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Reviews
Frieze Art Fair Regent's Park, London, 17-20 October 2003 |
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In the past London's art fairs have been a bit of a flop because they have not succeeded in attracting the international galleries and clients as do the Basel, Cologne or Madrid art fairs. This is all the more surprising considering that London has artists and galleries with high international reputations. The recent Frieze art fair attempted to rectify this by staging a huge event in an architect designed, though from the outside rather dull, low-rise tent in Regents Park - and it seems to have worked. Here for the first time were major galleries from places as far apart as New York, Tokyo and Berlin. Given the costs involved for the galleries in participating, they clearly expected to make substantial sales. A number of gallerists I spoke to confirmed that the gamble had paid off. Timothy Taylor Gallery were very upbeat about sales, as were Andrew Mummery Gallery who said that an unexpected spin off had been a surge in attendance at their new London space. The entrance was through a red passageway into a searing white space where the smartest architectural idea was the use of a semi-transparent false ceiling, creating evenly defused lighting throughout. Alongside the bookshop and snack bars there was a rather exclusive open plan restaurant where people came to see and be seen, rather like Tatler in a tent. I went along to test out the assertion made recently by a London gallery director that photography is 'the new Rock and Roll'. Well, it might be more accurate to say photography is like House music- it's everywhere. The majority of galleries showed at least one photographic artist within a pick-and-mix of styles and media. To begin with there seemed to be no coherent themes and very little to differentiate one gallery from another in this stylish collage of international art. But then I realised that such an event requires a level of prior knowledge of the art world from the viewer. |
To collect certain artists can be compared to buying into a brand name, and galleries showing the best and most exclusive brands are those with the most status. But you have to know your brand names. An artist like Andreas Gursky, for example, was represented by a number of galleries at the Frieze event. He was literally within the inner circle of the White Cube gallery area, alongside Damian Hirst and Gilbert and George, whilst other less bankable artists were displayed on the outer walls. Venturing away from the powerful galleries located in the central area of the tent, one could find many smaller commercial galleries showcasing interesting artists from the UK and abroad. Makoto Aida, represented by Mizuma Art Gallery, paints uncomfortably dark erotica of teenage amputees whilst Naoya Hatakeyama's colourful photographs of Milton Keynes seen through a rain-splattered windscreen took up half the space allocated to Taka Ishii Gallery of Tokyo. Gallerie Rodolphe Janssen created a strange juxtaposition between Jonh de Andeas's slightly sagging nude sculpture and the glossy sophistication of the model shown in Philip-Lorca diCorcia's nearby photo (illustrated). The Frieze art fair proves that an interesting and professional event can be organised in London, engaging both buyers and viewers. Whether next year's fair will continue to attract such high calibre galleries, however, will be the real test. It will also be interesting to see if photography is still holding its own, or like video at this year's event, will be noticeable by its absence. Zoey Goto |
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