Brooklyn’s The Other Art Fair draws strong loyalty from repeat, new exhibitors

Repeat and first-time exhibitors at this weekend’s The Other Art Fair in Brooklyn voiced strong loyalty to the Saatchi Art–led showcase, praising its community, organization and opportunities for independent artists.

The fair, featuring a curated roster of 130 independent artists from around the world, is holding its 16th edition through Sunday at ZeroSpace in Brooklyn. Crowds packed the venue Friday night, with red dots already peppering walls across the booths.

On the market side, The Other Art Fair is known for its affordability—most works start around $100—and for offering artists without gallery representation a direct line to collectors. Artists keep 82% of sales, a far higher share than traditional gallery commissions. The fair has also built a reputation for its irreverence and sense of fun.

One of the most talked-about sections this year was “Blind Date with an Artwork,” a playful experiment testing whether collectors would buy art sight unseen. About a dozen works, each priced under $200, were wrapped in brown paper, accompanied only by a sales slip listing the artist’s name, title and a short description.

Cocktails in hand from a bar that reimagines the Met Cloisters as contemporary art, guests could be seen posing for selfies in front of kinetic sculptures by the Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary studio Hypersonic.

Among the most crowded booths Friday night was “The Subversive Post Office” by Richard Hoffman, which featured miniature paintings over mint postage stamps that he described as “subversive destruction.”

Also drawing a steady crowd was Darryl Cumbie, better known under the name The Surgical Artist—who paints after getting home from his shifts in the medical field.

Cumbie, speaking to Urgent Matter, said he’s participated in every iteration of The Other Art Fair including Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dallas and Los Angeles. He’s only missing The Other Art Fair Chicago as the last stone on his Infinity Gauntlet.

“I like the community. I like the way they run things. I like the structure. They bring the crowds in. It's well put-together and it's a way to grow your brand and grow your name,” Cumbie said.

Cumbie’s nostalgic paintings—children playing basketball, floating in pools or holding balloons—are rooted in his own memories.

“I don't have photographs as a young kid, and I have a six-year-old daughter now, so she basically asks how I grew up and what was it like, and I don't really have reference things to show her,” he said. “The more I paint, the more memories that come out. … That's why people kind of feel the energy.”

He added that his daughter even sold one of her own collaborative works at the fair Thursday night.

Across the “Brooklyn Cloisters” bar from Cumbie, artist Nana S.R.T. presents large black-and-white photographs of dancers alongside the handmade zines they originated from. The zines, titled Song, sell for $40 each—well below typical art fair prices.

Nana said the idea for her booth grew out of the zine and the photoshoots that inspired it.

During each session, she asked the dancers to list songs that had shaped them and their artistic journeys. She then selected lyrics from those songs that captured the energy she felt from each subject. In the zines, those lyrics are printed on translucent vellum and layered over the images.

A former dancer and musician, Nana said both art forms continue to shape her photography. “The zines came first, and I wanted to exhibit images from them here,” she said. “It’s nice for art to be accessible—if someone can’t afford or doesn’t have room for a large photograph, they can still take something home in a smaller format.”

Nana first exhibited her work publicly at The Other Art Fair’s 2019 Brooklyn edition. “I come back when I can. I love New York—people here really respond to my vision, and a lot of my collectors are based here,” she said. “The team is wonderful; they genuinely care about the artists. I’ve tried other fairs, but the experience was very different.”

She recalled one fair where “the staff were screaming at each other” as artists arrived. “It felt very transactional,” she said. “I’ve also shown in Miami, which might be bigger, but it’s less personal.”

The artist Chelsea Bernardo said it was her third year and eighth appearance exhibiting with The Other Art Fair, including Chicago.

“I like meeting people I wouldn't be able to otherwise, like interior designers, collectors, and just making those connections are really important to me,” she said. “Each show that I've done, I keep growing. It's not only personal growth, but sales grow, too.”

First-time exhibitor Hannah Eve Rothbard said she was most looking forward to getting to connect with people ahead of the art fair, anticipating that smaller galleries would be at the fair scouting prospects.

The whole model is certainly more equitable in the sense that, the people who are coming here know they're going to be able to talk to people, whereas you go to the Armory Show or something, if you're not a buyer of most of the galleries, they're not going to even talk to you about the work,” she said.

“So, it's definitely more of an art lover's fair. There's just so much more dialogue about the work. But it's amazing to be able to talk about your work, and I think people want to talk about it when they go to see art.”

Debuting at the Brooklyn edition, the Artisan Section showcases three local creative hubs specializing in collectible decorative fine artworks, including first-time exhibitors Clay Space, Dirtbag ArtHaus and Textile Arts Center.

Janine Sopp, the director and founder of Clay Space, said that the studio was excited to be invited to participate in this edition of the fair and was offered a “very fair price” for the double booth space.

She said that being able to show at The Other Art Fair gave 11 of her top members, who have difficulty selling at craft fairs because of the artistry of their work, the chance to sell. Clay Space offers memberships and classes at its ceramics studio in Greenpoint.

“We curated a show with 11 members who make work that is historically not lined up with craft fairs like Renegade Craft Fair and other kinds of selling opportunities—more top-end sculptural work that just doesn't sell the same way,” she said.

Sopp said that the studio pulled off a successful booth that was curated in a way visitors can see everything Clay Space offers.

“The attraction to this booth has been active. It's crowded. We have a lot of visitors. But we've only sold a couple of pieces. I don't know what the vibe is for everyone else. I know there was a full moon and Mercury's in retrograde. So, you never know,” she said.

“But I really feel good about being invited here and being here in this environment. So, I think this is kind of opening their eyes and their minds to thinking about their work a lot higher anyway.”

Check out Urgent Matter's global art fairs calendar for what events are coming up next.