Melbourne Art Fair was a great success for the gallery. More than 30,000 people visited the fair over the four days. We had a prime position with a constant stream of people through the stand.
HGG’s group show was praised for its depth, diversity and cohesiveness. Works included oil paintings by Chris Aerfeldt, Amelda Read-Forsythe, Deidre But-Husaim, Abbey McCulloch and Morgan Allender; glass sculptures by Tom Moore; works on paper by Tai Snaith; and embroideries by Tim Moore.
The artists featured regularly in the press in the lead up to Art Fair. Jacqui Stockdale was featured several times in The Age newspaper and Tom Moore in Australian Art Collector magazine. Chris Aerfeldt was one of only a handful of artists singled out by both Robert Nelson in The Age and Edward Colless in The Australian. As Colless noted, ‘Helen Gory Galerie shows Chris Aerfeldt’s arrestingly strange paintings of ogress-like women that are so confidently quirky it’s not suprising this artist, now living in London, has apparently attracted Charles Saatchi’s attention.’ (The Australian, 6 August 2010).
Overall Melbourne Art Fair was productive, rewarding and exhausting but also fun. People laughed in delight at Tom Moore’s magical installation of glass sculptures and Tim Moore’s naughty embroideries. Ours was a serious stand, but one with a sense of humour!