Moniker Art Fair has announced its exhibitor line-up for its 10th anniversary edition which features a stellar roster of artists, including acclaimed international artists making their UK debuts and Moniker’s own Spotlight Artists of 2019. This year’s fair will open as a true celebration of urban and contemporary art, held for the first time in The Chelsea Sorting Office, following its move from Shoreditch to the heart of Chelsea and Kensington.
Moniker’s official Spotlight artists of 2019 include globally recognised Spanish urban artist and muralist Okuda San Miguel alongside multi-award-winning Sergio Garcia, the Havana-born, Cuban-American sculptor known for his avant-garde creations. For their 2019 Open Studios programme, Moniker spotlight artists who work within immersive settings, including multi-disciplined painter Nick Fadaeff from Russia. They will also present solo shows from Pref, Gary Stranger and Robyn Ward.
Intended to break down barriers in the art world, the London platform Creative Debuts will exhibit two solo shows and host the public opening on Thursday. Chosen for this are Thai artist Gank Pansuai, who paints emotionally vibrant portraits of people of colour, and the award-winning Irish born Kyle Barnes, whose hyper-realist portraits explore the idea of a subject’s face acting as a landscape.
Making their UK debuts from across the Atlantic are the fast-rising American artists, LA-born Andrew Hem and the dynamic environmental activist and painter Josh Keyes. Both are presented by the innovative Californian Thinkspace Projects, who this year return following sell-out shows in 2017 to present an impressive 50-artist group show including a new solo show by Bezt from Poland.
Celebrating urban art from across the globe, the European cohort includes French artists Levalet, who creates site-specific characters drawn in Indian ink, and C215, known as one of the
top stencil artists in the world. Mazel Galerie, from Belgium, comes to London following her hugely successful Moniker debut in Manhattan this spring.
Moniker director Tina Ziegler comments, This year is of course a particularly special one, and it’s a good excuse to look at quite how far we and the new contemporary art scene has come from unarguably humble beginnings. The success we’ve seen, of course, is largely due to the community and collaborative focus that the artists share, and so unsurprisingly we’re keen to shout loudly about the international, borderless nature of our work – it feels particularly important to shout about that during the current political climate.
This year more than ever, MAF will present a truly unique opportunity for veteran and first-time collectors to view and invest in the rapidly growing movement of urban and new contemporary art. Moniker Art Fair’s 10th anniversary edition, proudly supported by Conspiracy Lab, will see over 100 new contemporary artists available to purchase, each handpicked by fair director Tina Ziegler and her team.
This year’s fair will also see a thematic installation hall “George the Union is Cross” curated by Berlin’s Urban Nation Museum, featuring a powerful line-up of UK-only urban artists exploring what Brexit will mean to them, their communities and their craft. In addition there will be interactive daily workshops hosted by Creative Debuts in partnership with the Derwent Art Prize, a site-specific outdoor arts programme in partnership with Battersea Power Station by much-loved UK artist Mr. Penfold, who will also create the fair’s entranceway, and a daily curated talks programme hosted by London based Soho Curious and Co. There will be a full bar in partnership with Vintage Event Bars.
The official VIP Collectors Day will be held on the Wednesday to offer a contemporary alternative to those in the city for Frieze, and will feature tours by fair director Tina Ziegler, alongside talks, panels and more to encourage collectors to engage with the art market.
This year’s featured exhibitors include:
o Andrew Hem solo show | Thinkspace Projects, Culver City, CA
o Artate | Egypt
o BEZT solo show | Thinkspace Projects, Culver City, CA
o Blackwater Gallery | Cardiff, UK
o Curious Duke Gallery | London, UK
o Dynamite Gallery | Brighton, UK
o Ed Hicks | Open Studios Programme
o Eva solo show | Eva Gallery, Moscow, Russia
o Gank Pansuai solo show | Creative Debuts, London, UK
o Garey the Third | LA and Hong Kong
o Gary Stranger and Pref | Open Studios Programme
o Jewel Goodby Contemporary | London, UK
o Josh Keyes solo show | Thinkspace Projects, Culver City, CA
o Gregory Watin solo show | Kahn Gallery, London, UK
o Kyle Barnes solo show | Creative Debuts, London, UK
o LAE Consultancy | Manchester, UK
o Landmark Street Art | Carlisle, UK
o Mazel Galerie | Belgium
o Nick Fedaeff | Open Studios Programme
o Okuda San Miguel | Moniker Spotlight Artist
o Ken Nwadiogbu solo show | Premier Art Solutions, Dorset, UK
o Reload Gallery | Leamington Spa, UK
o Robyn Ward | Open Studios Programme
o Sergio Garcia | Moniker Spotlight Artist
o Slinkachu solo show | Thinkspace Projects, Culver City, CA
o The Art Hound Gallery | Cambridge, UK
Moniker Art Fair 2019 runs from Wednesday 2 – Sunday 6 October 2019.
