StART KX announces the first of its 2024 programming
Initial programming is announced for the reimagined fair include a presentation from Philip and Charlotte Colbert, the annual Ciclitira Prize in partnership with The King’s Foundation, plus textile-based mural work by South African artist Justin Dingwall.
KEY DATES FOR 2024
Photocall and Press Breakfast: 7 October
VIP Events / Collector Previews 7 – 8 October
Public Opening Dates: 9-13 October
10 years ago, StART was the first ever art fair at the Saatchi Gallery. A decade on, the founders are excited to announce its relocation to the Town Hall in King’s Cross, London for its 11th edition, and the next 10 years.
The innovative global art fair will relocate to an iconic new space in London’s world-renowned creative and technology hub, Kings Cross-St Pancras – the vibrant district for innovative talent, now known simply as KX. The fair will be the debut event showcasing the stunning new Town Hall venue, opening later this year.
The move heralds a bold new era of expansion for StART and which will present leading and emerging artists, curated spaces and galleries, showcased in this atmospheric and versatile new Central London location during October’s Frieze Week.
The dynamic and expansive programme includes artist presentations, gallery booths, sculpture and installation works, an area dedicated to digital art, plus guest exhibitions and StART Solo curated booths with diverse works spanning painting, photography, specially commissioned murals and more.
A VIP programme will include StART Salons, a series of special collector previews and intimate talks which will be hosted in the Town Hall’s beautifully presented apartment-style spaces at the front of the building, plus intimate champagne receptions held in the VIP and press lounge on the mezzanine floor of the breathtaking grand ballroom area with opportunities to meet some of the participating artists and take bespoke walking tours of the Fair hosted by StART guest curators.
The first edition of StART in its new home promises to be an uplifting experience that truly celebrates art and creativity allowing visitors to get to know what is behind the creative drive of the exhibitors, what makes them tick, and how their work relates to the overarching themes of the zeitgeist.
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Charlotte and Philip Colbert
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS SO FAR CONFIRMED
Pop artist Philip Colbert and artist and filmmaker Charlotte Colbert will each present their large scale iconic symbols in the Town Hall’s grand ballroom. Charlotte, described as the lovechild between Emily Dickinson and Salvador Dali and Philip, dubbed the Godson of Andy Warhol, will have their respective Eye and Lobster symbols filling the stage. In addition they will present a selection of derivative and affordable editions and artworks.
StART will once again present the annual Ciclitira Prize, in partnership with The King’s Foundation (formerly the Prince’s Foundation). The Prize is awarded to artists from the School of Traditional Arts annual Degree Show, which showcases individuals whose practice is focused on traditional art forms. As commercial partner for the King’s Foundation, StART enables the winning artists chosen from the MA course to present their work within the commercial setting of the Fair. This year, The King’s Foundation will present an Alumni exhibition inspired by the great art traditions of the world. This year’s graduating students have exhibited an ambitious range of work including Etruscan Bucchero tiles, Ukrainian folk painting, Orthodox iconography, intricate wood inlay, Western illumination and calligraphy, Persian and Indian miniatures, exploratory polyhedral structures of varying scales and Islamic geometry.
Piers Secunda, who is best known for his work examining the destruction of culture, has been working for several months on a series of ink paintings, which portray sunlight shining through smoke in the jungle. The ink he is using for these paintings has been produced from charcoal gathered by UK charity Migrate Art, from illegal fires set by farmers and loggers in the Amazon rainforest. The works are being sold to raise money for the tribal leaders of the Xingu Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, who need fire- fighting equipment to put out the fires the reserve.
“For years I have been making my own inks, using the rust of the 9/11 steel beams, and charcoal from the ISIS burned Mosul Museum, for example, so when Migrate Art asked if I could participate in this Amazon rainforest project, I leapt at the opportunity. Since I was a teenager, I have been fascinated and intrigued by the “hiding tribes” of the Amazon. The main fundraiser organised by Migrate Art ended in March, so I’m the only artist who is still using the ink to raise money for Migrate Art to buy the firefighting kit, for the Xingu Reserve. I can’t think of a better use for my art, than to help protect the Xingu community, and the rainforest which releases the largest volume of the world’s oxygen.”
