A 10-Point Guide to Frieze London 2013
With Stephen Shore talking, Meredith Monk performing, and Ken Okiishi paintballing, this year’s Frieze London is not to be missed. In its 11th edition, Frieze London gathers 150 galleries and works by over 1,000 contemporary artists in Regent’s Park. This year promises a new, more spacious layout and an exciting programme of site-specific installations, talks, films and the nearby Sculpture Park.
1. What? When? Where? How?
Frieze London is an art fair dedicated to contemporary art with a special emphasis on living artists. With a prime location in London’s Regent’s Park, the fair takes place October 17 through Sunday, October 20, 2013. Tickets are limited and must be purchased in advance online or by phone. Buy your tickets here. If you plan to visit both Frieze London and Frieze Masters, save by purchasing a combined ticket.
2. Main, Focus, and Frame
While the fair is limited to contemporary art, it’s split further into three sections: a main section with traditional gallery booths and two additional sections that are more limited in scope. Focus includes galleries that have opened since 2001 and have proposed a project specifically for this year’s fair. Frame includes galleries that have been open for under eight years, who will dedicate their booths to solo artist presentations.
3. Alexander McQueen joins Frieze team!
While 2013 marks the tenth year of sponsorship by Deutsche Bank, Frieze’s official sponsor, this year Frieze London engaged a new associate sponsor, Alexander McQueen. As part of the sponsorship London’s Alexander McQueen stores will house exhibitions of contemporary art curated by gallery owner and director, Sadie Coles. (Hear from Coles herself about the project here.)
4. Frieze food
Frieze London offers a variety of fine and informal dining options at the fair site. Formal sit-down options include: Arnold & Henderson’s Rochelle Canteen, where guests can enjoy breakfast lunch and dinner as well as a full bar and wine list; Mark Hix, which offers classic British fare and signature dishes as well as oysters and Mark’s own smoked salmon; Caravan, new to the fair, offers fresh, seasonal options and a brunch menu.
Informal and to-go options include: Gail Bakery for coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and salads; La Grotta Ices for ice cream made from fresh, local ingredients in artist-inspired flavors; Moshi Moshi for sushi; Coming Soon Coffee for you art fair caffeine fix. Additionally, Pizza Pilgrims, Pitt Cue, and Yum Bun will be on hand for all comfort food cravings.
5. Frieze Projects
Seven Frieze Projects, specially commissioned works to be included in the fair, have been assigned to seven artists, and will be presented together within Frieze London. The projects are curated by 2013 Frieze London curator Nicola Lees. The projects include:
Andreas AngelidakisAngelidakis was commissioned to create a custom pavilion to house the 2013 Frieze Project activities. Angelidakis’s construction, an island-like platform within the fair space, provides partitions and display surfaces for fellow projects. The work is an assemblage of white block-like modules, at once paying homage to and deconstructing the white cube.
Gerry BibbyAfter discovering fragments of oyster shells in the earth at Regent’s Park the Australian artist chose to investigate London’s historical relationship with oysters through a series of performances. A pre-fair performance includes art fair workers eating oysters and leaving piles of oyster shells scattered around the exhibition space. A second performance will last the duration of the fair’s second day and involves collaboration with If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution, an Amsterdam-based performance platform.
Rivane NeuenschwanderNeuenschwander contributes motivated by her previous work The Conversation (2010). Inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 psychological thriller of the same name, the 2010 iteration included a gallery space filled with spying devices. Learn more here.
Ken OkiishiOkiishi’s project is contained within a space with acrylic glass, transparent walls within which he will employ paintballing to create a series of abstract paintings. Additionally, his project will include a participatory performance during the fair, involving humans and robots.
Lili Reynaud-DewarReynaud-Dewar’s project coincides with her commitment to only create bedroom pieces in 2013; thus she presents a bedroom installation. She will examine the works of writers who use their own lives as the subject of their work, including Guillaume Dustan’s Dans Ma Chambre (In My Room, 1996).
Josef StrauJosef Strau presents a new series of “Letter Tunnels,” the artist’s interactive letter-shaped structures. Fair-goers are invited to sit on and crawl into the tunnels, where they will encounter audio-, text-, and object-based installations.
