Harlem Fine Arts Show
First day of the Harlem Fine Arts Fair, after setting up my booth. Photos by Lisa Wade.
I had the opportunity to show at the Harlem Fine Arts Show late last month. It was the first time running my own booth at a major art fair (in the past, I would just drop off my work with the gallery and come back to visit later). My mentor R. Lovejones had been pushing me to take the leap for a few months and I kept resisting because I was worried it would be too much work . I was preparing for my residency group show at JCAL. . I was worried about the cost (art fairs booths can easily run into the tens of thousands) but I was able to work out an affordable arrangement to exhibit.
As it turned out, I had plenty of work to exhibit and still have enough for my group exhibition in March, so I brought in 11 originals from my Searching For Proginoskes series, along with several embellished, one-of-a-kind prints. I was better prepared than I realized but I was still really nervous—I tend to anticipate something happening and trying to plan to death for that. That’s probably why I got very little sleep the night before.
The set-up went better than I could have expected, especially I had help from my fellowship director, who generously donated her time to help me arrange and hang the paintings. I was going for a minimalistic presentation to mimic the feeling of being in a gallery and to allow for the art to stand out. At the last minute, there was a booth change and I ended up with a space with a column in the middle that turned out to work pretty seamlessly. I was able to position my two big 30”x40” wood panels in between it so it still caught people’s eyes when they walked past.
Once the paintings were up, it was a full on sprint from grabbing myself something to eat to changing clothes to welcome the crowd who showed up for the exclusive Red Dot Event. I was running on five hours sleep but lots of adrenaline. It turned out being a lot of fun discussing my art with visitors and people watching. Within the first hour, I made my first sale. Three of my embellished prints went to a lovely married couple who were very excited to purchase them to enhance their living space. I was touched by their enthusiasm.
The next few days went even smoother as I got accustomed to manning my own booth and chatting with visitors and patrons. One of the most important skills you pick up when you’re working an art fair is learning how to let people approach your booth and reading how people want to interact with your work. Some visitors really want to engage and talk to you about your process and inspiration, while others want to quietly take in the work and be alone to absorb it. I think the minimalism of my space and the round-about layout (thanks to my magic column!) allowed for more privacy without feeling the need to engage with the crowds.
Because I was working my booth mostly by myself, I didn’t get a chance to meet as many other exhibiting artists as I would’ve liked; I had to sneak those moments in before the start of the fair and for a few minutes when it concluded. Still, I was able to exchange info with several other artists. From what I was able to see, the abstract work I did really contrasted with most of the other works. Much of the art had emphasized figurative, which is pretty popular at Black art fairs but several visitors to my booth commented on how much my work stood out in its uniqueness.
By the end of the fair, I met many wonderful people, sold several originals and prints and made some valuable contacts. I’m glad I let my mentor push me out of my comfort zone to try something new and expand my experience as an artist. I definitely want to do another one in the future!
