Anna Brady 

The selection process — though lengthy! — was a real treat, getting to see such a variety of works, and only have to sit with a cup of tea and pick the ones that caught our eye.

 

The group selection was fun, gradually learning everybody else’s tastes and guessing what they would go for, and who shared a similar eye, but then I also enjoyed going through the works at my own pace. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what drew me to the works but I suppose, due to the nature of the selection process, it had to be something with real immediacy, something that spoke to you instantly. Having just reported on Frieze Week as I write this, I am reminded again of how many different art worlds there are.

 

The top echelons of the contemporary market having very little to do with “real life” and there is a worrying trend for very young artists, only a few years after graduating, having their work used as commodities by investor or speculator collectors, who flip them into auction to sell for million-plus sums.

 

This glitzy, arguably pretty cynical end of the market is a million miles away from the art world that most of us inhabit and from the ING entries—these are artists working quietly in their studios, from their kitchen tables or on an easel set up in the corner of a sitting room. And that, in my opinion, is how it should be.