British Nonchalance, International Market:
The Second
Frieze Art Fair in London
Following its brilliant premiere last fall, this year's Frieze Art Fair
inspired considerable hope. Part of what fueled expectations was the fact
that Deutsche Bank
had been won over as the main sponsor. Would London's first and largest
international art fair fulfil the predictions and succeed both in
asserting itself against established collectors' centers such as Basel or
Miami and in setting itself clearly apart from Berlin's
Art Forum or
Art Cologne? Oliver Koerner von Gustorf on the unique mixture
between seriousness and entertainment, professionalism and provocation
that has guaranteed the Frieze Art Fair a place among the leading fairs of
the world.
Catherine Sullivan, Ice floes of Franz Jospeh Land, 2003
Courtesy of Catherine Bastide
That's British
black humor for you: during the time leading up to the
Frieze Art Fair 2004, the Guardian
, media partner of the London event, conducted an online quiz for readers
to test their knowledge about current British art. One of the questions
was which famous Brit-Art work from the
Saatchi Collection HADN'T been destroyed in the vast
Momart warehouse fire last spring: the
Chapman Brothers' apocalyptic work Hell, the gigantic begging
sculpture Charity by Damien
Hirst, Afrobluff by
Chris Ofili, or
Tracey Emin's Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995. Even if
Chris Ofili's work was the only one of these "Cool Britannia" icons to
survive the catastrophe, judging by the public reactions ranging from
mirth to amusement, it seemed as though the fire had also symbolically
heralded the end of an era.
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View into the Frieze Art Fair,
London, 2004 Photo © Maria Morais
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Sarah Lucas, The Stinker,
Installation 2003 Courtesy of Sadie Coles HQ
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But the condemned live longer. Not only was the inventory
of Damien Hirst's noble restaurant Pharmacy, which closed in 2003,
auctioned off for 16 million Euros at
Sotheby's in London; the "Young British Artists" also drew veritable sums
at this year's Frieze. Tracey Emin's neon letters (28.000 £) and Jake and
Dinos Chapman's scenes of violence (450.000 £) were virtually sold out on
the spot at
Jay Jopling. Along with Damien Hirst's colorfully dotted
Tetrahydrocannabinol etchings, which disappeared in no time at the
Paragon Press stand,
Sarah Lucas' installation The Stinker at
Sadie Coles HQ immediately found a buyer for 90.000 £. Even if the
commercially marketed scandals and the fashionable hype surrounding the
rebellious Brits might be a thing of the past and a new generation of
artists has formed such as
Nigel Cooke,
Jeremy Deller, and Fiona
Banner, it's still clearly the achievement of Saatchi-sponsored
Brit-Art that London has developed into a world metropolis for
contemporary art.
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Modern Art, London, with works by Jonathan
Meese
Frieze Art Fair 2004 Photo
© Maria Morais
Along with the glamour
and nonchalance typical for the British isle, there's also a certain
degree of economic power at work here: already at its premiere, the Frieze
Art Fair, put on in Regent's Park, enjoyed an overwhelming beginner's
bonus with over 30,000 visitors and sales of an estimated 25 million
Euros. This year, however, would put it to the test. Would London's first
and largest art fair be able, as predicted, to assert itself against
established collectors' centers like
Basel or Miami
and set itself clearly apart from fairs such as Berlin's Art Forum or Art
Cologne? In the final analysis, the current event, according to the fair's
directors, was conceived as a festival for "art lovers," a celebration for
"art buyers," and an established date for the global art community. Added
to this was another premiere: Deutsche Bank was won over this year as a
main sponsor particularly committed to supporting young art, as the
following statement by
Pierre de-Weck, Global Head of Private Wealth Management and member of the
Executive Committee of Deutsche Bank, describes: "What makes this fair
exceptional is the quality of the galleries taking part and the focus on
young, emerging artists. We are proud to be associated with such an
unquestionably dynamic and exiting event, and to continue Deutsche Bank's
global commitment to new art and ideas."
Pargon Press, London,
with works by
Damien Hirst and Marc Quinn
Photo © Maria Morais, Berlin
The result
of this still very new cooperation has turned out to be overwhelmingly
positive. The
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described the event as a "must" on the
international scene, saying: "Whoever wants to be somebody can no longer
afford to miss this." And that goes not only for the mega-galleries such
as Marian Goodman and
Barbara Gladstone of New York or the Europeans
Hauser & Wirth (Zurich/London), who stood out at the fair's entrance
with monumental installations by
Paul McCarthy and
Jason Rhoades. Part of the concept of the fair's founders Amanda Sharp and
Matthew Slotover, also the editors of the art magazine
Frieze, is that every good party consists of a mix of old fame and new
faces. This holds both for the artists and the galleries. In the huge
white plastic tent designed by the London-based star designer
David Adjaye, established art dealers like
Sperone Westwater (New York) were situated side by side with newcomers,
without any hierarchical differentiation. The jury chose 150 participants
from over 420 applicants. While 40 American, 30 British, and 24 German
galleries formed the broad base, this year participants also came from New
Zealand, Russia, Korea, and China.
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