Gonna buy me some serious art

The Bargain Queen has always been interested in contemporary art, but as yet doesn't own any (unless you count friends' work, in which case her house is full of it). After reading this article on where to find art cheaply in New York, she had to find out whether there were similar sources in Sydney.

Here's what she found:

Art fairs
There are affordable art fairs in both Sydney and Melbourne, held anually. This year's Melbourne show is in April; the Sydney one is in June. The Age reviewed the shows a couple of years ago:

"Affordable" here means accessible, educational and - to cut to the chase - works that will cost no more than $5000, and as little as $100. The show, which brings together 120 galleries "from all corners of Australia ... and overseas", only offers original works. Nothing, say, like a reproduction print or commercially printed poster.

Sounds like it might be worth checking out.

The other show that looks worth a visit is the Sydney Art on Paper Fair. No news about the 2006 fair on the web site yet though.

Artist-run gallery spaces
These are the Australian equivalent of non-profit exhibition spaces. First Draft is probably the best-known (even The Bargain Queen has heard of it!) and has been going since the 80s, but according to the Sydney Morning Herald a lot of other artist-run spaces have disappeared recently, which seems like a shame.

Student shows
Some of the ones around Sydney include:

• Sydney College of the Arts degree show (November and December)
  
• National Art School degree show and honours show (November and December), plus an exhibition of 2nd & 3rd year students' drawings (May) and a fundraiser of small works by established artists (October)
• College of Fine Art also have an annual graduation show; no info online about the 2006 show yet
  

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