Twiggy By Angee Ferrin at AC Latin Art. $800 Each /$5,000 Set of 9 (All Photos By Gail)

Even if you’ve been attending New York’s biannual Affordable Art Fair for the past decade, you’d be forgiven for mistaking the blocks-long queue snaking east from the Metropolitan Pavilion for that of yet another big retail chain’s going-out-of-business sale. On my way to the Wednesday night Private View, I thought maybe the Container Store was in its final days, so it was kind of crazy to realize that the line lead directly to my destination, meaning the AAF is back post-Covid as a bona fide social event, attracting an eclectic group of VIPS, art enthusiasts, collectors, and assorted fans. Judging by the body-to-body crowd and vibrant atmosphere inside the venue, art events have entered a new, new normal. Welcome to it.

OMG!


Agora Gallery (NYC), Installation View

The Metropolitan Pavilion had reworked its floor-plan for the show, creating a dynamic and engaging environment for visitors to discover new art. And what a fantastic and wildly colorful array there was, with over 70 local, national and international galleries showcasing 1,000s of contemporary artworks, all priced under $12,000 (up this year from a prior cap of $10,000, because inflation).

Galerie Duret (Paris), Installation View

As always, the fair presented a diverse range of artwork from emerging and established artists, including paintings, sculptures, prints, and photography, allowing attendees to explore a wide range of art styles and mediums. Let’s check out some of my favorite art from the show!

Do you love tacos? I sure do. Las Palmas by Gail Garcia of Garcia Studio (NYC) is priced at $4800. Prefect for honoring Taco Tuesday every day of the week.

I sure am a sucker for a painting of a swimming pool. At The Pool by Meli Axford is just $2500 at Insight ArtSpace (NYC).

Perpetual Change by Laurence O’Toole at Signet Contemporary Art (London) can be yours for $4300.

Isla by Thannyo de Freitas is $5000 from Fremin Gallery (NYC).

Energy ($6500) is a pretty cool aluminum sculpture of a gas can with little cars all over it. The artist is Erika Koehler, who is represented by Chiefs and Spirits, located in The Hague, Netherlands.

At Chiefs and Spirits, not all of the art is on the walls.

Look at all of this beautiful art by Fara Thomas at Azart Gallery (NYC). I love her work.

These works are comprised of folded and polished brass over archival pigment prints — very cool! From the Lux Lab duo at Canada’s  Lustre Contemporary.

Check out this unique approach to collage that layers materials of various textures and colors, which is part of a series by artist Robert Moya. This piece is entitled Organic 5  and it sells for $2000 from After Nyne Contemporary in London.

I love the energetic vibe of these colorful abstract works by Jose Palacios ($1975 each) at Art Angler, which is here in NYC.

Artist Traci Johnson works with yarn in a brightly-colored palette to create textile sculptures and what they refer to as “Femi rugs.” For this show, they created this series of amorphous, mirror-inclusive tufted wall sculptures that would look great in a modern bedroom. Priced very affordably at $315 and up, from Established Gallery in Brooklyn.

Pink Thing of The Post: Waves (a sculpture of painted PVC) by Lina Husseini was spotted in NYC’s Agora Gallery booth.

I love this little pink gazing ball affixed to Bubblegum Painting by Sanuj Burla. Each piece in this series is priced very reasonably at $494, from Studio 3 Art Gallery in Mumbai, India.

If you’d like to roll the dice on artworks by Kate Brinkworth, she’s represented by Tag Fine Arts, London.

It would not be a proper Affordable Art Fair recap if we did not give a shout-out to our favorite pop art sculptress, Betsy Enzensberger, whose always-evolving Original Melting Pops series is delightful to behold. These were spotted at  NYC’s Treat Gallery,  but wait there’s more.

Betsy is also represented on the west coast by Art Unified (Venice, California), where you can pick up her bejeweled Sparkle Burger for $895!

This is pretty fun, right? Why do I get the feeling it has something to do with drugs? Golden Hour in a Different Timeline ($950) was created by Christina Helowicz a multi-media pop surrealist working primarily with Glass. Spotted at Alida Anderson Art Projects, Washington, DC.

Another fun adventure in surrealism is Fresh (Orange) by Cristina Vergano, selling for $6000 from Leonard Tourne Gallery in NYC.