Affordable Art Fair 2025

Affordable art fair 2025. In review.

Art Installation greeted visitors at the entrance to the fair.

I am writing this a day after the Affordable Art Fair 2025 concluded, and I'm trying to process the whirlwind of emotions I experienced over the last five days. From setting up my booth to taking it down, it’s been a journey filled with contrasts.

I felt the exhilarating highs of successfully selling my artwork, knowing it would find good homes. Yet, I also faced the frustrating lows of hours without any sales, leading to nights filled with self-doubt and insecurity. There were moments when potential buyers seemed ready to make a purchase, only to walk away at the last minute, leaving me wondering what went wrong.

On one hand, it felt incredible to participate in such a high-profile event featuring numerous galleries from around the world, as well as the vibrant Hong Kong art scene. With 99 galleries representing hundreds of artists, the scale was truly impressive.

On the other hand, it was hard not to be affected by disparaging comments I overheard, or by the overwhelming feeling of being a small fish in a vast pond. There’s nothing quite like the joy of receiving a positive comment from a stranger, but conversely, nothing stings more than a negative remark from someone unknown.

Plus, I experienced sheer exhaustion after many sleepless nights and countless hours on my feet. The pain in my knees and feet is quite hard to bear. I took anti-inflammatory medication to help with the swelling in my knees, but by day two, it upset my stomach, leaving me uncomfortable and in pain for much of the event. This may be a result of my own health issues rather than a reflection upon the fair itself and is probably just something that I personally have to contend with.

This year was a new experiment for me. Instead of joining the wonderful folks at the Hong Kong Arts Collective, as I had in the previous two years, I decided to team up with five other artists to form our own collective. I had previously exhibited with two of them at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in January, and given our successful collaboration, it felt like the next logical step. We were also joined by three new colleagues whom we successfully recruited in the lead-up to this year’s fair.

Since I had been involved from the inception of this project, I was excited to acquire a staff badge for the first time, granting me full access to the event, including booth setup and dismantling. This was a new experience, and I quickly discovered it entailed a lot of hard work.

The Before picture. Our bare stand.

Despite our best intentions and plans, we encountered several surprises on setup day. For instance, there were strict restrictions on accessing the hall before the designated time, and the physical labor required to transport our artwork was significant. Setting up the stand itself came with its own challenges, including inaccurate measurements and walls with wet paint.

These obstacles were just a few of the hurdles we faced, but by working together as a team, I believe we did a commendable job—especially for our very first time at this fair under the ‘Rogue Art’ name. It took us a long time to actually start hanging artwork, as I think we werer overly cautious with our measurements, double checking and rechecking everything. But finally I reached a point where I thought I would just go for it and started drilling and fixing screws like crazy!

The initial set up took over 8 hours of hard work!

I did have one last moment of panic and madness, as I realised 15 mins before the set up deadline that all my artwork has displayed too low. Hence 15 mins of frantic re-drilling and repositioning before my display was complete! Phew!.

After 8 hours of work by 5 people, the stand was finally ready!

Fortunately, we had previously come together as a team during several Zoom calls, which fostered good camaraderie and team spirit. This allowed us to align on key points, such as our wall plans, artwork measurements, and positioning within the booth.

Our team included my fellow watercolorist, Mr. Eric Chih; Ms.Yafaa from Taiwan, who had been working on acrylic pieces; Mr. Eric Luke, a talented oil painter specializing in figure work; Ms. Casalina from Hong Kong, known for her dreamy abstract oil paintings; and Ms. Chong Ling, a French-Chinese artist now residing in Singapore, who creates semi-surreal artworks featuring classic Hong Kong icons at unexpected scales. Additionally, we were supported by two wonderful staff members, Kammy and Winnie.

