For this new partnership between the Affordable Art Fair and La peau de l’ours, we wanted to approach the space dedicated to emerging artists through the experience of young collectors.

We wanted to pay tribute to those visitors who made the choice to acquire their first contemporary art work during the fair.

Their names are Alexandre, Laura, Aubry, Sophie and Lazlo and they share with us their experience of a first acquisition.

Lazlo

Lazlo has been attending the Affordable Art Fair for a few years now. At first, he visited the fair as an exhibition, but that year he came there with the intention of buying.

We are seated in his cozy Brussels apartment when the young collector explains that his interest for art began with his parents, who were already collectors. Lazlo took an interest in contemporary art by visiting exhibitions and trying his hand at auctions.

He likes the Affordable Art Fair because of its accessible side and that price is not a taboo. Instinctive, he can see right away whether it works or not and he doesn’t need much time to visit the fair.

About the exhibition, he appreciated the eclectic approach but also the opportunity to meet the artists, which for him makes all the difference.

The work? An acrylic on Arches paper entitled “Serendipity 18PF OB” created by visual artist Benjamin Ottoz.

Sophie & Aubry

It is by candlelight and around a glass of red wine that Sophie and Aubry welcome us at home on an autumn evening, under the camouflaged baluster of the ceramic artist Safia Hijos.

Sophie and Aubry see themselves less as collectors than contemplators: “It’s less dangerous“, Sophie laughs. “Collecting underlies the quest for the object, however this is moments and emotions that we collect around a work“, Aubry proceeds.

It was first of all literature that led Aubry to push the doors of art galleries and exhibitions. “The two disciplines maintain a virtuous correspondence. While one first sharpens the feeling and the other the look, it is the spirit that they reinforce through dialogue, according to a common system of reference: beauty“, Aubry confides to us.

During her first visit to the Affordable Art Fair, Sophie explains that she was struck by the Onomatopoeias of the Franco-American artist Cadine Navarro on the exhibition “Young Talents“. “When I later met Aubry, I was surprised to see Onomatopoeias on the walls of his living room! ». For the two lawyers, “the only legislation in this area is the coup de coeur“,Aubry continues.

The meeting of multiple arts in a relaxed setting  reflects what they enjoyed at  the Affordable Art Fair. “It’s a bit like strolling through a library, free and popular. You spend an hour as well as a day there. We meet there to exchange about the works… and sometimes to offer them a life,” comments Aubry. “The Affordable Art Fair has established itself as a rendezvous between friends that we don’t want to miss,” continues Sophie.

Their works? An acrylic on canvas entitled “Arriba” by painter Julie Susset at the “Art & Beyond of the Affordable Art Fair.

Laura & Alexandre

Laura & Alexandre welcome us in their flat located in Ixelles. They had already been visiting the fair for a few years when we met them at the 2019 exhibition “Art & Beyond”.

The couple was already visiting museums and art spaces but rarely galleries. Art fairs were, in a way, a gateway.

Moreover they had no intention of buying when they discovered Benjamin Ottoz’s work.

What do they like at the Affordable Art Fair?  The accessible side, the relaxed atmosphere, but and that you can visualize the works in your own interior.

Laura finds interesting that we approached the exhibition in a multidisciplinary way. Alexandre liked the non-commercial side and the mediation around the work of the artists. For him, deciding to acquire a work is a binding act. It is therefore important to value the artist’s work, to meet someone who can speak up for his work.

Their works? An acrylic on paper by the French artist Benjamin Ottoz which has found its perfect place in their apartment. And a bit later, following a visit to the gallery, a work created by the collagist Olivia Descampe, an artist we presented in a previous edition.