Last week several Bushwick galleries packed up and took the show on the road across the pond to London for the third annual Sluice Art Fair. The fair, one of the numerous fairs to pop around town for Frieze London week, is a relatively small, independent fair devoted to new and cutting edge contemporary spaces. Among the galleries invited to participate were Bushwick’s own et al Projects, Parallel Art Space, Schema Projects, Theodore: Art, and Wayfarers.
Karl England, one of Sluice’s organizers told us in an email last week, “So much of what Sluice is about is the network of artists, curators and gallerists creating the art world they want to inhabit. Sluice is much more of a collaboration than the standard commercial fair.” He went on to gush about the participating Bushwick galleries, saying “It’s great that so many Bushwick galleries have bought into the Sluice idea of what an art fair can be and shows what a vibrant scene Bushwick has, with a great appreciation of the value of grassroots collaboration.”
Well, Karl, we agree and couldn’t be prouder of Bushwick’s strong representation in the fair.
Whether it was their first time attending or returning for the third season, all of the galleries were brimming with excitement.
Cliff Atkinson of et al Projects described his experience saying:
“It’s really wonderful being able to meet so many of our collectors and artists on there own turf in the UK. We chose to do sluice for that very reason and to sort of get our feet wet with a smaller more laid back fair. Sluice definitely has a more casual vibe than the other fairs yet the energy seems to be unmatched.”
George Ferrandi of Wayfarers spoke of the importance of bringing Bushwick art to an international scope:
“Part of our mission as a Bushwick-based studio program with an onsite gallery is to provide a dynamic environment for artists to work, but to also help get their works out into the world, so attending the Sluice Fair is an extension of that. We’re building a temporary cardboard structure based on New York style newsstands to (literally) support the amazing works on paper…”
I asked the galleries to send a few images that captured the spirit and scope of the fair, providing firsthand account of their experience.
