The Big Frieze London Contemporary Art Mass is back and we're all excited!

The Big Frieze London Contemporary Art Mass is back and we're all excited!

Selena Mattei | Oct 14, 2021 5 minutes read 0 comments
 

Frieze London & Frieze Masters from October 13 to 17, 2021 in London. Check out the highlights of Frieze London 2021, which will return to Regent's Park with a focus on technology.

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© Frieze London

The art world is experiencing a renaissance

Art fairs were on the verge of extinction in the gloomy depths of 2020 when I last visited one. In the same way the rest of the world has become virtual, the art world has become the status quo; viewing rooms were the norm, and Zoom screens were our only connection to the creative community. When was the last time so many people from the art world gathered in one place? Yes, as the upcoming Frieze London 2021 exhibition will demonstrate. Returning to London's Hyde Park with a renewed sense of optimism and community spirit, the fair is tackling today's most pressing issues.

As is the (new) normal, masked greetings, time-slotted bookings, and elbow bumps are still around, but parties are back on the calendar, galleries have decked their booths with world-class art, and visitors arrive in their Frieze best-dressed selves. A grey fabric wristband offered in exchange for proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test result is this year's must-have accessory beyond sartorial requirements. Now that Frieze has finally emerged from its winter hibernation, the art world is experiencing a rebirth—albeit one that is several months overdue.


Uses computer generated algorithms to create surreal landscapes

When reality gets too much, it's possible that people crave "immersive art," which includes installations like LUX at 180 The Strand, AA Murakami's new space at Superblue, and Anicka Yi's science-infused scent installation at Tate Modern. Another multisensory experience can be found inside Frieze London's La Prairie debut. The film Sense of Blue transports its audience to a blue-hued night. France-based digital artist Maotik created the work, which uses computer-generated algorithms to create surreal landscapes. Damien Hirst's greatest hits will get a digital makeover at Frieze London 2021 thanks to the LG Space. On the brand's most advanced OLED TV products, including the rollable OLED TV R, the artist's major historical works are presented alongside self-lit digital'remasters' and NFTs.

BMW Open Work 4 features New York-based Madeline Hollander, among others. 'Sunrise/Sunset presents an immersive networked spectacle choreographed by sunsets and sunrises around the world in real time,' the artist says of her commission with the company. It turns a vehicle's automatic adaptive system, in which headlights turn on and off and adjust in response to light sensors, into a live twinkling global map by using hundreds of recycled BMW headlights.

How the commercial art world is contributing to the climate crisis

Subjects such as race, ethnicity, and colonialism's lingering effects will be explored in Frieze London 2021's curated section. Unworlding, curated by Cédric Fauq (chief curator of CAPC Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux), explores ideas of apocalypse and regeneration, undoing and reconstruction, featuring international artists such as Ndayé Kouagou, Esteban Jefferson, Nora Turato, and Natacha Donzé whose practices center on the 'undoing of the world as we know it.'
Gallery Climate Coalition, a non-profit membership group at the fair, demonstrates how the commercial art world contributes to the climate crisis while also providing a platform for real change. By sharing its resources, tools, and best practices, the art sector hopes to reduce its CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions by at least half by 2030. (in line with the Paris Agreement).

Global Climate Coalition (GCC), Christie's, and environmental charity ClientEarth are teaming up to launch a groundbreaking new initiative called "Artists for ClientEarth" that aims to arm the art world in the fight against climate change. Christie's will auction off works by Cecily Brown, Antony Gormley, and Rashid Johnson, among others, to benefit ClientEarth. The artists and their galleries, including Hauser & Wirth, Thomas Dane Gallery, and White Cube, have donated their works for the auction.

Frieze London remains open to the outside world

Despite the buzz around the fair, Frieze London this year remains focused on the outside world. While the fair was closed, devoted art lovers flocked to London's Cork Street in Mayfair, where major galleries opened temporary exhibition spaces for the first time. For her two-part show, 'Seven Deaths,' Marina Abramovi's ethereal series of alabaster sculptures reflect on the talents and tragic life of singer Maria Callas. This year, Lisson Gallery reopened its space.

Christopher Myers (presented by James Cohan), Danielle Dean, Nikita Gale, P Staff, and EJ Hill (of the Commonwealth and Council) are among the artists exhibiting at No. 9 Cork Street, where Frieze debuts its first permanent home (Proyectos Ultravioleta).

Frieze is also Frieze Sculpture, Frieze London and Frieze Masters

Regent's Park will play host to Frieze Sculpture as well as Frieze London and Frieze Masters. Architecture, displacement, geopolitical power structures, environmental concerns, and endangered futures are just a few of the topics being explored in this year's outdoor offerings.
Among the participants are Rasheed Araeen and Daniel Arsham, as well as people from all over the world and from different generations: José Pedro Croft, Isamu Noguchi, Divya Mehra, Annie Morris, Vanessa da Silva, Tatiana Wolska, Rose Wylie and Yunizar.

According to curator Clare Lilley of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, who is curating Frieze Sculpture for the ninth time, "each Frieze Sculpture installation brings such a different picture of sculptural practice and it is heartening that this year is especially global, including artists who herald from South America, South and North Africa," says Lilley. Though the artists represent three generations, I see exciting sculptural conversations that cut across time and space, and while many of the sculptures address social and environmental issues, the use of color and dextrous handling of materials creates a celebratory atmosphere.

FRIEZE LONDON 13-17 October 2021 The Regent's Park, London

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