Frieze Art Week 2013


It's the time of the year in London when everybody suddenly talks about art. Yes, it's Frieze week (or weeks) coming up. Following our tradition, we have handpicked our favourites from the endless offers in town so you don't have to be frustrated scanning through the listings.

Our top 10 of the week are as follows (in no particular order!) -

1. Catch L’Expédition Scintillante, Act 2 (light show) by Pierre Huyghe in Raven Row's current show “Reflections from Damaged Life” - A great retrospective show spanning decades of works, make sure you stay in the gallery until you see this performance, it runs every half hour.

2. "Tomorrow" by Elmgreen & Dragset in V&A - The Norwegian duo's greatest site specific commission yet in Britain inside the V&A museum's former Textile Galleries.

3. "Beyond the Black" by Idris Khan int Victoria Miro - an important departure from Khan's photographic based works, this show comprises a suite of large black paintings, a monumental site specific wall drawing and a series of works on paper.

4. Tatsuo Miyajima's "I-Model" in Lisson Gallery - the Japanese artist is famous for his zen minimal pieces incoporating LED digit displays. There is a clay chamber room for meditation in the show, only one person to enter at time.

5. Wolfgang Tillmans' solo show Central Nervous System in Maureen Paley - once again Tillmans returns to Frieze week and we couldn't wait to see his latest creations.

6. "A series from Within" by Larissa Nowicki in Man & Eve - intriguing pieces formed from the printed pages of books, sliced and intricately woven to form new works that cannot be read in the traditional sense

7. "Sandra Blow Paintings & Prints" in Kings Place - Sandra Blow is a pioneer of the British post-war abstract movement. Seeing her works in the multi-storey atrium in Kings Place is a joyful experience

8. "Erebus" (film) by Du Preez & Thornton Jones in Londonewcastle Project Space - Du Preez & Thornton Jones have created a new body of work in collaboration with choreographer Russell Maliphant, inspired in part by the work of Auguste Rodin

9. "The Seymour & Milton Posters Show" in Kemistry Gallery - a great retrospective show about one of the most influential designer duos in the 20th century who signature push-pin style has become iconic.

10. Frieze Sculpture Park in Regent's Park - this year's sculpture park is the largest in the history of Frieze, and it's free so how can you miss it?

And apart from the Original Frieze and Frieze Masters, you have the choice of numerous satellite fairs around town. Here are a few we believe most of our followers could find something they like and go have a look -

Sunday & Touch Art Fair in Marylebone
Sluice in Bermondsey
The Other Art Fair in Brick Lane
Multiplied at Christie's
Moniker in Brick Lane

Visit our facebook page over the week to see what we have found in town apart from the above. Enjoy the best London offers in the Autumn!

*****

Further Readings -

Page - Top 10 Photograph Exhibitions in town on TimeOut London
Page - Top 10 Art Exhibitions in town on TimeOut London
Interview - of the Director of Sluice Art Fair Ben Street by Tabius Khan for Londonist

art november in london . part 2

Exposure - Jane Brownuntil 06.12.2009  
Kings Place

In 2002 British photo journalist Jane Bown donated her entire collection to The Newsroom, The Guardian and The Observer's archive and 100 of her iconic black and white photographs - 50 of which have never been seen before - go on display in the Guardian News and Media galleries in Kings Place from 23 October. 

Self-portrait

Starting out at The Observer in 1949, Jane's first published portrait was of philosopher Bertrand Russell, she went on to cover a huge variety of topics from Glastonbury to Churchill's funeral. In 1985 she was awarded the MBE, going on to recieive the CBE a decade later for her outstanding contribution to photography. 

Part of the collection on display at the foyer of the Guardian's head office

She's been working for 60 years with the Observer, something which is as extraordinary in itself as her captures. Personally not a regular reader of the newspaper, I try to understand what this means. It shows that both parties must have some common beliefs that tie them together in addition to money and contract, which, could easily be better offered by a thrid party. Their co-existence probably brings synergy to their individual brands, and together their signatures re-inforce each other's works. 

The Beatles

For those who haven't been to Kings Place, you may be glad to find there are 2 other galleries inside the building. The place also has 2 small music halls which have excellent acoustic performance. The galleries serve well as pre-or-post-concert activity. There is also outdoor dining along Regent's Canal, and an indoor cafe.

Full photo set here

P.S. Don't miss the interview link below if you want to know more about Jane as a person!

Further readings -
Official website of Jane Brown, with gallery of her photos 
Exposure by Jane Brown (book review) by Adam for knowphoto.com
Wikipedia's entry for Jane Brown, with links to pages about her in a few other websites
The eyes have it by Robin McKie for the Observer, 18.10.2009 - an interview with Jane