Depending on who you talk to, “affordable art” could qualify as a million-dollar steal for a blue-chip painting or a $2 plastic-wrapped print at Washington Square Park. While the latter tends to be more within my tax bracket, I found myself sticking mental bookmarks into some artworks at the opening of the New York Affordable Art Fair last night.
Running through this Sunday, September 20, the semiannual Affordable Art Fair returns to the Starrett Lehigh Building in Chelsea with artworks from 620 artists, most of whom are based outside the United States, according to a press release. With pieces ranging in price from $100 to $12,000, the atmosphere feels a touch more approachable than some of its more exclusive counterparts. Along with a dedicated “Works Under $1,000” wall, many booths designated a pile of prints under a certain price range.
While milling around with plastic thimbles of wine, about a dozen visitors mistook me for a staff member or exhibitor, given my all-black uniform. I witnessed a couple fighting over whether to purchase a display of vintage cookbook spines that had been glued together and one attendee compared Gabe Benzur’s surrealist oil paintings to their last trip on LSD. Later, while rifling through a pile of under-$1,000 butterfly prints, a patron thrust the ones they liked into my arms.
As I noticed during my accidental stint, the crowds were chatty if not endearing, willing to strike up conversation about anything from Deanna Billy Projects’ miniature hot dog paintings ($150 a wiener) to Amelia Coward’s vintage map assortment that looks like bubble wrap from afar (around $1300 to $3500).
This charm extended to the exhibitors, too. Iranian American artist Fara Thomas ran a one-woman show from her booth, explaining how her resin-based artworks blend shapes, textures, and dimensions to land somewhere between sculpture and painting.
“Color is my language,” Thomas told me, standing in front of one of her dangling pieces. “Even though it can be in the pain in the ahem.”
After taking a few loops around the labyrinthine displays, I kept returning to the multimedia works by Abu Oluwaseyi at Spiralis Gallery’s booth, with their captivating melding of pattern and portrait.Â
“Oluwaseyi is special to me because he only paints strong women, by themselves, looking directly at the audience,” curator Gail Patterson said, pointing to the Nigerian artist’s $4,850 abstract portrait, “Welcome to my Neighborhood” (2025). “I wouldn’t be displaying these works if I wouldn’t buy them myself.”
Founded in October 1999 with editions in 15 cities, including Brussels, Hong Kong, and Berlin, the Affordable Art Fair focuses on making artworks accessible to seasoned and brand-new art collectors alike. Many college students and young professionals attend each year, with previous iterations featuring works like Emily Howard’s bite-sized macarons, Mookntaka’s hefty inflatables, and Joyce Pommer’s mixed-media abstractions.
From Dylan Martinez’s $800 glass-blown water balloons that seemed real enough to puncture to Tom Pfannserstill’s $1,150 hand-painted “Apple and Eve” juice box, there were also plenty of light-hearted pieces to peruse.
As the night wore on, the crowds became denser in capacity but looser in their interactions. Partly due to the wine, partly because of the companionship, artists, exhibitors, and visitors mingled in lively exchange, and the packaging station for purchased artworks churned out wrapped canvases like a well-oiled assembly line. If I could inject my wallet with a bit of filler, I might even take home a painting, miniature, or sculpture from one of the 91 booths.
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