Frieze ’24; All You Need To Know And See

Back in the summer of 1991 three people, Matthew Slotover, Amanda Sharp and Tom Gidley published the first ever issue of a new style of art magazine named  Frieze.  By the year 2000 the then editorial team were musing over at the idea of mounting an art fair; one that seems more contemporary and relevant than the more established old style fairs that had gone before. Boom, 2003 Frieze the art fair was born . So what is going on this year at this most established of art fairs, find out all you need to know in Frieze ’24; All You Need To Know And See; once place with a union of images for all.

Image on left, Nils Alix-Tabeling Miroir Source: lipstick holder, 2024
Steel, resin, cardboard, silk, beeswax candles, crystals, silvered glass mirror, 19th century silver lipstick holder, rubber, copper plated jesmonite 100 × 46 × 14 cm, Public Gallery

That first edition of Frieze Art Fair in October 2003 was a huge success yet its worth bearing in mind that the Tate modern which had opened in may 2000 was getting visitors of around 5 million in its first year: The appetite was obvious.

21 years later what is going on? Well there is a new bold design for Frieze London and a new curatorial direction at Frieze Masters. It will feature a ground-breaking new layout by the design practice A Studio Between. and at Frieze Masters, an artist-centred approach will debut with an expanded Studio section and a refined floor plan. A refined architectural plan by Annabelle Selldorf will encourage visitors to draw artistic connections between a compelling range of objects from different times and places.

Frieze Masters Frieze London 2024.©A Studio Between

In the reconfigured layout and entrance at Frieze London, greater prominence will be given to the fair’s curated sections, including the return of the celebrated Artist-to-Artist and this year’s themed section, Smoke. In addition, upon entering the fair visitors will encounter a pair of stands, selected annually by the Frieze London committee, each showing an exceptional solo artist presentation.

With over 160 galleries from 43 countries, showing Frieze London 2024 promises to be a landmark year, including a core contingent of London-based exhibitors, with a wapping 57 operating spaces in this city.

Ben Brown Fine Arts, Frieze Masters 2023. Photo by Michael Adair. Courtesy of Frieze and Michael Adair.

Artist-to-Artist returns as a cornerstone of the fair’s artist-driven programme with six solo presentations, each selected by a world-renowned artist. All of the nominators are known for their support of new voices, aligning with the section’s commitment to fostering connections across Frieze’s global network. It will include Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom proposed by Glenn Ligon, Rob Davis proposed by Rashid Johnson, Nengi Omuku proposed by Yinka Shonibare, Peter Uka proposed by Hurvin Anderson.

A new section called Smoke will bring together international artists whose practices mines pre-colonial traditions of ceramic works that explore diasporic and indigenous histories. Using clay in expanded forms and demonstrating ceramics as one of the most impactful aesthetic forms in contemporary art.

Smoke pays tribute to El Animal Humo (the Smoke Animal), Humberto Ak’abal’s story of an enigmatic creature made of smoke who emanates from the soil as a sublime and disturbing manifestation of nature. Featured artists include Manuel Chavajay, Yeni Mao, Noé Martínez, Roksana Pirouzmand, Lucía Pizzani, Christine Howard Sandoval, Adán Vallecillo, Linda Vallejo andYuri Yuan.

Focus, Frieze’s long-standing section dedicated to fostering a community of young galleries is presented in collaboration with Stone Island, whose bursaries further aid young galleries’ participation in the fair. Focus will feature numerous new spaces this year that define London’s vibrant young gallery scene, alongside the strong contingent of local galleries, international exhibitors span five continents.

Expanded in its second year, Studio, curated by Sheena Wagstaff, invokes a place of making in which an artist’s sense of the historical past lights a spark of invention, which manifests as an object for the future, whilst Spotlight presents solo presentations of 20th-century artists. The celebrated feature section focuses on both overlooked artists and lesser-known works by established figures, dating from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Sanford Biggers, Frieze London 2023 Photo by Lyndon Douglas. Courtesy Frieze / Lyndon Douglas Photography.

Week During Frieze Week major institutional exhibitions will take place throughout the city, drawing audiences from around the globe. Highlights include Francis Bacon: Human Presence at theNational Portrait Gallery, views of the Thames at the Courtauld Gallery, Haegue Yang: Leap Year at the Hayward Gallery; and a plethora of big and small galleries with multiple events.

