FRIEZE ART FAIR, SCOPE ART FAIR and ZOO ART FAIR in October 2008

I had enough time in October to have a look of all three contemporary international art fairs, Frieze Art Fair, Zoo Art Fair and SCOPE Art Fair. In this comparison, I would like to begin by emphasizing some similarities among them. As we all know the funding bodies and sponsors play an important role at the fairs. For example, Outset Contemporary Art Fund is a sponsor for the internship scheme at Zoo Art Fair and grants the sum of £150,000 to allow some of the best works exposed at Frieze Art Fair to find a home in the Tate collection. Another sponsor, John Jones, participates at both Frieze Art Fair and Zoo Art Fair. John Jones focuses on the promotion of emerging artists and this year the company rewards the winner at Zoo Art Fair with £2000 and his work will be acquired for the John Jones Contemporary Collection. These simultaneous events will take place in the business heart of London and will provide a window into the Contemporary art scene as represented by prominent London and well-established American galleries.

The Frieze Art Fair is a good mixture of innovative spirit and extremely high standards of quality. According to Amanda Sharp, co-director of the Frieze Art Fair “the purpose is furthering young talent, pursuing innovative paths, remaining open to unusual ideas, making contemporary art accessible to a broader public because the art fosters creativity and makes up an essential part of cultural education.” To support this aim, Deutsche Bank, who also owns the largest corporate contemporary art collection in the world, sponsored the launch of an education programme that includes a wide programme of workshops and guided tours.

From the very beginning, Frieze Art Fair was interested in the idea of focusing on living artists and it has quickly established itself as the most famous contemporary art fair in London. It hosts big galleries and the big names that they represent. Here, where the largest stand costs around £28,000, they were all celebrities: Dinos and Jake Chapman were highly awaited guests at White Cube Gallery. At the preview on 15th October, David Roberts, the British collector and owner of Gallery One One One, popped in and more Chinese, Indian and Russians buyers than ever came along. This year, the collectors at the fair, mostly Europeans, were more browsers than buyers. Collectors held onto their cash and avoided their impulse of buying. They did not take big risks because more than before, over this period of economic crisis, people didn’t feel like buying something they didn’t know.

The first thing I noticed upon entering into the giant pavilion in the green Regent’s Park was the dimension: everything was enormous in the Sculpture Park. I was really amazed by Subodh Gupta’s skull-shaped work made of silver tools realized for Hauser&Wirth Gallery (photo), located at the entrance and in front of that the cubic white sculpture with the curly branches of Liz Craf for Alison Jacques Gallery (photo). It did not go unnoticed Harland Miller’s CSI style representation made of sculptures shown by White Cube Gallery (photo)

Inside the white tent I observed fewer big installations and numerous, more saleable paintings and sculptures. The predominance of nationalities was British, 33 galleries in total, along with numerous American and German galleries represented. I was also proud to find some Italians galleries, such as Gio Marconi Gallery, showing interesting works including the sculpture of Luca Trevisani. (photo) Many people were stopped at Gagosian Gallery to stare at the paintings of Richard Prince and Jenny Saville. I was touched as well by Prince’s colorful words matched to reach an optic contrast and by Saville’s brush strokes, which delicately captured the details of the light. (photos) After a long walk down the aisles of the fair, I was attracted by Terence Koh’s chair shown by Peres Projects. Made of human ears, I reckon I would like it more if it was pink colored. (photo) Very popular among youngest was Aristarkh Chernyshev and Alexei Shulgin’s sculpture exposed at XL Gallery, where deformed images were displayed on the fake giant Ipod, the walkman of the new generation. (photo) Another sculpture was the main attraction at Paul Kasmin’s Gallery; Petroc Sesti’s crystal ball filled with a mercurial liquid provided a fascinating link between science and art (photo). At Lisson Gallery, James Casebere’s photograph of Tripoli reminded me the nostalgia of town during the night. The idea of a deserted town created through a model made of plaster, polystyrene and cardboard represents an unusual subject and I like how Casebere used artificial lights to evoke this nocturnal vision. (photo)

After having sampled the overwhelming quantity of beaux-arts, I was struck by the interesting programme of 11 artists’ new commissions, curated this year by Neville Wakefield. My personal favourite was Kling og Bang. This artist-collective from Iceland presented a very convincing copy of the famous Reykjavik artist’s bar Sirkus, saving its facade and interior and re-erecting it at the Frieze Art Fair, like a circus moving to another town. (photo). The “ready-made” idea of Cory Arcangel was the sweetest. Like Willy Wonka in the famous movie, he hid a golden ticket inside one of hundreds of chocolate bars, which were sent to all the galleries who were unsuccessful in their application to this year’s fair. The winner was Studio di Giovanna Simonetta from Milan, which was given a stand at the fair.

