ART FAIRS:Frieze London 2018
Frieze was founded in 1991 by Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp with the launch of frieze magazine. In 2003, Sharp and Slotover launched Frieze London Art Fair, which takes place each October in The Regent’s Park, London. In 2012, they launched Frieze New York, which occurs each May in Randall’s Island Park, and Frieze Masters, which coincides with Frieze London in October and is dedicated to art from ancient to modern.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Frieze Archive
The 16th edition of Frieze London takes place in London, with a selection of around 160 galleries presenting their artists and imaginative presentations. The Fair coincides with Frieze Sculpture and Frieze Masters in The Regent’s Park, together forming the most significant week in London’s cultural calendar. This year’s themed gallery section, Social Work feature women artists who challenged the status quo and explored the possibilities of political activism in their art making during the 1980s and ‘90s, from Nancy Spero and Berni Searle to Ipek Duben and Helen Chadwick. Social Work is an invitational section of Frieze London and follows on from 2017’s Sex Work: Radical Politics and Feminist Art. This year, the section features eight monographic presentations by women artists whose work emerged in response to the global social and political schisms of the 1980s and ’90s. Social Work pays homage to a selection of artists who challenged the status quo and explored the possibilities of political activism in their art making. Including both established and lesser-known feminist artists, the section will also highlight the role that galleries have played in their support of women artists whose work may not have been easily assimilated into the mainstream. Solo, group and curated presentations across the fair’s sections feature among others: John Baldessari, Michaël Borremans, Zadie Xa, Lubaina Himid, Mary Kelly, Moshekwa Langa, Calvin Marcus, Jim Shaw, David Shrigley, Josh Sperling, Tatiana Trouvé, Hardeep Pandhal, Athena Papadopoulos, Faith Ringgold, Wong Ping and Cathy Wilkes. Bringing together 33 galleries representing young art scenes from Cape Town to Los Angeles, Focus features galleries aged 12 years or younger. Advised for the first time by Andrew Bonacina in collaboration with Laura McLean-Ferris. Frieze Projects encompasses the activity beyond the booth at the fair and in 2018 includes Live, the Frieze Artist Award and Frieze Film. The Live platform stage performances and interactive installations throughout the fair, exploring hidden formulas which impact wider social, political, and economic realities, such as Liz Glynn’s interactive dance performance, responding to live data at the fair and Julia Scher’s roaming security guards and surveillance installation. In an enclosed space within the fair, Frieze Artist Award winner, Alex Baczynski-Jenkins continue his choreographic practice engaging with queer relationality and the politics of desire, intimacy and friendship. Frieze Talks will explore the role of autobiography in art with international participants including Laurie Anderson, Nan Goldin, Kemang Wa Lehulere and Olivia Laing. Warsaw and London-based artist Alex Baczynski-Jenkins is the 2018 winner of the Frieze Artist Award, a major opportunity for an emerging artist to present a new artwork at Frieze London. Baczynski-Jenkins continues his choreographicpractice engaging with queer relationality and the politics of desire, intimacy and friendship. The 2018 Frieze Film programme will question systems that control and influence the dissemination of information. New commissions by the Otolith Group, Paul Pfeiffer and Lucy Raven will premiere at the Fair. Launching at Frieze London 2018, the Camden Arts Centre Emerging Artist Prize offers an emerging artist participating in the fair’s Focus section, the opportunity to deliver an exhibition at Camden Arts Centre (London) and achieve the critical milestone of a major show at a London institution. The 2018 winners are: Vander Beken and Georgina Townsley. Frieze Sculpture brings together 25 artists from five continents, including: Larry Achiampong, John Baldessari, Rana Begum, Yoan Capote, James Capper, Elmgreen & Dragset, Tracey Emin, Tim Etchells, Rachel Feinstein, Barry Flanagan, Laura Ford, Dan Graham, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Bharti Kher, Kimsooja, Michele Mathison, Virginia Overton, Simon Periton, Kathleen Ryan, Sean Scully, Conrad Shawcross, Monika Sosnowska, Kiki Smith, Hugo Wilson and Richard Woods.
Info: Frieze London 2018, Regent’s Park, London: Duration: 4-7/10/18, Days & Hours: Thu (4/10) 12:00-20:00 (Preview) and 17:00-20:00 (Private View), Fri & Sat (5-6/10) 12:00-19:00, Sun (7/10) 12:00-18:00, Admission: £40 – £120 (more info here), https://frieze.com