Serpentine presents emajendat, by Lauren Halsey Serpentine South, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA

At Frieze Masters  a selectoin of works by Eva Švankmajerová (née Dvořáková) (1940 – 2005) a painter, scenographer, designer, puppeteer, poet and writer will be on show. Known primarily for her collaborations with her husband – the award-winning filmmaker and artist Jan Švankmajer – it is Švankmajerová’s lifetime painting practice which deserves urgent re-appraisal.

Eva Švankmajerova. Olympiu (Olympia; after Manet), 1970
oil on canvas. 154 x 154 cm, 60 5/8 x 60 5/8 in

Heavily influenced by popular and folkloric imagery, Švankmajerová‘s initial subject-matter was provocative. Her infamous Emancipačním Cyklem (Emancipation Cycle) (1967/69) satirised male-gaze masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli, Édouard Manet and Peter Paul Rubens, replacing idealised female figures with emasculated men. This show is put on by the The Gallery of Everything   www.gallevery.com 

Hales presents Hew Locke, Family Album. The artist’s sixth solo show with the gallery brings together new and historical works, highlighting a key arc of exploration in Locke’s practice; the iconography of royalty.

Throughout his career Locke has been concerned with symbolic embodiments of power and empire, displayed in this show through two key bodies of work spanning across two decades,  The House of Windsor and Souvenirs. Hales London 7 Bethnal Green Road E1 6LA At Frieze Booth A24, they will show works from Martyn Cross
Sarah Faux, Carole Gibbons, Haroun Hayward, Ken Kiff, Hew Locke
Rob Lyon, Anwar Jalal Shemza, Richard Slee and Lucy Stein.

Richard Slee Perfect Pie, 2003 Glazed ceramic 21 x 30 x 30 cm
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in

Blackbird Rook presents The Hog’s Back with Donal Moloney  Ross Taylor  Sarah Kate Wilson and have extended hours during the celebrations.

Ross Taylor, Too much interested to speak, 2023, Oil paint and graphite on paper on board, 55.5 x 39cm

Public gallery will present a solo booth at Frieze by French artist Nils Alix-Tabeling, whose multimedia practice revels in the ecstaticism and indulgence of pagan tradition, ritual, witchcraft and the occult.

Nils Alix-Tabeling, La déesse de Montbouy, 2024 from Public Gallery 91 Middlesex St London, E1 7DA

By presenting alternative histories of folklore and fantasy, the artist re-centres queer and female voices of rebellion and encourages radical futures to be imagined.

Robilant+Voena participation at Frieze Masters 2024 with an impressive presentation of Old Master paintings and drawings, alongside Post-War Italian and international modern masters, across painting, drawing and sculpture. Find them at Stand D2
The Regent’s Park, London

J.M.W. Turner, The Splügen Pass, c. 1842–43, pencil and watercolour heightened with bodycolour on paper, 29 x 45 cm.

Among the Old Masters that include exemplary paintings by Giambattista Tiepolo and Anne-Louis Girodet, a particular highlight is a beguiling portrait by Joshua Reynolds. This portrait of Nancy Horton (c. 1767 or 1769), ex-collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, is a fine example by one of the foremost English artists of his day.

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Color and Light, 2021, black and white mirror and jute, with a gilded wooden frame, 250 x 180 cm. Courtesy the Artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA.

The modern selection shows the breadth and depth of Robilant+Voena’s 20th-century specialism. The Post-War Italian section features seminal paintings and ceramics by Lucio Fontana, including an early figurative ceramic La Novia, dating from 1940, and a Natura Morta ceramic plate (1955), that have never been exhibited before publicly in Europe. Works by Agostino Bonalumi and Enrico Castellani, and a late landscape by Giorgio Morandi complement the selection. In conversation with these Italian works are examples by key figures on the international modern art scene, including Sam Francis, Joan Miró, René Magritte and Andy Warhol.

Frieze London and Frieze Masters are supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank for the 21st consecutive year, continuing a shared commitment to artistic excellence. This year Deutsche Bank will showcase the work of Rene Matić, a multidisciplinary artist living and working in London whose practice spans film, sculpture and photograph

Frieze is taking place concurrently from 9–13 October2024 in London’s Regent’s Park, both fairs will put an emphasis on artists and discovery while showcasing a commitment to innovation and visitor experience.

Find out everything you need to know about Frieze here at frieze.com

If you enjoyed reading Frieze ’24; All You Need To Know And See why not read Illuminated Centre Stage Here

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