Running from 28 August to 31 August 2025, the Melbourne Affordable Art Fair collects under one roof some of the country’s most vibrant and visually arresting artwork in a price range from below $1,000 to $10,000.
Affordable Art Fair, painting by Kathryn Gallagher
Following the Fair’s appearance in Brisbane earlier this year, where it set new records for the city, the event’s increasing popularity will see it being stationed in Sydney’s iconic Carriageworks in November to accommodate the heightened influx of art-lovers.
The opening night event under the dome of Melbourne’s iconic Royal Exhibition Building was a bustling affair, with the vast interior space filled with every possible style and genre of realist, impressionist and abstract art. Estimates are that 18,000 Melburnians will attend this weekend’s presentation of contemporary artists, presenting their work across a range of experience from established talents to emerging creatives.
Beyond the fantastic variety of styles and subjects on display, attendees were also invited to speak directly with the artists themselves. This served to greatly enhance the experience of absorbing so much art, as one was able to learn more about the often painstaking process of creating these works and what inspired them.
One artist present was hyperrealist painter Kathyrn Gallagher, whose immensely detailed oil paintings of neon-drenched, modern-day Americana were so bold as to be visible from across almost the entire width of the Exhibition Building. Speaking with her, Gallagher revealed that one show-stopping rendering of a Dodge Charger glistening below Miami streetlights took her three months to complete.
She confessed, even, to putting some minor last-minute touches in the hotel room that afternoon, and so the painting was essentially still drying in front of us!
In a culture increasingly fretful about the influence of artificial intelligence and its capacity to render all artforms into instantly available – and ultimately paper-thin – content, it was a thrillingly nourishing experience to see what human creativity is still capable of achieving. The immense variety and demonstration of talent on display last night was nothing short of thrillingly energising, with every artist presenting a fabulous range of inspirations and interests.
For those seeking a fresh hit of colour and culture, the Affordable Art Fair serves as a fantastic setting in which to spend a couple of hours – or even find something to enliven your living room or enhance your bedroom walls.
–Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier
