Frieze Art Fair 2007: Highlights

Fru Tholstrup talks to the great and the good of the London art world at last year’s Frieze Art Fair about the state of the contemporary art market – the general consensus is that it is in rude health and long may it continue.

The curator of Frieze Projects, Neville Wakefield, says that what distinguishes Frieze for him is its editorial background. ‘It comes from a place which isn’t commercial’ he says.

For Oliver Barker of Sotheby’s, the charm of Frieze is the comfortable atmosphere where feels like a part of the experience. The price range also means that there is art for every pocket – no one goes home empty-handed.

There was an upbeat feel to the insiders’ reports of the state of the contemporary art market; Harry Blain of Haunch of Venison comments ‘it is a fantastic market right now with an amazing amount of collectors coming and engaging with contemporary work. The auctions will be very successful and over the next 5 or 10 years you will see that grow again.’

Cheyenne Westphal of Sotheby’s remarks that the famous auction house sold £30m worth of art, a feat which has not been achieved in October before. ‘This is largely down to Frieze coming to London and making London the centre of the art world during this week’.

Frank Dunphy, Damien Hirst’s manager, echoes the positive message saying that ‘it is nice to see art selling and prices being maintained. I think we are in a good time and I think it will continue.’

Another theme of 2007’s art fair was the prominence of immerging markets, with Harry Blain commenting on the importance of China, India, South America and the Middle East. The flamboyant and charismatic auctioneer, Simon de Pury, reinforces the idea of the contemporary art world as a melting pot, ‘non-Russians are buying Russian art, non-Chinese are buying Chinese art, Chinese are buying international art – the art world has finally become a really global marketplace.’

t5m.com went along to Zhang Huan’s show at the Haunch of Venison which gives a compelling demonstration of this globalisation of the art world and the interest in Chinese art. Matt Carey-Williams, Director of the Haunch of Venison, recounts how Western collectors meeting artists and returning to Europe and the USA with their art in the mid-90s marked the initial gold-rush but that only in the last 4 years that Chinese art has moved to the top of everyone’s shopping list.

Zhang Huan’s moving and ephemeral art is the outcome of several stages. The initial images are drawn in charcoal, then the canvas is laid on the floor and parts of it are covered in very light resin glue. Finally ash is applied to the surface with a delicate brush. As Matt comments, although they are paintings, they are treated like sculptures.

Stan Stalnaker, of Hub Culture, sums up the general feeling of last year’s show when says that the art world transcends nations and boarder now as there are collectors, galleries and artists who really span the world.