collaboration with art world experts and local creative partners to bring their respective talents and differing perspectives.
In celebration of reaching 100 fairs globally, cartoonist John Paine was commissioned to create an interactive mural consisting of 100 individual drawings, each drawing could be coloured in by visitors.
Over the three nights there were also workshops, food trucks, DJs, artists doing live works and a tattoo station run by Nah Mate Pokes.
The weekend proved a huge success with plenty of visitors leaving with their own pieces of work while the fair continues to push the boundaries of the Australian and global art world.
The Other Art Fair continues its worldwide tour in London and Brooklyn throughout October.
It returns to Australia in 2025 with a Melbourne edition being held in January/February and a Sydney edition being held in May.
Featured image: The crowd at The Other Art Fair 2024. Photo: Henry Walsh
