Frieze London
Regents Park
OCTOBER 5 - OCTOBER 8 2017
£20
Frieze is a media and events company which holds three international art fairs: Frieze London, Frieze Masters and Frieze New York. It also has three publications in the forms of Frieze Magazine, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week. Founded in 1991 by Amanda Sharp, Matthew Slotover and Tom Gidley, Frieze has since become one of the worlds most influential contemporary art fairs. Frieze London has been going since 2003, with Frieze New York starting in 2012.
Although I had heard about Frieze before (it gets a lot of publicity when the end of summer approaches), I had never actually made the effort to go along. This was partially due to the fact that I didn't really look into it enough, and partially due to the fact that I would feel completely out of my depth - despite loving art, I'm no expert and this place really is filled with the big cheese (or at least people who think they are...)
A family friend who works in the crazy art world invited me on a tour of Frieze this year, which I instantly accepted. Being taken around by someone who actually knows what they're doing made the whole event seem much more approachable and enjoyable. When Asta and I arrived it was hard not to start people-watching, as cringeworthy and sad as that sounds... within 5 minutes we saw a very lost Proudlock (Made In Chelsea), a person you kind of expect to be at these things for show but really be just as clueless as you are. Within 10 minutes, Posh and Becks strode past us, which I have to regrettably admit was quite exciting.
We met Nick and were able to go straight in through the VIP entrance, which was great considering the other ticket holder queue was snaking around for a good distance. Although the place at first seems dauntingly huge, you can actually get around it fairly quickly, seeing that each gallery only has a handful of works on display. Whatsmore, the artwork doesn't have any writing attached to it, so there isn't any context to take time reading. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that people here are just supposed to 'get' it... at Frieze you don't need little paragraphs painted on the wall trying to decipher just exactly what that statue of a penis screw is trying to represent.
Nick explained that Frieze London isn't really for the public at all, instead it's an Art fair predominantly for selling and buying. Obviously, they have to open their doors to the public for at least a couple of days otherwise they'd all look like elitist so and so's, however, I think this is done rather begrudgingly. To be fair though, as a member of the clueless public I only 'got' about 10% of the artwork here, and was baffled at works going for as much as £20,000 (see image below), the minimum amount a work being sold for at £2,000.
I came away from Frieze with the realisation that the Art world is a crazy place, and that some people have too much money to know what to do with it. The overall experience was great and being with Nick, who 'got' it meant it was a lot easier to both navigate and understand. However, I wasn't entirely convinced about any of the works. Waltzing straight in and getting a guided tour for no price was fantastic, however, I'm not sure I'd speak so warmly of the Frieze experience if I had to join the snaking queue whilst coughing up a £20 and up entrance fee...
OVERALL RATING: ***
https://frieze.com/fairs/frieze-london
