Super farmers' market

'Super Farmers’ Market' was the second in a series of group shows that tease at the possible proximity of two forms of specialist consumption: fine food and fine art.

The first 'Farmers’ Market' took place in London’s Wigmore Street in 2008, showcasing 24 producers, and was herded by farmer and de-curator Fedja Klikovac, Director of Handel Street Projects. And just as the weekly Farmers’ Market offers the discerning customer informed selections of the very best produce, so this annual version does with art: combining the idea of a selected exhibition as an exercise in connoisseurship with the recognition that art is nevertheless also a commodity. The 2010 show, curated by two experts in the field, Mary Anne Francis and Lucy Heyward, was themed around the idea of ‘upcycling’: the current trend for taking low-grade artefacts that might be destined for landfill and enhancing their value by means of handwrought interventions. To this end, 32 artists were asked to produce artworks using low-cost supermarket goods: groceries, cleaning materials and discarded packaging. Continuing the Farmers’ Market theme, artists are encouraged to resource their materials locally.

The show received much press coverage: it was previewed in 'The Independent'; reviewed in 'Time Out', 'Artselector' and was the subject of an article by Richard Dyer in 'Third Text' (May 2011) - links supplied to all above.

Artists: Rasheed Araeen, Phyllida Barlow, David Batchelor, Stuart Brisley, Richard Deacon, Braco Dimitrijevic, Mary Anne Francis, Martino Gamper, Lucy Gunning, Lucy Heyward, Susan Hiller, Andy Holden, Koo Jeong-A, Ian Kiaer, Sharon Kivland, Darian Leader, Sarah Lucas, Hayley Newman, Tina O’Connell, Lucy Orta, Nicholas Pope, Giorgio Sadotti, Saso Sedlacek, Jane Simpson, Bob & Roberta Smith, Rasa Todosijevic, Zlatan Vukosavljevic, Richard Wentworth, Franz West, Alison Wilding, Gerard Williams, Elizabeth Wright.

• http://www.handelstreetprojects.com/proj...