24 Excellent Artists To Shop At Melbourne’s Affordable Art Fair
Creative People
My Country 1-23 by Robina Pitjara Jones ($3,110)
My Country Antarrengeny 95-24 by Lilly Kemarre Morton ($1,200)
My Country 661-24 by Michelle Pula Holmes ($1,215)
Daybreak by Zoe Sernack
Morning Believing by Zoe Sernack
Brunswick Street Gallery
Zoe Sernack, Michelle Pula Holmes, Robina Pitjara Jones, Lilly Kemarre Morton
For the first time, Fitzroy’s Brunswick Street Gallery is taking part in the Melbourne Fair, representing some excellent local talents, including Sydney artist Zoe Sernack — who paints and carves into timber boards to capture Australia’s contemporary landscapes with beautiful depth and abstraction.
There’ll also be some beautiful vibrant pieces by Ampilatwatja artists Michelle Pula Holmes (a winner in the 2013 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards!), Lilly Kemarre Morton and Robina Pitjara Jones.
Moondaroo by Brad Turner ($9900)
Jarehl Ngurum by Brad Turner ($3100)
Left: Gibin Barr by Kamilya Lowana White ($4000)
Right: Yooroorroom by Kamilya Lowana White ($4000)
Artist Lane
Brad Turner, Kamilya Lowana White
Online gallery and retailer Artist Lane’s Brad Turner is an Australian Indigenous artist from the Saltwater people of Bundjalung Country, spanning parts of southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. His artistic journey began around the family dining table, where he and his daughter first explored their cultural heritage through art.
Based in Melbourne on Wurundjeri Country, Kamilya Lowana White is also a proud Aboriginal artist. Her contemporary pieces depict traditional stories with a modern twist, using strong colours.
Autumn in the Perennial Boarder by Lucy Hersey ($2400)
Summer Veggie Patch by Lucy Hersey ($1300)
in-land
Lucy Hersey
One of the co-founders of indie collective in-land, Lucy Hersey is a self-taught painter based in South Gippsland whose landscape paintings draw more than just inspiration from nature — her paintings are literally made from the earth. Using dirt, rocks and clays, she hand-makes her own naturally pigmented ‘earth paint’, giving each piece an immersive, tactile quality.
Left: Achilles, Patroclus, Thersites by Alice Laura Palmer ($1680)
Right: Duo by Alice Laura Palmer ($1380)
P3Art Collective
Alice Laura Palmer
From P3Art Collective, Alice Laura Palmer’s visual language is influenced both by her classical academic art training and the ‘intrinsically human process’ that is painting. Known for her intimate still-life paintings, the Sydney-based artist also has a knack for creating emotive landscapes.
Left: Resting by David Moore ($8000)
Right: Autumn Evening by David Moore ($3500)
Cascade Art Gallery
David Moore
Represented by Cascade Art Gallery, David Moore is an acclaimed painter living and working in Castlemaine, Central Victoria who depicts everything from floral still-life paintings to detailed sunsets. Having taught tonal painting for 30 years at Melbourne’s famous Montsalvat, his technique is unsurprisingly impeccable!
Overland by Jan Cristaudo ($2800)
Emerald Green Waters by Jan Cristaudo ($2800)
Gallery 11:11
Jan Cristaudo
Using inspiration from her frequent travels or the natural surrounds of her home in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Jan Cristaudo’s artworks instantly demand attention. She expertly uses bold colours paired with expressive brushstrokes to create unique abstract landscapes filled with movement.
The Darling River at Wilcannia by John Rice ($2950)
Cattle in the Forest by John Rice ($3245)
Gallery NWC
John Rice
If you love nature, you’ll probably recognise some of the landscapes in John Rice’s detailed oil paintings. Often working outside, John paints places throughout regional NSW like the Blue Mountains and Mudgee in the Central West with a striking attention to detail that’s won him plenty of awards over his expansive career!
