The Art Fair That Pays You Back: Inside Ryan Stanier's Fair Play

Free booths, live performances, and a nude portrait sitting - the founder of The Other Art Fair is back, and this time he's flipping the whole model.

When Ryan Stanier launched The Other Art Fair in 2011, he had one simple, radical idea: build an art fair for artists, not galleries. Over the following 13 years - and 100 editions - that idea turned into a global institution. Then he sold it, served out a non-compete, and got quietly restless.

Now he's back with Fair Play Art Fair, and the premise is even more disruptive than the original.

Free Booths. Seriously.

At virtually every art fair on the planet, exhibiting is expensive. Galleries pay tens of thousands for floor space, which gets passed down the chain. It's a model that squeezes out emerging artists and mid-tier galleries while rewarding those already at the top.

Fair Play turns that upside down. The 70 selected artists pay nothing to exhibit. Ryan absorbs the venue, production, lighting, and marketing costs upfront - and earns revenue only if art actually sells, taking a commission on sales.

"I wanted to find 70 artists that I love and just showcase them," Stanier explains. "And if it's free, surely more artists can participate."

There is a £70 + VAT application fee to cover the selection committee costs - but if you're chosen, your booth is on the house.

A Fair That Feels Like a Night Out

The name Fair Play is deliberate. Ryan is just as focused on the "play" half as the fair half. Staged at the stunning Number One Marylebone during Frieze Week in October (by complete coincidence, naturally), the event will include unexpected installations, a live music programme in the venue's underground crypt, and a project called Get Nude, Get Drawn.

Created by Brooklyn-based artist Mike Perry, the experience invites willing visitors to step into a closed greenhouse, undress, and become a life model for six professional artists for five minutes. You leave with one of the resulting portraits — and the others go on public display. Participation is entirely optional, but the concept alone says everything about the spirit Ryan is going for.

"I want people to walk away saying: this incredible thing happened AND I met an amazing artist," he says. "It should be a day out."

Who Can Apply?

Applications are open to any artist who has been working professionally for at least two years, has some exhibition history (even a group show counts), and doesn't have an exclusive gallery agreement that would prevent independent showing. International artists are welcome. Admission for visitors is just £20 — a world away from Frieze prices.

Why Now?

The timing isn't accidental. Critic Jerry Saltz recently went viral arguing that art fairs should pay galleries to participate - the same way venues pay performers - rather than the other way around. Fair Play isn't quite that model, but it's the closest thing to it anyone has actually built.

Ryan sees it as a natural extension of everything he learned running The Other Art Fair: the better the artists do, the better the fair does. Alignment, not extraction.

"Once it's in your blood, it's quite hard for it not to be there," he admits.

Fair play, indeed.

Fair Play Art Fair takes place in October during Frieze Week at Number One Marylebone, London.

Applications open now at fairplayartfair.com