Savannah Camastro

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Yet another art fair is coming to Brooklyn during art fair week: The Other Art Fair, ran by Saatchi Art, will be taking place at the Brooklyn  Expo Center from May 2 to May 5. The Other Art Fair showcases 130 talented independent and emerging artists, each hand picked by a committee of art world experts.

The Other Art Fair was created for a new generation of buyers and collectors. Founded in London, UK in 2011, The Other Art Fair has travelled across the globe to cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Melbourne.

“Eight years on, the effects of the fair’s growing reputation are not only demonstrated through the support of leading individuals in the art world but also the frequency of success stories from past exhibitors,” said the art fair’s founder, Ryan Stainer.

Bushwick’s Secret Project Robot, will be exhibiting at the fair this year. Secret Project Robot describes themselves as an alternative art space that “hosts art installations, music, performance art, gatherings, happenings, craft nights, parties, dj’s and much more.”  

After 15 years of residing in Bushwick, the gallery announced earlier this month that it will be closing on April 30, and the space will be taken over by an indie arcade game collective.

Their final art installation was “The Sun Never Sets On Caketopia.” The space’s final goodbye party was held on April 27. Renovations are now underway for the future indie arcade bar opening in May.

Existing as a concept since the mid 1990s, Project Secret Robot has sought out to support the underground music and art scene existing in Brooklyn at the time. In 2004, when they fully realized as an experimental art space, their mission evolved into what we know it as today, “Secret Project Robot connected eras and generations into a seamless vision of the importance of art as a scene and an experience.”

Now, as a participant in The Other Art Fair, Secret Project Robot’s installation is just the genesis of what’s to come. “Secret Project Robot will be saying goodbye to our Broadway space and once again moving on to other art experiments and new awesome schemes and adventures,” their website announced. “This will be just another leg of our 15 year journey, and we are, as always elated for the next phase of our comical missions into the absurd.”

A few other Brooklyn artists will be presenting at the fair, including Laura Mychal, a sustainability-focused abstract artist. By using found and recycled materials such as plastic bags, Mychal creates vibrant sculptural paintings that reflect the textures and terrains often found in nature. “My abstract paintings often express nature’s beauty in terms of color and terrain, from where I glean much of my inspiration. I seek hope in light of climate change by up-cycling and transforming these materials,” Mychal explains in her artist statement.

Sarbani Ghosh, an American Indian artist and Pratt graduate, will also be exhibiting. Like Mychal, Ghosh is inspired by the natural world, as well as the intersection of American and Indian culture. As she explains in her artist statement, Ghosh’s colorful pieces incorporate “Hindu mythology, astronomy, and the Kantian sublime” and her eternal curiosity for the celestial and supernatural.”

Tickets for The Other Art Fair can be purchased online, with prices starting at $13.50 for students and $15 for adults. The fair will take place this weekend from May 3 to May 5, open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information about the fair, artists, and venue, head over to the fair’s website.

Cover photo courtesy of Secret Project Robot.

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