It’s the Whitecross Street Party and the area is buzzing, Roy is sat in the window of the Curious Duke Gallery with a slab full of miniature figures cutting them up and re-assembling them into various poses. With him is his cute dog Oscar, despite the live art he’s probably getting more attention than Roy, but to fair that shouldn’t be too surprising, his dog is very cute.
We’ve met Roy’s People a number of times now. The photographer and miniature installation artist has come a long way since bursting onto the scene a few years ago with a series of exhibitions and a solo show at the same gallery in which we’re meeting now. The Curious Duke has been a consistent supporter of his work which has over the years evolved from purely photography to ever more elaborate installations featuring the little people.
Now though Roy has taken a different direction, in the form of his inaugural art fair, a three day event running in London from 14-17 September featuring 64 different artists with live art and installations. It’s an ambitious project and a welcome and bold addition to the London art fair market.
Inspiring City is a blog supporter of the fair and it supports our ideal of supporting local and emerging artists. Over the next few weeks we’ll be featuring some of the artists taking part but for now it’s all about Roy and finding out a bit more about the fair itself.
There’s a party going on outside though, quite literally, the street outside is packed and music is blaring. We need a place to talk so Roy and Oscar join me down in the basement, the gallery has extended over the past year and now has a handy place to go for doorstepping bloggers like me wanting a bit of peace and quiet for an interview. Oscar comes with us of course, how could he not? That’s one cute dog.
“I wanted to create something that was for artists and purely driven by artists” Roy tells me as we start talking about the thoughts behind starting the art fair and telling me that he specifically wanted to put on an art fair that was in itself creative. The likes of Mr Doodle will be doodling away on the open night and then throughout the event street artists will be creating works all adding to the arty environment. Other artists taking part include friends of this blog in the form of the talented Sarah Fosse, Andrea Tyrimos and of course the fair’s co-creator and regular Roys People collaborator Sam Peacock.
One of the things which is important to Roy is that the public are able to interact with the artists in what is very much intended to be an artist led fair. The plan is for it to be relaxed enough for art lovers and artists alike to talk, to learn about the art and the people behind it. If that’s going to be the vibe then it’s already a must see in my book.
Roys People was interviewed in the Curious Duke Gallery at the Whitecross Street Party on 15 July 2017. The Roys People Art Fair takes place on 14-17 September 2017 at the Candid Arts Trust, 3 Torrens Street, London, EC1V 1NQ. For previous articles featuring Roys People check out this feature on his solo show, this story featuring work with the Big Issue and this joint interview with Sam Peacock.
Roys People Art Fair Gallery
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