Collect Art Fair 2018
Opening its doors at the Saatchi Gallery in London, Collect launches its 2018 edition, showcasing works dedicated to modern craft and design.
Collect is a gallery-presented art fair dedicated to modern craft and design by the London Crafts Council. Every year, it provides the opportunity for incredible and talented designers to showcase their work across a wide variety of mediums. The fair is a firm favourite and an exciting way to start a new year of design. Explore six personal selections below, demonstrating the impressive work on display during the 2018 event.
Ting & Ying
Displaying a collection of elegant white porcelain designs, Ting & Ying honour traditional Chinese craft and art of design. Working alongside a selection of talented artists including Su Xianzhong and Lan Quansheng, as well as crafting their impressive creations, the brand exhibit sculptural works of art that merge the worlds of tradition and contemporary. The result; is beautiful porcelain teacups surrounded by hundreds of Buddha's hands, traditional religious figures presented in modern forms and decorative vases and bowls filled with graceful white blossoms.
Pieter Stockmans
Standing out from across one of the gallery rooms, Pieter Stockmans' instantly recognisable blue porcelain tableware and sculptural forms filled the white space with a beautiful blue hue. Handcrafted in Belgium, the studio exhibited an extensive collection of their finest designs including a series of white porcelain dishes and bowls, nested together with a subtle 'oozing' of the iconic pastel blue colouring that connects the collection. This similar style of work is also presented through wall art with clusters of porcelain bands extending outwards into the surrounding space.
Bishopsland Educational Trust
The internationally recognised Postgraduate Centre of Excellence, Bishopsland Educational Trust 'provides a bridge between a University degree and the ability to forge a career as a self-employed silversmith or jeweller.' New talent is such a vital source for the development and continuation of the creative industry. It was not only exciting but refreshing to see the incredible designs from the trust's latest entrants, challenging the world of silversmithing and jewellery design to create pieces that have such organic flow and beauty, bringing traditional methods and skills into the modern-day.
jaggedart - Valeria Nascimento
For jaggedart's fourth year, the brand worked with a series of artists including Valeria Nascimento, renowned for her mesmerising porcelain installations. For 2018 jaggedart hosted 'Collect Spotlight' with 'Rainfores't by Nascimento. Rainforest's immersive installation presents as a large mobile of thin lines of tiny petals, flowers, seeds and branches which will hang from ceiling to floor, playing with shadows and the soothing sounds of porcelain.
Unknown Artists
Porcelain was the material of choice for this year’s fair, but there were plenty of other materials and mediums to go around. While I have been unable to identify the artists and creators of the above works (please contact me if you have any additional information) I had to share the beautiful abstract creations, from the finely spun metal sculpture that appears as a light and delicate as cotton buds to the hypnotic interior of a glass bowl displayed above, reminiscent of microscope peering into the depths of a Petri dish, unearthing a hidden world.
London Glassblowing
It would not be Collect without a visit to London Glassblowing's stand. From last year’s incredible exhibition, new vibrant glassware designs were on display, showcasing everything from decorative vases to contemporary ornaments, demonstrating the possibilities of glassware design.
Every year, the London Craft Council's Collect art fair manages to wow the crowds, progressing from a quiet art fair 25 years ago into the thriving design highlight of the year it is today.