Meet 6 Star Artists of the Accessible Art Fair

Clockwise from left: Alexandr Grigorev, Bart'd Eyckermans, Thierry Lancelot, Jason McGroarty, Rod McIntosh, and Hassan Richter. Photos courtesy of the Accessible Art Fair

In a world where “accessible art” garners varying definitions, and where meeting the artist behind the piece you’re eyeing at a renowned art fair isn’t a regular occurrence, the Accessible Art Fair could certainly be called a refreshing art market disruptor.

To bring together high quality art by rising and mid-career artists, bridging that gap between vetted, talented artists and those of us who admire their work, the Brussels edition of the Accessible Art Fair will officially kickoff next week (September 22-25).

Earlier this summer, we proudly announced the exclusive list of participants at this 10th anniversary Brussels edition of the fair and offered a sneak preview of a few of the key artists. As our excitement ramps up and our team prepares to set off to Brussels, learn about 6 of the most anticipated artists showing at the fair, hand-selected by the fair’s founder Stephanie Manasseh and a team of established jury members.

Left: Alexandre Grigorev; Right: “Killing” by Alexandr Grigorev. Photos courtesy of
the Accessible Art Fair

Alexandr Grigorev (Russia)

Alexandr Grigorev was recognized as one of “200 best illustrators worldwide” in 2009 by Luerzer’s International Archive. His work is mostly focused on social topics and pop culture, and their collaboration with traditional Asian, European, and Russian art. He explains, “I spent part of my childhood in the Kirgizstan mountains near the Chinese border and part in Siberia taiga (Krasnoyarsk). Later I moved to Prague, Saint-Petersburg, London and back to Russia. It affected my art and forced me to try to connect European social reality with Asian and Russian traditions.”


Left: Bendt Eyckermans; Right: “Jasper” by Bendt Eyckermans. Photos courtesy of
the Accessible Art Fair

Bendt Eyckermans (Belgium)

According to the 22-year-old Antwerp-based painter Bendt Eyckermans, everything he paints is true; every subject is an event or a recent memory that he has to process through painting. He bases his paintings on his friends, the Antwerp nightlife, and love. “I paint to capture fragile memories. Paint is the perfect medium to express emotions and the impermanence of both the canvas and the memory,” he says. The subjects of Eyckermans’ paintings are meaningful people or places in his life. In these paintings, he explores the boundaries between realism and expressionism, which lead to subtle deformations of his models and an expressive portrayal of color and light.


Left: Hassan Richter; Right: “Wurf ins Baeu” by Hassan Richter. Photos courtesy of
the Accessible Art Fair

Hassan Richter (Germany)

Hassan Richter strongly considers himself a documentalist of East German monuments and of the consequences for this region after the turnaround of 1989. He traces its wounds and changes, and lifts the experiences of this local history metaphorically onto a higher level of human handling of successes and crises, ups and downs, values and superficialities of human existence. Working solely as a photographer since 2007, Richter focuses on the topic of “decay and decline.”


Left: Jason McGroarty; Right: “Totem Hare” by Jason McGroarty. Photos courtesy of
the Accessible Art Fair

Jason McGroarty (Ireland)

Jason McGroarty started as a self-trained photographer and quickly moved into surreal photographic art. With the use of intricate image editing techniques and creative editorial photography, his work depicts the ordinary in a new light. He sees creating and experiencing art as a way to enhance the human experience. “As we create, we reveal so much about our lives, our loves, our hopes, our dreams, our fears, the things that indeed make us human,” he says. “I have always tried to understand the implications of certain events in my life and through creative expression I am able to reflect upon experiences with clearer vision.”


Left: Rod McIntosh; Right: “Void” by Rod McIntosh. Photos courtesy of
the Accessible Art Fair

Rod McIntosh (United Kingdom)

Rod McIntosh’s work has transformed from figurative sculpture with a medico-anthropological starting point to works with minimal subject other than material, processes and an exploration of a visual language of marks. As a mark maker, his art lies within a tradition of drawing. He is also a creative facilitator providing bespoke training across educational and business environments, and he lectures and writes about artists’ professional practice.


Left: Thierry Lancelot; Right: “Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi” by Thierry Lancelot. Photos courtesy of
the Accessible Art Fair

Thierry Lancelot (Belgium)

Thierry Lancelot is an artist (and art collector) who works primarily with ceramics to create unique narrative pieces. He works with both mass-market and antique found porcelain figurines, cutting up and or adding gold or sterling silver elements to them and repainting them, to create sculptures which depicts the male and female figure caught in sexual poses. In recent years, he intensively studied the three-dimensional figure in art and the philosophical relationship between art and perception.


Accessible Art Fair, Brussels: The Invaluable Collection

Can’t make it to Brussels? The fair will continue on Invaluable. Browse and buy more from featured Accessible Art Fair artists starting in October 2016, and follow our editors’ fair coverage on Twitter and Instagram with #InOnTheGo.