The Fruit Shop goes to the Art Car Boot Fair, a new piece of work called #43Leaves, 43 days to go…

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We were 43 days away from the 2019 Art Car Boot Fair last weekend, we can’t let that important milestone pass, we’re 41 days away from this year’s fair now. I make no secret of the fact that I love taking part of the Art Car Boot Fair, it feels like one the highlights of the London art year to me, a day when art lets that hair down and allows itself to smile a little. This year the event is over at King’s Cross again, it happens on Sunday June 23rd, news on who the invited artists are this year is slowly seeping out, I see Polly Morgan was announced yesterday, i see Pam Hogg is doing it again, I shall be there alongside Emma Harvey and Quiet British Accent, once again sharing the Cultivate boot. The Art Car Boot Fair is rather unique in the way it treats artists, most art fairs are about money, they’re about letting anyone who will pay the almost always ridiculously cynical fees charged to take part is, there’s neer any curating, if you are willing ot pay then you’re in and as an artist or a gallery it costs an absolute fortune to take part in these fairs, in most cases we’re talking four-figure sums, Affordable Art Fair? Not for us artists! The Art Car Boot Fair is an artist-led event, none of us are ever charged a fee to take part, none of us have to stump up a couple of grand for a stall and and extra fifty quid if we want a bit of extra lighting or permission to wear a purple hat on the stall, the Art Car Boot Fair is about artists rather than a bunch of business people looking to make money out of artists, I’m not sure that the public are aware of this, the Art Car Boot Fair is rum by artists, the fair is about the only artist-friendly event of the summer (or indeed the year) I love the art car Boot Fair.

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2017 Art Car Boot Fair, Vauxhall, London, July 9th.

I love the Art Car Boot Fair, it has always been a great day out, you don’t need to spend a fortune, there;s bands, DJs, performance artists, if you do want to buy art then there’s art to suit all pockets, original paintings and such for as little as a fiver, limited edition prints, deals to be done, most of the artists are there to talk to (although it can do sometimes get a little busy for us, do come back if we’re busy, we do want to chat) it is one of the great things from an artist’s point of view, we do like that we get to meet people and talk in a relaxed way in a relaxed atmosphere, something that often doesn’t happen at a gallery. And the Art Car Boot Fair is great for people watching, for just being there and sucking up atmosphere, just looking at the art, once you’ve paid to get in you really don’t need to spend another penny if you don’t want to, it is just a very very enjoyable day. Of course if you do want to buy art do remember to bring some cash along, we are outdoors, not everyone is set up for card payments and such and anyway cash is king, this move towards a cashless society is frightening, there is nothing cool about being cash-free, personally I refuse to eat or drink at these cash-free cafes and bars, I think we should all be boycotting them, I don’t want every transaction recorded and monitored, who holds this information? Your health company once the NHS has gone? Your insurance company who doesn’t like your lifestyle or your diet? And what about those who don’t have access to a card? No! Love your money, Cash is cool, actually I might make some art about that…

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So 41 days to go now, I’m back at the Art Car Boot fair with a “boot” full of fresh growth, leaves, love and more, meanwhile Emma said something about Joan Jett and Chips or was it Joan Jett or Chips? You have to love Joan Jett, not sure what Quiet British Accent are doing this year yet.no doubt we’ll know soon, I shall be focusing on two things, the ongoing Fruit Shop and the love of fruit and a piece of work in 43 parts that started two days ago…. .

Following on from 2018’s year-long #365ArtDrop18 piece, #43Leaves for the 2019 Art Car Boot Fair, a piece of work in 43 parts, 43 paintings on recycled material found on the streets in the 43 days leading up to the 2019 (Love edition) of the Art Car Boot Fair. Each painting on a piece of found recycled material will be on sale at the Art Car Boot Fair, on the day of the art fair (Kings Cross, London, 23rd June). Each painting for sale on the day at a price of just £5 each. 43 paintings on found material that people have just thrown out on street and wasted, 43 very affordable pieces of art, with maybe one or two of the 43 left hanging on walls around Kings Cross for people to take on the day of the fair #Artforall

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The #43Leaves piece will feature alongside the continuation of the Sean Worrall’s Fruit Shop and an ongoing series of still life fruit studies that have been evolving since the start of the year. The Fruit Shop opened in April as a gallery show in the old East London Greengrocers shop that is now Shipton Street Gallery, the show will evolve for a stall as part of Cultivate Gallery’s car boot at the 2019 Love edition of The Art Car Boot Fair at Kings Cross before continuing with two more Gallery shows in the Autumn. Expect more of the one-off fruit study paintings that come with that trademark bit of street flavoured pop art leaf growth (although with this being the year of Love at the Art Car Boot Fair some might see something other than a leaf, no one is right or wrong, that leaf tag has been called a leafheart on more than one occasion). in particular Sean will be producing several one-off fruit paintings on heart-shaped canvases exclusively for the 2019 Art Car Boot Fair, these paintings will not be available anywhere else before the fair, they will all be priced in the spirit of a car boot fair and in-line with the notions of the Cheap Art Manifesto…

the 2019 Art Car Boot Fair is coming up then, I love it, can’t wait.

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