At first glance, the average punter coming to the Melbourne Art Fair and looking at some of the gallery exhibits might not know what to make of it all. In the rectangular exhibit space of Orexart, the respected Auckland gallery, for instance, there are small naïve-like paintings of strong flat colour, figures lie prone, standing, some faceless. All around the paintings, scrawled on the walls, are words, a confusing mix of messages, somewhat dark and distressed. What’s it all about?
With 30,000 visitors in 2008, and hopes for more this year, the Melbourne Art Fair, is increasingly welcoming not just the connoisseurs and industry insiders but a broader audience of would-be collectors and those interested in learning more about contemporary art. One of the ways for people new to the Art Fair to engage with the artists was to take one of the regular free tours. They proved a fabulous way to introduce the smorgasbord of work on show.
