Contemporary artists to sell their work at car boot sale in Kent
One of the most popular events on the contemporary art calendar – surely the only place to meet famous artists selling their stuff direct from the back of a van – will this weekend move to Margate. New York, Berlin and beyond may follow.
The Vauxhall Art Car Boot sale will head to the Kent coast on Sunday with artists including Tracey Emin, Polly Morgan and Mat Collishaw selling affordable editions of their work.
Ahead of the event, the sale’s founder, Karen Ashton, revealed it was in discussions to hold its first sale in New York in the autumn of next year or spring 2017.
“We’ve got very good contacts in New York already so it would make sense,” she said. “It is just about making sure we do it as well in New York as we do in the UK.”
She added it might also be possible to stage art car boot sales in Berlin, Dubai, Hong Kong and Beijing.
The sale first took place in 2004, in Brick Lane, east London, when about 1,000 people turned up. Now, five times that number attend and after excursions out of London to Liverpool and Folkestone, the sale will move to the car park of Turner Contemporary in Margate.
It seemed like a natural progression, according Ashton. “There is a sort of really pioneering spirit going through the place and we’ve met lots of people in their 30s selling little boxes in London and buying quite extensive properties in Margate ... there’s a real sense of an artist community.”
The format will remain the same, with the opportunity to buy work direct from artists at cheaper prices than at galleries.
“Sometimes you get people coming in at midday and leaving at 12.30pm with six great big rolls under their arms,” said Ashton. “They literally have just come to get a Tracey Emin, a Ben Eine, a Peter Blake or whatever. And there are lots of people who come along to seek out new stuff and that’s the great thing about it – there is lots of undiscovered talent.
“I think the artists who take part really enjoy that direct interface with people buying their work and getting excited about it. This weekend, you could go to Margate with £1,000 and come away with signed editions by say Peter Blake, Emin, Polly Morgan, Mat Collishaw and probably a couple of other pieces, too.”
Ashton said the sales would follow the same format if they were to stage it abroad.
The Margate sale will include a string of events and installations beyond the car boot selling, including a dog show on Margate’s promenade with prizes for the “most inspiring hound”. Despite the poor weather forecast – cloudy, with a threat of rain – there will also be a knitted-swimsuit fashion parade and performances on a stage set up by Cabaret Futura.
Other artists taking part in Margate include Rachel Howard, Vic Reeves, Rachel Wilberforce, Holly Allan, Heidi Plant, Ray Richardson, Dougie Wallace, Margot Bowman and Benjamin Murphy.