Reviews

Frieze-Mania: Frieze Art Fair 2015

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All Photos in this post belong to NHYM Copyright 2015. 

A Taste of Frieze… 

As always, October is a mad rush of art-in-the-city, where everyone in the art world congregates in London to the Frieze or has an event in parallel with the Frieze Art Fair. Right now, there is PAD, Frieze, Frieze Masters, and a ton of exhibits around the city. Considering I am very time-poor at the moment, I had to decide on a single event, which was the opening preview night of the Frieze, giving me a taste of what is currently going on in the Art world.

Forget Kidzania, it’s all about Frieze-mania

Oftentimes, modern and contemporary art can be a little bit ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ in that you can see a work of art and even though everyone else gushes and praises it, you feel a little like ‘Uhm, what?’ This year, I felt that there was more accessible art than in the past years, especially in Rows A-C of the fair (which tends to be the most well known galleries), whereas once you go to the F,G,H, it gets a little too abstract and conceptual for me.

Accessible Art

Here are some of my favourites that I would have liked to take home with me:

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Takashi Murakami. Frieze 2015. NHYM 

My favourite piece of the art fair from Takashi Murakami sold immediately for £180,000. A bit mainstream, but definitely ‘Happy Art.’

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Oil and Acrylic on Canvas. NHYM 2015. 

Another artist I quite enjoyed, Secundino Hernandez. Going back to basics, some artists are going back to what we, the mainstream, are comfortable with.

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Charcoal on Canvas. NHYM 2015. 

Mr. X’s lust-piece was this charcoal drawing on canvas. It really looked like a photograph. Quiet in the middle of Frieze-mania.

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Big Smile. Frieze 2015. NHYM

Inspired Art

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Warhol-esque Marilyn Monroe – NHYM 2015. 

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Colourful Rothko-inspired art. NHYM 2015. Or is it a Rothko? 

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Jeff Koons Inspired Inflatable Cartoon. NHYM 2015.

Sculptures

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Naked Lady. Frieze 2015. NHYM

This naked lady was impressive. She never blinked. Until I realised that she was a sculpture and not a real woman.

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Naked Lady Frieze 2015 NHYM

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Real life-sized dolls. Frieze. NHYM 2015. 

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Silver Polka Dot Aubergine. Frieze 2015. NHYM 

Weird Art

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Just weird. Not sure what it is or what it represents. Don’t want that in my living room.

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Planes on dishwashers. Frieze 2015. NHYM

I think this gallery won a Gold Prize for something. Not sure what it is. Definitely an ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ moment for me.

Installations

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Ken Kagami Portraits. Frieze 2015. NHYM

The most popular/talked about installation was the free one-to-one intimate portraits drawn by Ken Kagami. In 30 seconds, he will draw a portrait of you, for a man, his penis, for a woman, her breasts. One thing it did was make people smile. Read more here… http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/oct/13/frieze-art-fair-2015-where-you-can-get-a-comedy-drawing-of-your-genitals-for-free

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Sound installation inside a model replica of the Frieze Fair. Music made at frequencies for foxes to hear. Frieze 2015. NHYM.

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Modern Life: Overstimulation of modernity. Frieze 2015. NHYM 

Then there are the people…

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Part of the art or part of the crowd? Frieze NHYM 2015 

Sometimes, in the art shows, you can’t quite tell who is part of the art and who is part of the crowd. The Art crowd is a mixture of young Art students in student-wear, established artists dressed in girls clothes (Grayson Perry), pretty 20-something-rich-girls interning at a gallery, gallerists and socialites, and uber wealthy collectors in their Chanel/Dior/Birkin/Big Lips. It is always interesting. No slebs spotting this year. In the past I’ve seen Sienna Miller and 1-Direction’s Harry Styles. Must arrive earlier next year…

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Funny Shoes Frieze 2015 NHYM

I’ve had my dose of modern art for a while, but it was entertaining, interesting, and brain-bending.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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