On 28 March, The Auction Collective is presenting their annual Spring Auction of contemporary art. Featuring 83 artworks, each piece is sourced from an emerging artist and priced under £3,000. This makes the sale an ideal place for beginning buyers to start establishing a collection, while also offering more experienced collectors a chance to discover new talent. Read on to see six prime examples of the dynamic and thought-provoking array that will hit the auction block later this month.
One of a limited edition of 25, Wavy is a vibrant print that defined Camila Quintero’s artistic practice, exploring the interactions between geometry, abstraction and colour. Originally from Columbia, Quintero created the piece for her Visual Arts Masters at Camberwell and in 2018 her work was selected for the permanent collection of the University of the Arts London.
With leaves that look almost like lemons at first glance, the South London artist Diana Palmer captures the heavy autumn foliage of a dogwood tree in her painting Cornus. They stand in sharp relief to the blurred and muted background, emphasising the contrasts and interplay of elements in the natural environment.
Seven artworks make up ‘Green Perspectives’, a curated selection in the auction that highlights pieces addressing climate change and environmental issues. One such work is 78° North, Sint Johnsforden, painted by artist and physicist Angela Gilmour after a three week long expedition to the arctic circle. Gilmour’s practice focuses on shorelines and other natural borders, and how we interact with these ever-more endangered landscapes.
Liam Roberts is a member of the International Society of Typographic Designers, and his graphic skills come to the forefront in his painting Cinco. The work acts as an abstract representation of the artist’s trip through Portugal, with various geometric colour fields denoting legs of the journey coming together in a single harmonious structure.
Alternately seen as a figure celebrating or a figure drowning, Holly Fernando’s photograph Hands is a surreal snapshot of the artist’s sister in the Balearic Sea. The rich colours and almost eerie stillness enhance the dreamlike qualities, creating a fantastical and ambiguous image.
Adrian Coleman reinvents the British watercolour with English Landscape 2, subverting the usual picturesque scenery with the addition of a tower block above the treeline. It is an update to the genre, addressing modern urban disjunction in the juxtaposition of the pleasant greenery with the almost foreboding structure shining brightly in the background.
The Spring Auction will take place on 28 March at Candid Arts, 3 Torrens St, London. The exhibition is open 24-28 March from 10am-6pm at the same location, and all pieces are also accessible in the online catalogue. Registration for live bidding has opened online, and options for absentee and telephone bidding are also available.