Frieze 2024: Between Tradition and Experimentation
Autumn has arrived in London and with it, as usual, Frieze, the London art fair par excellence, which took place from 9 to 13 October at its usual venue, Regent's Park.
For the 2024 edition, the fair has retained its famous twin format, with two different fairs taking place simultaneously in two different locations within the park. On the one hand, there is Frieze Masters, which, with works made before 2000, allows visitors to immerse themselves in a broad historical perspective of art, from prehistory to recent times, while Frieze London presents works made mainly after 2000, thus focusing on contemporary art.
In 2024, Frieze welcomed a total of 295 international galleries, 130 from 26 countries at Frieze Masters and 165 galleries from 43 countries at Frieze London.
Frieze Masters confirmed its position as one of the world's most rigorous and compelling fairs, thanks to the wide variety of collectibles and masterpieces presented together with works of modern art.
After impressing the public with a 68-million-year-old T-Rex dinosaur skeleton at the 2023 edition of the fair, David Aroon's (London) stand again stood out with an Egyptian inner sarcophagus from 700 BC, said to have belonged to Princess Sopdet-em-haawt, the granddaughter of Pharaoh Rudamunon, probably the standout object at this year's Frieze Master. The price is undisclosed, but is said to be in the mid-seven figures.
Sarcophagus at David Aroon stand
Focusing on prehistory, the Art Ancient (London) stand featured unique millennial objects such as a fossilised piece of flora dating back 50 million years, but discovered in 2021 (valued at £350,000), and various pottery and marble pieces.
Fossil at Art Ancient Stand
One of the best stands was instead Daniel Crouch Rare Books (London), with lots of ancient books, maps and a huge ancient globe, which it was possible to enjoy by entering through an astonishing ancient door.
Daniel Crouch Rare Books, installation view
Focusing on the most recent artists, it was possible to see many pieces by Alighiero Boetti throughout the fair, confirming the market interest in the artist, whose works was exhibited at the Ben Brown, Tornabuoni and Mazzoleni galleries (multiple locations). Prices for the artist's embroideries ranged from £. 60.000 to £. 800.000. Among the blue chips, the Chagall gouaches exhibited at Shapero Modern (London) are worthy of note, with prices ranging from £. 550,000 to £. 650,000 for the unique pieces.
Gran Profil at nu rose, Marc Chagall at Shapero Modern stand
In terms of sales, Hauser & Wirth (multiple locations) was among the best-selling dealers at Frieze Masters, with Arshile Gorky's 'The Opaque', sold on the opening day for $ 8,5 million, probably the highest sale of the fair. Other notable sales by the gallery include William Kentridge's Drawing for Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot, which sold for $650,000, and Lucio Fontana's Concetto Spaziale, Attesa, which went for $568,000.
Arshile Gorky, The Opaque, Hauser & Wirth
Alongside the rigour and tradition of Frieze Masters, Frieze London stood out instead as a fresh, lively and colourful sister fair. First of all, the new layout of the fair by A Studio Between redesigned the distribution of galleries within the fair, allowing emerging galleries to be showcased next to big established ones: "It was like taking Mayfair and putting it next to Shoreditch," said McConkey, founder of A Studio Between. This new perspective and dynamism was clearly evident when visiting the show.
Although the most recurring medium was painting, there was often dynamism in the way the works were arranged. For example, it was possible to find an interesting and recurring association between painted pieces and other elements, which became installations that allowed new narratives to emerge. Examples of this are the works by Sun Woo at the Vacancy Gallery (Shanghai), acrylic on canvas exhibited together with bronze sculptures; or the work of Littlewhitehead, presented by Nir Altman (Munich), which recreated an urban landscape thanks to an acrylic paint presented together with pieces of concrete, cement and steel.
Sun Woo at Vacancy Gallery
This dynamic environment reached its peak thanks to a clever experiment by Lehmann Maupin (multiple locations), who invited the artist Billy Childish to paint live in the gallery's booth. This operation proved particularly successful: eleven of the artist's works, priced between $50,000 and $100,000, were sold by the end of the opening day, including a landscape of trees that he painted the same day.
Billy Childish at Lehmann Maupin stand
Throughout the fair, it was also interesting to immerse oneself in figurative paintings that broke away from the traditional representation of colours and referred to characteristics of Transavanguardia trends, as well as aspects of Surrealism or Fauvism, thus giving them a completely new perspective. Some examples are the stunning Pete and Horatio by Doron Langberg at the Victoria Miro stand (multiple locations), Self-Portrait with Muse by Carole Gibbons at the Hales Gallery (London) or Bruno Pacheco's painting "Drift" at the Hollybush Gardens Gallery (London).
Pete and Horatio by Doron Langberg at the Victoria Miro stand
In addition to the paintings, that dominated the fair, it was also interesting to note the research that emerged from the use of other materials. The stand of Francesca Minini & Massimo Minini (Milan, Brescia) was particularly eloquent in this sense, thanks to a well-curated booth that included a steel piece by Runo Lagomarsino, Daniel de Paula's spatial structures made of rock samples and brass tubes, and Elena Damiani's stunning piece in cipollino marble, brass and steel.
Elena Damiani at Francesca Minini & Massimo Minini stand
Also, among the sculptural pieces throughout the fair, we recall Tau Lewis' upcycled textile works at Sadie Coles (multiple locations) or Rebecca Manson's porcelain pieces at Josh Lilley Gallery (London).
Tao Lewis at Sadie Coles
Among the best booths, it is worth mentioning the installation The Birds by Benedikte Bjerre at Palace Enterprise (Copenhagen), composed of identical, foil-coated, helium-puffed baby penguins, which referenced Alfred Hitchcock’s eponymous 1963 film.
The Birds by Benedikte Bjerre at Palace Enterprise
Focusing on the best selling booths at Frieze London, David Zwirner (multiple locations) gallery sold two works by Lisa Yuskavage for $2.2 million and $160,000, and two paintings by Yayoi Kusama for $670,000 and $720,000. Stephen Friedman (London) gallery booth, instead, went sold out quite quickly, thanks to large-scale works by Caroline Walker and Clare Woods sold for between $45,000 and $230,000.
Caroline Walker and Clare Woods at Stephen Friedman stand
Despite the uncertainty of the Brexit scenario, the emergence of strong new contemporary marketplaces such as Art Basel Paris, which opens these days, and the difficulties of the art market in general, London has confirmed itself as one of the most promising experimental platforms in the art scenario, maintaining a high attractiveness for collectors and art professionals, as well as for new creative trends to emerge.
