British Art Fair was founded in the 1980s to champion the sale of modern British art in order to support the UK’s artists, galleries and dealers. This principle guides the fair to this day, and a new initiative, SOLO CONTEMPORARY was launched last year, specifically to showcase the UK’s most talented contemporary artists and their dealers and galleries. The project is directed by Zavier Ellis, a renowned curator, educator and artist ,and held on the second floor at Saatchi Gallery. For 2023, we have twenty galleries - double the number for last year - each one presenting the work of one star artist. Along with accompanying exhibitions and events, the second floor brings you the experimental, challenging edge of British art.

Artists who came to live and work in Britain from all over the world during the 20th century and contributed significantly to its culture, are the subject of a wide-ranging exhibition, Crossing Borders: Internationalism in Modern British Art, at British Art Fair 2023. Artworks from immigrants to the UK from India and Pakistan, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, and America are on display. Works have been supplied by past and present exhibitors of the fair and are for sale with prices in all ranges. The exhibition is co-curated by Colin Gleadell, who is on the fair’s advisory committee, and art historian and author Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of the Insiders/Outsiders project.

Following on from its popularity last year, we have a special event open to all visitors on Friday evening. Artists represented at British Art Fair attend ‘Meet the artists’, which, as the title suggests, gives visitors the opportunity to meet artists and discuss their work in informal ways.

Last year some of the artists gave demonstrations of their working techniques too. ‘Meet the artists’ is fair-wide and the British Art Fair artists wear distinctive lanyards and base themselves around their dealer’s stand so they are easy to spot.

The event includes sponsored drinks, provided by Blacklion Vodka, and is particularly lively in Gallery 10 on the first floor and on the second floor at SOLO CONTEMPORARY. It is free for all Friday ticket-holders.

Monica Bohm-Duchen, London-based art historian and guest curator of Crossing Borders, will give a talk on this exhibition, highlighting and contextualising key works that tell a story of twentieth century British art hugely enriched by the presence of artists from a wide range of geographical and cultural backgrounds. Starting with the Jewish immigrants who found refuge here from the anti-semitic progroms of Russia and eastern Europe, and followed by the (mostly) Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s, the story continues in the post-war period with members of the Windrush Generation as well as artists from across the world. By the 1970s, the British art scene was more vibrant, diverse and truly international than ever before.

Winner - Emma Bennett with CHARLIE SMITH LONDON Gallery

A prize awarded to a contemporary artist participating in the SOLO CONTEMPORARY platform at British Art Fair. The winning artist was selected by a distinguished panel of judges and announced during the Critics’ Circle Visual Arts award ceremony on Friday 29 September. Prizes include £2500 material award sponsored by Winsor and Newton and £1,000 voucher for online courses sponsored by Contemporary Art Academy.

Our official charity is WaterAid who are running a four-day event, ‘Art of Change’, during British Art Fair 2023.

Eleven celebrity-artists have created specific climate-themed works for auction to raise vital funds for WaterAid. The artists are: Amanda Mealing, Alan Titchmarsh, Ben Eine, Duncan Jago, Jane Seymour, Jim Moir, Pure Evil, Robert Smith, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Rosannagh Scarlet Esson and Sophie Tea.

Visit WaterAid on the second floor during the fair to bid in-person or head to their auction site and bid online or make a donation.