Left: Yarla Jukurrpa (Bush Potato Dreaming) by Stephanie Napurrurla
Middle: Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) – Pirlinyarnu by Ursula Nampijinpa Collins
Right: Ngurlu Jukurrpa (Native Seed Dreaming) by Senita Napangardi Granites
Warlukurlangu Artists
Stephanie Napurrurla, Senita Napangardi Granites, Ursula Nampijinpa Collins
Warlukurlangu Artists is one of the oldest and most successful Aboriginal-owned art centres in Central Australia working with member from the remote Yuendumu community, including Ursula Nampijinpa Collins and Senita Napangardi Graniites — whose grandmother was an important elder and founding member of the art centre.
Stephanie Napurrurla Nelson’s aunty was also a founding member, and now Stephanie has been painting at the art centre since 2000, passing down stories of the Dreaming in her intricate pieces.
Afternoon in Fitzroy by Ronald Chu ($3200)
Le Bistrot Restaurant by Vittoria Cugno ($995)
Left: Pots and Pans by Miffy Murray ($1379)
Right: Gum Leaves by Ronald Chu ($4000)
Discover: Young Talent
Ronald Chu, Vittoria Cugno, Miffy Murray
The team behind the Affordable Art Fair has selected a series of talented young Melbourne artists to platform as part of the event’s Discover: Young Talent stand. Among these is Hong Kong-born, Ronald Chu has always loved travelling and wandering the streets, so it’s fitting his life-like works capture the hidden beauty of these places even in the quietest of corners.
Vittoria Cugno’s expressionist oil paintings are also inspired by similar fleeting ‘everyday’ moments. Having recently taken part in a residency in Provincial France, she’s created a series of small-scale paintings that will be available for the first time at The Fair!
Miffy Murray has also caught our eye with her fresh still-life paintings, depicting everything from contemplative domestic scenes to Instagram-worthy arrangements of food.
Brie and Grapes by Zoe Willey ($620)
Beach Read No. 1 by Zoe Willey ($450)
Left: Garden with Vesel by Laura Vecmane ($600)
Right: Proteas and Pears by Bronwyn Barton ($2100)
Stevens Street Gallery
Zoe Willey, Laura Vecmane, Bronwyn Barton
From Queensland’s Stevens Street Gallery, Zoe Willey is an emerging artist currently based in Brisbane. She works primarily in oil paint to capture coastal landscapes driven by her childhood on the coast, beach goers, and quiet still-life scenes through a uniquely Australian lens.
Born in Latvia, Laura Vecmane has worked across Denmark, and Spain before moving to her current home in the Sunshine Coast. Nature is a frequent subject of her mixed media works and paintings, characterised by rich vivid colours that draw you in. Bronwyn Barton has been painting since 2008 and isn’t afraid of experimenting to create moments of surprise in her abstract pieces.
Left: Tea Party with a Twist by Sally Ryan ($10,000)
Right: Afternoon Tea with Michelangelo by Ben Ryan ($4000)
Hamley Studio of Fine Art
Sally Ryan, Ben Ryan
Husband and wife Sally Ryan and Ben Ryan are classically trained artists based in Sydney who also teach painting at Hamley Studio of Fine Art. Sally is a three-time Archibald Prize finalist whose works have garnered international acclaim, most recently for her portrait of author Kathy Lette!
Ben is very talented in his own right, having studied with artists in both Australia and Italy and often creates elaborate paintings with a surrealist edge.
Right: Utopia by Dave Kulesza ($500) note: low-res pics
Left: Deepwell E-Type III by Tom Blachford ($2100)
Gallery by Dave Kulesza
Dave Kulesza, Tom Blachford
We’re big fans of architectural photographers, and Dave Kulesza and Tom Blachford are among the best! Following an earlier photographic series captured in North Korea, Dave has also expertly captured architectural masterpieces in Spain and quiet spaces in Japan in his prints.
Tom Blachford’s fine art photography series celebrates the beauty of mid-century designs. Having first visited Palm Springs more than 10 years ago, he fell in love with the city’s famous architecture and desert landscape, which has remained a stunning focus of his work.