I must say, this year was marked by how many things didn’t go according to my plan. The artworks I thought would be the most commercially appealing didn’t sell, despite being photographed repeatedly. I was really surpised by how many people took photographs of my artwork, and not subtly I may add. There were a few people who shot every single one of my artworks from close up and straight on. I have no idea what they were goingto do with those photos. Were they using them as reference to help with buying decsions, or just as inspiration for their own artworks? Or... my biggest fear, where they going to give them to some cheap art factory in Mainland China and knock them off? Who knows.

So many people took photos of my artwork

I even joked that we should charge $1 per photo on our booth as we would have made a fortune!

Conversely, some of my more obscure pieces found buyers, often because of personal connections I made with different people. In fact, one artwork sold that wasn’t even on display! The buyer had previously seen it on my social media and had visited my solo exhibition, so it was gratifying to have an admirer.

One aspect that did align with my intentions was my painting titled ‘Hong Kong Butterfly’ It attracted people to my display, drawing them in as they observed the intricate details. While I usually aim for realism in my work, this piece allowed me to showcase my creativity and originality. Although it wasn’t purchased, the high level of interest made it feel like a success.

My latest semi surreal experimental illustration 'Hong Kong Butterfly'

Another highlight was the spirit and camaraderie among the team. The constant jokes, quips, and sarcasm were reassuring and uplifting, even during the slowest moments of the fair.

Final touch ups!

The Lows:

- One low point came early when panic struck during booth setup. Time seemed to fly by, and we made little progress because we were overly careful with our measurements and the positioning of the artwork.

- The physical pain from standing for long periods was intense. My arthritic knees throbbed throughout the night, causing sleeplessness.

- There were long hours without any artwork sales, despite hundreds of visitors to the booth. Many people took pictures of my work, leaving me puzzled. I wondered if they were considering a purchase later or simply fellow artists seeking inspiration. While I appreciated their interest, I felt frustrated, especially since all my work is available on my social media accounts and website. The photos they took could never capture the essence of the original artwork.

- It was particularly disheartening when people walked past my artwork without acknowledging it. This felt especially frustrating considering the hard work that went into both its creation and display.

- I found myself envious when I saw large artworks being carried past our stand, clearly worth tens of thousands of dollars, while I haggled with customers over prices I felt were already undervalued. This experience reminded me of pop-up markets where I sell prints and postcards, and I was disappointed to see that the public’s mentality often remains the same. I must admit that, in my previous life as a salaryman, I might have behaved similarly.

- I put considerable thought into my pricing strategy, aiming for a balance that felt reasonable to me and realistic for customers. I didn’t want to undervalue my work, which takes many days and hours to create. However, I realized that high prices could deter people from making what is essentially a luxury purchase.

- The issue of how to price my artwork has been a long-standing dilemma. If I calculated the man-hours involved in creating each piece based on my previous salary, the prices would be quadruple what I finally settled on. This is frustrating—why is an artist’s time not valued like any other profession? One artwork took almost two weeks to complete. If customers considered the value of two weeks of their own salary in relation to my prices, wouldn’t they see it as a great deal? Unfortunately, that comparison often doesn’t apply when viewing a finished piece.

- One of my low points was also close to being a high point. After spending a long time discussing my process and background with potential buyers, only to have them express interest and then walk away without making a purchase was nerve-wracking. Each unsuccessful pitch felt like my nerves were fraying.

- A particularly low moment was when three ladies showed great interest in my work, discussing it and the pricing in detail, only to leave and return multiple times—raising and lowering my expectations repeatedly. One even measured my artwork, which I thought was a good sign, but it ultimately led to nothing. All the while, I pretended to remain cool and calm, maintaining the facade of being a professional, successful artist. Ha!

 The High Points:

- A definite highlight for me was witnessing a couple's emotional reaction to one of my artworks. The wife burst into tears, apologizing to me because she was so moved. It turned out they were leaving Hong Kong and wanted a memory of their time here. It was an honor to help fulfill that wish, especially since they chose my personal favorite piece. Knowing it was going to a loving home made the moment even more special.

