The Art Car Boot Fair has been re-booted, ready to go, technology may have sunk the first attempt at an on-line version of the Fair a couple of weeks ago but hey, the best things come to those who wait, the 2020 (on-line) edition of the long running slightly anarchic institution that is the 2020 Art Car Boot Fair will happen on your screens this Sunday – “The Viral ACBF will be a bespoke new online experience bringing you the anticipation, the buzz, the queues, direct interactions, unexpected delights, random art drops, countdowns, and all manners of surprises!”

There’s a slide show fiurther down at the foot of this page for you to get a flavour or two and before I start, let me say right upfront that I’m one of the artists invited to take part, so yes, I have a vested interest in shouting about the event, but hey, I kind of hope you trust us now when we shout about things, the Art Car Boot Fair is always one of the highlights of the London art year. True, we have been chased on-line this year, we’re not in the sunshine with our boots full of art and the music flowing, there won’t be all the people watching and the socialising, and who knows how the browsing will work? The glimpses behind the curtain that goes up at Midday on Sunday October 4th look exciting to me. There’s something like a hundred or so artists and galleries involved, there’s contemporary painters, print makers, street art flavours, drawing, ceramics, there’s zooming into studios, live performance, life drawing, exclusive limited editions, drops, one off pieces that you won’t be able to get your hands on anywhere else and vitally, because you are buying direct from us artists, you’ve not getting galleries or dealers or the middlepeople taking a slice which means that, in the spirit of a car boor fair, you’re going to find some really great prices on some great pieces – this is lifeblood for us artists, this is where art gets to let his or her hair down (does art have a gender?) the Spirit of a Fete Worse Than Death, this is where you get to interact directly with us, we kind of like that. Personally I have my eye on a Julia Maddison tea towel ot maybe that Tony Beaver absynth glass although I do like those Ian Dawson pieces and an Emma Harvey pony, or that Chris Stead print of the tapes or…

“Just like its famous physical manifestation, the viral edition promises all the fun of the fair combined with an exuberance of new talent to boot. Art Car Boot Fair favourites including Gavin Turk, Polly Morgan, Pam Hogg, Marcus Harvey, Jeremy Deller, Pure Evil, Kristjana S Williams, Sara Pope and Mat Collishaw will be joined by a host of exciting new artists, such as Rankin, Noel Fielding, Helen Beard, Claire Partington, Hayden Keys, Charlotte MacMillan and Robert Cooper.

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The artwork and wares have mostly been produced exclusively for the 2020 Viral Art Car Boot Fair and many attest to the fact that these artists have risen to the creative challenges posed by this year’s pandemic. Indeed, many have found extraordinary inspiration in the new normal. Pam Hogg, for example, has created film posters which reference the amount of films she has been watching in lockdown; Jessie Voorsanger’s drawings similarly take shape as TV characters. Susie Hamilton has produced an extraordinary series of paintings depicting masked NHS workers, and Marcus Harvey’s ceramic sculptures, including darkened, blackened Union Jacks, reflect the times we are living in with perhaps a brutish humour.

But what has stayed the same is the quirky spirit of the Art Car Boot Fair, its celebration of the weird and wonderful. Adam Dant has been commissioned to create a map based on the Art Car Boot Fair project which allows visitors to have a virtual rummage through the delights of ‘ArtCarBootopia’, full of references from its exuberant event history. The atmosphere of the Art Car Boot Fair will also be revived through a digital Programme of the Day, featuring a wide variety of artist-led events and experiences that will take place alongside the fair itself. Events will include life live drawing classes with Trixie Divine, a special reading from Bob & Roberta Smith, a Critic’s Choice selection from Louisa Buck, radio broadcasts, artist interviews, performance art and lots more.

Art Car Boot Fair Members (see below) will receive Premium Access to the Viral ACBF from 12pm, just one of the many benefits included in the new membership programme. And, just as with the physical ACBF event, a ticket will cost £5 for the day and will grant visitors entry to the fair from 2.30pm onwards. Also in keeping with Art Car Boot Fair tradition, access will be free from 5.30 pm for a final hour of buying and selling, with discounted prices and special offers to be snapped up.

Says Karen Ashton, founder of the Art Car Boot Fair: ‘This year’s line-up of artists for the first digital ACBF exhibits a stunning array of talent. There will be something here for everyone. Despite this year’s move online, we’re also proud to be maintaining our unique focus on interaction between artist and audience: visitors will be able to talk directly to the artists through Zoom and Instagram, as well as take part in a vibrant programme of immersive events. We can’t wait to welcome the world to the Viral Art Car Boot Fair.’

The fair will be delivered through a specially created event website. Each artist will have their own virtual car boot ‘pitch’ featuring not only all of their artworks, but also specially created films and live links direct to the artists’ studios. Just as with ACBF live events, the Viral edition will offer direct access to the artists, all of whom will be making work especially for the day and selling for astonishing ‘boot fair’ prices. There will be countdowns, virtual queues, waiting rooms, art drops, exclusive editions, lots of originals and a myriad of ways for visitors to get involved. There will even be a specially curated virtual gallery exhibition with the works of Ian Dawson, James Hewins, George Thom and Anette Warner, specially curated within the virtual surroundings of Groocks Gallery.

••• New Membership Programme *** – The ACBF team have also launched a new membership programme alongside their online debut. For a special half-price introductory offer of only £12 per year, new members will receive Premium Access to the inaugural digital Art Car Boot Fair from 12 pm to 2:30 pm, as well as entry to all other upcoming digital events over the coming year, 25% off tickets for future live events, exclusive offers with ACBF partner organisations and discount vouchers redeemable on selected artworks.

Entry times to the Viral Art Car Boot Fair:
12.00 – 2.30 pm — Members Only Premium Access
2.30 pm – 5.30 pm — General Entry for £5
5.30 pm – 6.30 pm — Free Entry for All

Head for the ART CAR BOOT FAIR OFFICIAL SITE  for more details, tickets and a full programe of events. There’s a slide show fiurther down the page for you to get a flavour or two…

Me? Well during lockdown I’Ve been concluding a “Ten” painting everyday for the last few months, always on a 10cm square canvas, one painting brough to a conclusion everyday, yesterday was day 81, the painting are on sale first via the fair and at a stupidly fair-friendly price of just £10 each, here they are, see you there…. (sw)

Click on an image to view an image, get a flavour or run the slide show..