Samantha Wexler for Curtains Up
Überculture was here at Concordia’s EV building this past Wednesday and Thursday to bring Montrealers a local art fair. The premise of the art fair was to bring affordable local art and unique pieces created by local artists and artisans to people who would otherwise buy art that is somewhat generic with no real sentimental meaning. The idea is that if you know who made the piece and the story behind how and why it was created then there will be a deeper attachment to the piece than something that was mass produced.
Überculture was started by AJ Korkidakis, Jordan Lindsay and Gonzalo Neito as a way to actively bring to Montrealers who would not otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed to local art as well as a chance to get to speak and interact with the artists which is something that one rarely if ever gets to do with mass produced art. The aim is to focus on accessible, quality pieces and provocative art. This past art market was evenly divided between Concordia students, alumni and Montreal based artists. When I spoke to both Korkidakis and Lindsay they both stressed that the aim of the art market was to get people to talk about culture and to make the connection between the artist community and the people who buy art, and to get people who are looking to buy an art piece to think local and unique rather than something that you can get at IKEA.
When I was looking around the art market I noticed that there were a few vendors selling different types of prints so I asked if there was a specific type of art that überculture was looking for when they sent out their call for artists. While there were a lot of prints – mostly due to the current trend of artists toward this format Lindsay told me that they tried to keep the market well rounded with a bookbinder, a doll maker and a couple or jewelry makers as well as people who were selling cards and frames and other visual goodies.
This was the first of – hopefully – many überculture art markets to come. Korkidakis said that he would like this type of event to happen on a more regular basis, but as they are not catering to a high end clientele there is not much of a budget for advertising which means that they have to become known by word of mouth as well as station themselves in high traffic and high visibility areas such as school campuses.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next call for artists if you are interested in being part of the überculture art market as well as the venue for the next one if you are interested in purchasing unique works and supporting local art and artists.
