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By Nicholas Carolan

Seven emerging artists exhibiting their work at The Other Art Fair

Step into the world (and extraordinary works) of these emerging and unrepresented Australian and international artists

Agus Wijaya is a graphic designer by day, artist by night. Originally from Indonesia, Agus focuses on his own interpretation of people and of moments in time. His subject matter is very personal, evident in his new body of work created specifically for The Other Art Fair, which was inspired by his experience at last year's edition.

Initially inclined to keep design and painting separate, he saw a chance to add another layer of experiencing art by bring the two disciplines together. Agus' lightboxes are mesmerising and sold out last year - make sure you get in quick!

Meet Agus Wijaya at booth number 087

Lisa Kotoulas is a Sydney-based artist that experiments with painting on different surfaces, which in turn allows her to extend her practice within installations. Expression and gesture remain the primary focus of her art.

Themes as diverse as religion, pop culture or the paranormal may be a single or multiple driving force behind an unsystematic process, which often leads to a cohesive body of work. Her works are striking and yet contain a sense of familiarity. This is Lisa's first time showing at The Other Art Fair.

Meet Lisa Kotoulas at booth number 106

Martin Claydon graduated from the National Art School in 2013 where he completed a BFA in painting. Having emigrated to Australia in his teenage years, identity and displacement play a large role in Martin’s practice, [which addresses] British Colonial history.

Currently working with industrial painting materials Martin takes his work place experiences into the studio mixing high and low modes of art making. These conscious acts of delivery allow Martin to bring serious concerns to the table in an approachable and often lighthearted way. References to Chroma key and Green-screen are prevalent throughout Martin’s work aiding to communicate ideas of cultural editing, isolation and manipulation.

Meet Martin at booth number 46

Clinton Gorst was born and raised in New Zealand [but] moved to Sydney in 2001 after graduating from design college in Wellington. This is Clinton's second time exhibiting at The Other Art Fair. Collage, or photomontage, has been his preferred medium for the last two decades. All analog pieces are sourced from a vast library of collected used books, and image selection is based on what works in scale as well as creating a new visual story.

The images are meticulously hand-scissored and adhered to board. Pop, surrealism and retro-futurism, blend together with repeated motifs of architecture and cities, people and urbanism, mountains and seas, into space and beyond.

Meet Clinton Gorst at booth number 14

Kaylene Whiskey is one of six artists selected by the National Art School CEO and Director Steven Alderton to exhibit at The Other Art Fair. Kaylene blends narratives of pop culture and traditional Aboriginal Anangu culture together. Her paintings are a representation of daily life in her community. They are an understanding of the powerful culture of senior members of the community (whose childhoods began traditionally in the bush), and the young people who have grown up influenced by Coca Cola, comic books and Michael Jackson.

The paintings represent a fusion of ideas as Kaylene has witnessed many changes in the lives of Anangu over the past 40 years. Painted to a soundtrack of rock, country, and desert reggae, Kaylene’s paintings are rich in humour, with the artist bringing together two very different cultures to have some fun.

Meet Kaylene Whiskey at booth number 067

Sanghee Ahn is traveling from Seoul to exhibit at The Other Art Fair. She is fascinated by the way we navigate the everyday in the sea of objects loaded with artificial codes and cultural weights. Most of Sanghee's recent works have a surreal atmosphere about them, some populated with miniature depictions of arrangements of objects or fictional subjects. Many of these arrangements suggest narratives such as a moral dilemma encountered on an everyday basis.

She is interested in exploring the human pursuit for beauty and happiness, and the struggle towards freedom. Another formal characteristic in her work is the frequent use of wave-like geometric patterns; free of any weight of cultural association.

Meet Sanghee Ahn at booth number 048

Jordan Taylor Adams is a Sydney-based photographer hailing from Chicago. Having previously spent time living in Tokyo, Hong Kong and London, his inspiration is made up from the array of stimulating cityscapes, design-based influence and street style environments he has previously experienced.

With a curated vision focusing on minimal and clean aesthetics while playing on the colours around him, he draws from a strong eye towards identifying with the moment and using his surroundings to naturally yet vividly tell a story.

Meet Jordan Taylor Adams at booth number 068

The Other Art Fair returns to Sydney this week, and with it comes an influx of work from emerging and unrepresented artists from Australia and around the world. For the uninitiated, The Other Art Fair, or TOAF, takes the intimidation out of traditional art fairs by eliminating high-profile galleries and their blue chip artists from the equation and placing buyers and artists in direct contact.

It’s an immersive experience in the truest sense of the word: a labyrinthine construct of artist’s booths teeming with works of in every conceivable medium. It’s a buyer’s market too, meaning that many of the works on show are vastly more affordable than you might ordinarily anticipate from such a setting. If you’re ready to start collecting art in earnest, sage advice is readily available here. Research is key when it comes to collecting so start with the gallery above, wherein Australian Fair Director Zoe Paulson gives GRAZIA an insight in to the work of seven emerging artists exhibiting their work at this week’s edition of The Other Art Fair. Happy hunting.

The Other Art Fair will take place from March 22 – 25 at the Australian Technology Park. More information is available here.

Tile image: Clinton Gorst/Courtesy of the artist and The Other Art Fair
Cover image: Sanghee Ahn/Courtesy of the artist and The Other Art Fair

topics: Work of art, CULTURE NEWS, The Other Art Fair, SYDNEY, Events, ART, Photography, Painting, Sculpture