Family Space: Angelo PlessasFor his Frieze Project, Greek artist Angelo Plessas has designed the fair’s Family Space, a first for the fair. The space, titled “The Temple of Play”, is a free, creative playground which will include a schedule of programming including games, performances, and screenings.
6. The Emdash Award: Pilvi TakalaThe Emdash Award funds an emerging artist from outside the UK to create a custom project for Frieze London each year. Finnish artist Pilvi Takala, the winner of this year’s Emdash Award, chose to involve a group of children in the planning and execution of her project. After selecting several children around the age of 12, Takala will put together workshops during the three months before the fair where they will devise a plan for the project. The artists hopes to demonstrate the potential for children to work collaboratively and as equals. (Learn more in this interview with Takala.)
7. Frieze Talks
A daily schedule of lectures, panels, and discussions are presented, covering a variety of relevant issues. This year’s talks include:
Sexuality, Politics and ProtestFriday 18 October: 1.30pm
Neil Bartlett (Theatre Director, Author and Performer, Brighton), Marlene McCarty (Artist, New York), Zanele Muholi (Photographer, Johannesburg), Chair: Jennifer Kabat (Writer, New York)
Participants discuss the impact and legacy of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), Gran Fury (artist/activist group) and queer activism, on contemporary art today, 20 years since their beginnings.
Stephen Shore in conversation with David CampanySaturday 19 October: 5pm
Stephen Shore, known for his photographs of Warhol’s Factory, spent his career experimenting with color photography, beginning at a time when it was frowned upon by the art world. Shore discusses the trajectory of his work over the past 40 years with David Campany (Writer, Curator and Artist, London).
Jérôme Bel in conversation with Catherine WoodSunday 20 October: 1pm
Choreographer Jérôme Bel joins Catherine Wood (Curator of Contemporary Art and Performance, Tate Modern, London) to discuss the potential for curating within his work, particularly his dOCUMENTA(13) piece Disabled Theater, which was performed by professional actors with learning disabilities.
See the full list of talks here.
MacArthur “Genius” Award winner Meredith Monk has been performing interdisciplinary works of music, theater, and dance since the mid-1960s. On October 15th at 8pm Frieze presents Meredith Monk with Katie Geissinger in Concert, at Cecil Sharp House. Monk’s first performance in London in nine years, she will perform with Geissinger, whom she’s been touring with since 1990. In addition, Monk will give a talk at the fair on Thursday, October 17, at 5pm to discuss her inventive performance work and her investigations into the human voice.
9. Frieze Film
Frieze offers an exclusive programme of five new artist films, which are co-curated by Nicola Lees (Frieze Foundation) and Victoria Brooks (EMPAC). Artists presenting films this year are Petra Cortright, Peter Gidal, Patricia Lennox-Boyd, Oraib Toukan and Erika Vogt. Accompanying the films are a think-tank and a panel discussion to consider the commissioning of artist films.
10. Sculpture Park
A short walk from the fair is the outdoor Sculpture Park, which is free and open to the public. Also including works from Frieze Masters, this year’s Park, curated by Clare Lilley, Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, features contemporary and historical sculpture, including new works by both established and emerging artists. Included are sculptures by Matt Calderwood, Helen Chadwick, Alice Channer, Judy Chicago, Marilá Dardot, Elmgreen & Dragset, Gimhongsok, Jeppe Hein, Amar Kanwar, Joan Miró, Oscar Murillo, Peter Peri, Jaume Plensa, Norbert Prangenberg, Yinka Shonibare, David Shrigley, Takis, Bernar Venet, Rachel Whiteread, and Richard Woods.
Photograph by Lyndon Douglas, courtesy of Lyndon Douglas/ Frieze; Commissioned and produced by Frieze Foundation for Frieze Projects 2012, Frieze London 2012, photograph by Polly Braden Courtesy of Polly Braden/ Frieze, photograph by Polly Braden, courtesy of Polly Braden/ Frieze; Frieze Talks 2012, Frieze London, photograph by Polly Braden, courtesy of Polly Braden/ Frieze.
Explore Artsy’s Frieze London and Frieze Masters features and follow our editorial coverage of the fairs.