- One of the major high points was beating my previous sales record. In the past two years, I sold four artworks over the four days. This time, I was thrilled to set a new record with ten pieces sold. I felt like an exceptionally well-behaved child receiving red dots on my wall—like badges of honor indicating my sales success. It’s amusing to think that those small red stickers became some of the most prized possessions and status symbols for artists at the fair.

Little red dots - The most sought after prize

- I took great pride in personally securing the sale of eight of my artworks. This included explaining my creative process and sharing my history and inspiration with customers.

My lovely customers

- I was pleasantly surprised by some visitors' reactions upon meeting me, with comments suggesting that I’m famous in Hong Kong. While it sounded great, I must admit I’m a bit dubious about that claim!

- I felt a strong sense of satisfaction standing back and seeing my wall display match my expectations perfectly. I appreciated being able to control my display space and adjust the artwork positioning as needed.

My initial Wall Display

- Meeting other artists and gallery owners was a pleasure, and it made me feel like I truly belonged in the same industry as them.

- Even though I had my doubts and almost didn’t want to go, the after-party dinner where we celebrated as a team was a fantastic way to conclude this remarkable endeavour.

-It was certianly a high point to see the sheer ammount of people who crowded around our stand. On numerous occasions I had to stand outside of the booth as it was super crowded. Hopefully this means that our brands are receiving positive exposure.

It was a pleasure to welcome so many people to our stand.

Overall:

In review, I still question whether participating in the fair is truly worthwhile from a financial perspective. It involves risks with no clear guarantee of reward, as there are overhead costs to consider, such as the display area and custom frames for my artworks. These factors can make it feel like I’m giving away some paintings for free before seeing any return on my investment.

However, the exposure from having so many people view my artwork—and record it—while taking my business cards and scanning the QR codes to my bio does help advance my art career and build my brand. Yet, “exposure” is a term I’ve grown to dislike, as it doesn’t pay the bills. It’s an intangible, unquantifiable factor often used as an excuse to justify high costs for exhibitors at various events.

From a physical standpoint, standing for hours each day and navigating the fair without enough seating is a significant issue for me. My left knee, which had surgery last year, held up fine, but the arthritis in my right knee seems to be worsening, having taken on most of the weight bearing during my recovery. As I write this, I’m dealing with terrible pain in my Achilles heel, a direct result of my limping. If I were to do this again next year, I would definitely reconsider being involved for the entire duration of the fair and would work out somekind of rotating shifts with my team mates..

One thing is certain: the team I worked with was truly wonderful, especially the support staff, Kammy and Winnie. These two lovely ladies handled payment processing, wrapping up artworks for the team, and all the behind-the-scenes preparations, including organizing the website and wall tags. They have my deepest appreciation and admiration.

The full Team: Kammy, Winny, Cassalina, Yafaa, Eric C, Eric L, Chong Ling, Madison and I.

In conclusion, knowing what I know now, what would I do differently, and would I consider this event again? Hong Kong's fascination with cats seems to have evolved into a new admiration for pandas. Perhaps next year, I should focus on drawing cats and pandas to save myself the time and effort of painting highly detailed street scenes. Of course, I’m being cynical. I paint what I love, and when I find a customer who shares my deep affection for the city, I feel thoroughly vindicated—something I might not experience if I painted cats and pandas!

If I’m fortunate enough to be invited back next year, I would definitely not attend every day or stand for such long hours. I’m satisfied with my pricing and didn’t change it during the fair, as it seems I got it right. However, there was a clear trend of customers favoring smaller, less expensive artworks, so I may need to consider offering smaller sizes in the future.

I might need a few more days to fully evaluate the pros and cons of this endeavor. It may take time for my enthusiasm to return. In the meantime, I think I’ll start working on some paintings to help lift my spirit. But no Cats and no Pandas!

Happy 'Rogue Art' team our after party dinner.

#AffordableArtFairHong Kong #hongkongartist