Fabulous Frieze

Date: 18 Oct 2023

Karen Jones

The annual Frieze London ran from 11-15 October this year at its home in Regent’s Park. Karen Jones, Citywealth CEO and art aficionado, reports on her experience of this “celebration of art and sculpture”.

The excitement and anticipation for Frieze this year was palpable. A contingent of Americans landed into the UK and the stampede to the fair was like a Harrods sale at Christmas. As an observer you might say “the money is back in London.” As Christian Nolting, Global Chief Investment Officer & Global Head of Wealth Discretionary at Deustche Bank, said: “It surely must be a positive indicator that so many people are here.” With the backdrop of a Brexit, stalemate in the Ukraine and new violence in Israel, he is 100% right. The art market has seen huge growth since Covid where it sustained a large drop. It has risen according to various reports from c$50bn to c$67bn.

Deutsche Bank have partnered with Frieze for 20 years with their Global Lead Partnership and their VIP lounges in both New York and London are quite the place to be for UHNW clients and invited guests. Famous artists in London included guests like Tracey Emin, Yinka Shonibare and Idris Kahn. Khan is represented in the Deutsche Bank Collection with numerous works. These include a large work in the entrance of Deutsche Bank’s Birmingham office (where Kahn was born) and a commissioned work for the lobby area of the Bank’s Americas’ headquarters at Columbus Circle, New York. In 2021, his work was presented in the Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Lounge at Frieze London. The previous year, he was the first artist to design a unique facemask in support of the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship which encourages diversity in museums and galleries. Khan’s photographic and video works, sculptures, and works on paper and glass often have a social or political background, dealing with migration, cultural identity, trauma, and loss. Very topical for the last few years but even more so now.

As to the show, it looks bigger and brighter and more successful than ever. Parties and side events were checkered all over the City with some visitors attending 6 or 8 a day – taking party hopping to a new level that wealth managers would be in awe of. A notable event was Christie’s pre-auction party where Bill Nighy was spotted perusing art whilst DJs played, champagne was poured, and snacks served. PAD London was awash with, it seemed, the whole of Paris who were drinking Ruinart and displaying the latest in design and furniture. London in 2023, attracted a global, art audience on an impressive scale.

Ceramics on trend

After what I thought last year was a muted show, the 2023 art is plentiful, in huge variety of mediums and the buzz was ethereal. The artisan, African and craft flavour is still very much in evidence, but electronic art seems to have rescinded. There was little or no talk of NFT’s except at a Nigerian show at Sotheby’s with artist Osincha being sold for around c£8-12k. However, exciting ceramics were very much in evidence as a medium pushing into the mainstream, perhaps to create centre pieces in homes, hotels, and offices as they become more design led.

A whole host of collector clients attended the Deutsche lounge, keen to buy art and talk to their wealth managers. The big names were all there, whether galleries or artists. Gagosian, White Cube, David Zwirner and James Cohan representing Yinka Shonibare CBE. Damian Hirst also had a new burst of paintings which were very much admired. Almost like impressionists meet Pollock.

Frieze was a whirl of excitement but almost too packed, making the invite into the Deutsche Private Bank lounge a welcome respite. As to the artists of note, Yinka Shonibare CBE, who is a Turner prize nominee, was the talk of the show with his mannequin-style sculptures which reminded me of Sir Allen Jones, however their heads are removed and replaced with globes of the world. Drawing on themes of human hybridity and transformation, this new body of work mixes icons of European Classical antiquity with African artefacts from Picasso’s own collection. Yinka Shonibare CBE RA was born in 1962 in London, England and moved to Lagos, Nigeria at the age of three. He lives and works in London. Shonibare was elected as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy, London in 2013. In 2019 he was awarded the decoration of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire or CBE. In 2021 he received the Art Icon Award from Whitechapel Gallery, London.

