Frieze London Hits a Global Note for Art [Gallery]
Our advice for the next Frieze London? If the recent tenth edition of the annual art fair is anything to go by, the prime tip is: give yourself a good few days there, such is the dizzying array of art on offer.
Showcasing selected work of 175 galleries from 35 countries, Frieze London 2012 also offered more of a global feel than ever before. The big-hitters — London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris — were all well-represented, but galleries from Brazil, India, Turkey, Colombia, China and others also had some fine work on display.
RAMPA Gallery, from Istanbul, provided several thought-provoking examples of art that used contemporary techniques and media to relay observations and comments on Turkish culture, some with dark, cutting humour entwined.
A Gentil Carioca, from Rio de Janeiro, showcased several simple but striking pieces, including a very appealing mish-mash collage of photos and drawings, arranged in a stream of consciousness-fashion, perhaps to represent the trail of thought process
An amazing painting by Stelios Faitakis, “The Debate,” taken from The Breeder gallery, Athens, showed a fascinating and mind-boggling mix of classical styling bubbling over with contemporary culture references and minute detail.
From the Frieze regulars, there was also a wealth of fantastic art to choose from. A few of many, many highlights included Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, of Paris and Salzburg, which featured an incredible psychedelic nightmare from Daniel Richter (pictured below), and Jonas Wood’s colorful, meditative, everyday snapshots in the L.A.-based David Kordansky Gallery.
Josh Kolbo’s eye-catching colorful sculpture installation (from Société, Berlin — a great name for a gallery) and some wide-ranging, abstract work from the artists of the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (pictured at top of page), also impressed.
Also of note was a fascinating and much-discussed off-site installation, “The Cripples”, by Toby Ziegler, running parallel with Frieze. Set 14 storeys below ground, in the low-ceilinged concrete basement of a car park, Ziegler had installed lightboxes, partly illuminating abstract sculptures, in a clever homage to several fifteenth and 16th century classical paintings.
Back in main Frieze site, and a final overview of the site suggested that neon was a popular theme in 2012. Jason Rhoades, Jenny Holzer and Taryn Simon all made good use of the format with some eye-catching pieces, taking in surrealism and simplicity.
As ever, Frieze London provided an invigorating journey through the higher-end of the contemporary art sphere.'
Images by Tristan Parker
