Text and Photos by Marie Roux
Frieze 11th edition closed its door last Sunday night, accompanied for the second time running by the more luxurious Frieze Masters tent, a short 10 minutes walk on the other side of Regent’s park.
This year 30 countries were represented at Frieze and 15 at Masters, turning this fair into their most international event to date. Amongst the noticeable changes in 2013 was the strong attendance of galleries from South America, especially Argentina and Brasil. Dubai also gained more exposure as well as spaces from Brussels, Berlin and London, while North American galleries still boasted visible signs of expansion.
Overall the fair felt spacious yet understated; fewer galleries were invited compared to last year, hanging less artworks in their booths. Hence the aisles seemed not as crowded and convey a better attention to planning the layout of public areas and lighting systems.
Elmgreen & Dragset, But I’m on the Guest List, too! 2012. @Sculpture Park presented by Victoria Miro, London
Already kicking things off outside in the Sculpture Park with “Between the Old and the New”, Yorkshire Sculpture Park director Clare Lilley for the 2nd year in a row curated a pathway of sculptures ranging from an 11th century stone lion to 1990s pieces by Helen Chadwick, Judy Chicago and brand new contributions from Oscar Murillo as well as the cynical humour of contemporary duo Elmgreen & Dragset.
Frieze Masters also projected a more diffused atmosphere. This year’s stunner came from Henri Matisse’s series of drawings, hanging next to Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s rendition of “The census of Bethlehem”, emulated from his father Bruegel the Elder’s 1566 masterpiece of the same title. Certainly not the only highlight of this booth, Johnny Van Haeften gallery has this year already attracted much attention for its unique assortment of outstanding works, even before the opening of the fair. The Spotlight section curated by Adriano Pedrosa dedicated solo presentations of 20th century artists from Brasil, Austria, Argentina and more. One could see Martin Barré at Andrew Kreps Gallery, Nancy Spero at Galerie Lelong and Joseph Kosuth at Sean Kelly. Lisson Gallery celebrated Richard Long’s return to his gallery this year, by building an impressive large-scale installation of his work, composed of a major stone floor configuration, a text piece as well as a monumental mud wall drawing. This year fewer galleries spread themselves over both Masters and the main Frieze event such as London’s Pace Gallery, opting out of Masters to focus solely on contemporary content.
Richard Long, installation view at Lisson Gallery, London/Milan/NY @Frieze Masters
Back in the main tent, the omnipresent Finnish born Pilvi Takala participated simultaneously to Frieze project and Frame, within Carlos/Ishikawa gallery. Takala’s videos document performative experiments by infiltrating diverse communities and reveal unexpected contradiction inherent to those social groups. Her Frieze project entitled The Committee is the result of a long-term production under the Emdash Award, where she donated the prize money to a group of 8-12 year old children in London’s Bow borough. Following a series of live brainstorming workshops within the fair on to how to use the money, the children announced on the day before Frieze was scheduled to close that they will build a monumental 5-star “bouncy castle”.
Marlie Mul at Fluxia gallery marked one of the most notable presentations of the Frame section (gathering 18 young galleries founded after 2003, of which 16 Frieze first timers), with puddle-like floor-based sculptures made of textile, glass, resin, sand and waste culled from the street. Elodie Seguin’s curious installation also made an impression at Hilary Crisp gallery, scaling down the booth to a minimalist theatrical stage setting.
Angelo Plessas, Temple of Play, 2013. Site-specific commission for the Family Space @Frieze Projects
In the main exhibitor section one could talk directly to many artists present at Limoncello including Sean Edwards, Jack Strange and Jesse White, check out the price tags attached to Jeff Koons’ gigantic fake balloon bronze sculptures flanked by security guards at Gagosian, or look into Pierre Huyghe’s aquarian ecosystem where a bobbing arrow crab appeared quite oblivious to the artistic rituals on parade around him. Alternatively, one could notice the many school children walking about with cardboard structures and drawings artefacts from Angelo Plessas’ interactive project Temple of Play.
Aside from the obvious mercantile character of art collecting and the costly entry ticket, this year’s Frieze apparently adopted a more inclusive approach, where more visitors took part in guided tours and even Gagosian’s gallery staff were ready to accompany each punter through to every artwork on display. Or was it to pass time since all the works sold out?
Jeff Koons, installation view at Gagosian Gallery @Frieze London