Other art and galleries spotted were artist Rogelio Bae Vega represented by Lehmann Maupin; Ranbir Kaleka, with “synaptic visions of dead time” a five-channel video sculpture represented by Vadehra Gallery. This piece which almost looks like a sand sculpture included miniature videos. It caused quite a stir at Frieze and might turn out to be “the most photo’d” at the event.

Aswell as this was Benjamin Senior who is with the Carl Freedman Gallery based in Margate. According to Wiki: “In 1994, Freedman toured the US with Tracey Emin, driving in a Cadillac from San Francisco to New York, making stops en route where she gave readings from her autobiographical book Exploration of the Soul to finance the trip.” Perhaps a reason why he is in Margate? Having visited them at Frieze and in their Margate gallery, it is obvious that Benjamin Senior is a master painter. The topics may be like pop art, but the painting exudes a style that is very beautiful. I recommend a visit to Margate and the Carl Freedman gallery to experience the work.

David Zwirner has artist Lisa Yuskavage on display with “Discarded Masterpieces” which is oil on linen. Worth a Google to look at the style which has a simple, almost Californian vibe of colours and perhaps a feel of Hockney.

Zadie Xa was showing oil on canvas: Live forever, one thousand years of life with Thaddaeus Ropac gallery. Zadie Xa is a Korean-Canadian visual artist who combines sculpture, painting, light, sound, and performance to create immersive multi-media experiences. Drawing inspiration from fields such as ecology, science fiction, and ancient religions, her work explores how beings imagine and inhabit their worlds.

The Sunday Painter, a contemporary art gallery in south London, had another exhibit that was probably “the most talked about” with Nicholas Pope, British/Australian artist showing lifesize sculptures which represent family members. Their sheer scale makes people stop to look. Gathered together they don’t have any resemblance to people, but they feel like people with a presence.

Olga Migliaressi-Phoca, who lives and works in Athens, was exhibited by The Breeder with December Issue (Vague/year 2066) which was a bleached and scratched mirror with acrylic and spray paint in an aluminium frame. She completed her Foundation Studies in Art & Design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design and obtained her BFA in Fashion Photography at the London College of Fashion. The Breeder gallery was founded in 2002 by Stathis Panagoulis and George Vamvakidis. It developed organically from The Breeder magazine that started in 2000, out of the need for building an artistic dialogue between Athens and the world. Over the past twenty years, The Breeder gallery has been a pioneer in the development of the contemporary art scene in Athens. In 2008, the Breeder relocated to an abandoned 1970s ice-cream factory. The new space was designed by Aris Zambicos architects and its renovation was awarded by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.

Kathleen Ryan, represented by Josh Lilley, exhibited a stunning sculpture “Bad lemon (Citrine)”. Looking like a lemon cut in half, it shines with semi-precious stones to show its juices and sheen. It has freshwater pearls, glass, amethyst, rose quartz and a host of other materials to make it a stunning piece. Her work is held in public collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and she lives and works in New York.

White Cube was there with Tunji Adeniyi-Jones with “Double Dive Orange III” oil on canvas. With vibrant swirls of colour and an eye towards West African aesthetics, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones paints Black bodies in repose and lush, mystical flora and fauna. The U.K.-born, New York–based artist draws on his Yoruba heritage. The Yoruba people are a West African ethnic group who mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.

Renaud Jerez who lives and works in Paris, represented by Galerie CreveCouer, exhibited. Jerez is a French Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1982. A sculpture was on show which has a curiosity feel like tech meets human sculpture. He uses a diverse range of processes and mediums, using his fascination with the narratives that technology inspires and promises.

On the ceramic front one of the standout pieces was “cat man” in pink by Leiko Ikemura. Ikemura’s work spans the genres of drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and poetry. It would certainly provide a talking piece in any collection or office space.

All in all, Frieze was an absolute celebration of art and sculpture for 2023 and although the world is in turmoil, it provided a welcome respite from bad news. It once again brought a different set of ‘voices’ into the world through art from different cultures, mediums, and people. Bravo Frieze and Deutsche Private Bank.