12th edition of Freize comes to London
Photograph by Polly Braden. Courtesy of Polly Braden/Frieze
The 12th edition of Frieze London, the international contemporary art fair, takes place in London’s Regent’s Park from 15–18 October 2014. Frieze London is sponsored by Deutsche Bank for the eleventh consecutive year. For the third year Frieze Masters, dedicated to art from ancient to modern, will coincide with the contemporary fair. Together the two fairs create a focus for as broad as possible an international art audience.
Housed in a bespoke temporary structure, this year Frieze London is designed by Universal Design Studio, who will introduce a series of changes to the fair; a new layout and a focus on the public spaces, using contrast, texture and tone. Features include a timber-lined entrance courtyard and a series of restaurants and ancillary spaces, each with a signature material. 2014 also sees the introduction of ‘Live’, a new gallery section at Frieze London for ambitious, active or performance-based installations.
“The fair’s location in Regent’s park has been a defining feature since its launch in 2003,” says director Matthew Slotover. “One of the many benefits of the temporary structure has been the ability to use architecture to enhance the environment of the fair, for galleries, visitors and artists alike. The founders of Universal Design Studio have worked across disciplines on projects as diverse as the Science Museum, the Olympic torch, retail interiors and domestic furniture and we are excited to see the results.”
Frieze London brings 162 of the world’s leading contemporary galleries to the UK. Exhibitors from 25 countries will participate in the 12th edition of the fair.
Solo and special presentations that promise to be focal points in the fair include: Carsten Höller (Gagosian Gallery, London); Eric Bainbridge (Workplace Gallery, Gateshead); Rosa Barba (Meyer Riegger, Berlin & Gió Marconi, Milan); Will Benedict (Overduin & Co., Los Angeles); Martin Creed (Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Berlin); Koo Jeong A (Pilar Corrias Gallery, London); Lee Kit (Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou); Goshka Macuga (Kate MacGarry, London); a pairing of work by Mark Grotjahn with Tabwa masks (Anton Kern Gallery, New York); and a booth curated by Mark Wallinger (Hauser & Wirth, London). Other stands of interest include Salon 94’s (New York) collaboration with the Smile Face Museum from Maryland; a presentation of British sculpture by Thomas Dane (London); and Stevenson’s (Cape Town) focus on Barthélémy Toguo.
The 12th edition features two specialist sections: ‘Focus’, dedicated to galleries up to 12 years old presenting projects specifically conceived for Frieze, and the newly conceived ‘Live’ for ambitious performance and participatory works.
“The ‘Live’ section will give galleries the opportunity to realise performance works creating moments of interruption or immersion within the art fair’s environment,” says Slotover. “The programme includes the restaging of important historical installations as well as those conceived specially for the fair.”
‘Live’ 2014 will feature six selected galleries who will show works specially conceived for Frieze alongside the restaging of a number of significant historical pieces.
The six artists and galleries selected for ‘Live’ 2014 are: Robert Breer (gb agency, Paris); Franz Erhard Walther (Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris); Tamara Henderson (Rodeo, Istanbul); Adam Linder (Silberkuppe, Berlin); Shanzhai Biennial (Project Native Informant, London); United Brothers (Green Tea Gallery, Iwaki).
These works will be integrated with the architecture of Frieze London; staged both on gallery stands and in public spaces throughout the fair, ‘Live’ is supported by Alexander McQueen, the Associate Sponsor of Frieze London.
This year ‘Focus’ merges with ‘Frame’ to become a significant destination for younger galleries presenting either solo or curated group stands.
The selection for ‘Focus’ is advised by curators Raphael Gygax and Jacob Proctor, who is a new addition to the team this year. ‘Focus’ has evolved into a more significant section and is dedicated to fostering a community of the most exciting emerging galleries. Notable presentations in ‘Focus’ include: Brian O’Doherty (Simone Subal Gallery & P!, both New York); an installation with Michael Lin and Atelier Bow Wow (Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai); Michael Smith (Dan Gunn, Berlin); Santo Tolone (Limoncello, London); and a presentation of artists exploring labour and materiality, featuring Heidi Bucher, Virginia Overton and Magali Reus (Freymond-Guth Fine Arts, Zurich).
Frieze Projects, the fair’s series of site-specific artist commissions, is curated for the second year by Nicola Lees, and this year has a focus on artists whose practices intersect with other disciplines, including dance, film and music.
The artists participating in Frieze Projects at Frieze London 2014 are: Jérôme Bel with Dance Umbrella; Cerith Wyn Evans with ZSL London Zoo; Isabel Lewis with the ICA, London and Liverpool Biennial; Nick Mauss with Northern Ballet; Sophia Al Maria, Jonathan Berger and Tobias Madison.
The winner of this year’s Frieze Artist Award, which gives a young artist the opportunity to create a new project for the fair, is Mélanie Matranga. She is creating a series of online videos, filmed during the construction of the fair, which follow the emotional and professional lives of an artistic coupls.
Frieze Talks – a series of lectures, discussions and interviews, is again curated by editors of Frieze magazine, this year Jörg Heiser, Christy Lange and Amy Sherlock.
“We are extremely proud of the Outset/Frieze Art Fair Fund to Benefit the Tate Collection, which is now in its 12th year and continues to make an impressive contribution to the national collection,” added Slotover.