Last but not the least, I worked as assistant for the American artist Sharon Hayes. Her performance consisted of distributing love letters to a “you”. It might be directed to solitary lover as much as it might be directed to all people in the world, this performance was an exploration of the impact that individuals can have on history and politics at a particular moment of time.

At the sixth Zoo Art Fair (17-20 October), I breathed a different air, maybe because the dimensions are more modest and people seemed less interested in finding world - wide celebrities. In some respects, Zoo Art Fair, with its younger commercial and non-commercial arts organisations, was more interesting than Frieze Art Fair. “We have included as many artists' collectives, project spaces, curatorial groups as possible but all under six years old.” says Soraya Rodríguez, the co-director of Zoo Art Fair.

Zoo Art Fair is located at Burlington Gardens in the Royal Academy of Art. In response to the historic purpose of the building, the Iranian artist Reza Aramesh created a performance infiltrating the space of the Academy with military symbols of power and protection. The first thing I noticed upon entering were the guards dressed in army uniforms. They helped to create an impression of being under siege and added a scary atmosphere that seemed to conjure up an African jungle, which was also in keeping with the fair’s historic home and name. (photo)

Zoo Art Fair is indubitably the more vital and bright fair among the three because it offers the best of the smaller galleries. Eighteen out of fifty-seven galleries came from London and there were many from Switzerland, Germany and less from America in comparison with Frieze Art Fair. For collectors, curators, critics, dealers, artists and art enthusiasts, the Zoo Art Fair remains a unique event to observe the next generation of art talent. It is about picking the right artist hoping you can make a real investment for the future. The winners of the sponsors’ prizes deserve special mention for their talent. The winner of this year's Champagne Perrier- Jouët prize of £10,000 for best artist exhibiting at the fair was Scoli Acosta. Perhaps Acosta's image of the cornucopia enchanted the judge of the Perrier-Jouët because it was a significant symbol of wellness like the champagne is (photo). The John Jones Art on Paper prize of £2,000 went to Clunie Reid, “Clunie's work combines drawing, writing and collage in a found imagery and a punk aesthetic, with a sharp satirical wit.” J.J. Charlesworth.

David Birkin’s light boxes at Paradise Row captured my attention for his exceptional technique. In his study of the human form, he used a white light to focus on well-defined parts while blurring recognizable elements of his naked body. (photo). At 1m3 Gallery, the wood bench made by Genet Mayor was a cute representation of elaborated seating for a chalet in mountains. Maybe the artist’s intention was to joke with the idea of being an extravagant woodsman. (photo). At Travesia Cuatro Gallery,Gonzalo Labrija’s surreal photo of a car placed in a heavenly background evoked a range of emotions, mostly shocked. At first I though it was a car accident then I realized it seemed more to be occurred in heaven. (photo)

Located at Lords Cricket Ground near to Regent’s Park, within walking distance of Frieze, SCOPE Art Fair celebrated its 4th year in London. The youngest and quieter SCOPE Art Fair was the only among them to being represented in different places: Miami, Basel, New York, Madrid and Hamptons. In my opinion, the choice of the location, dominated by its futuristic media centre, was a prudent choice designed to attract international amateurs of art and public events. (photo)

SCOPE Art Fair resulted very different from Frieze Art Fair and Zoo Art Fair: it was the smallest, hosting just 50 galleries. The prices were moderate, starting from £400 and the artists were less well known. Inside two white pavilions, the galleries, mostly English and American, exposed their artworks in a really relaxed atmosphere. It was a more intimate environment where the galleries’ owners dedicated their time to talking about the artists they represented. There was also space for exhibiting different projects, where the strong presence of the collector Charles Saatchi did not go unnoticed. SCOPE Fundation held the second edition of a cutting-edge project called Museum Presents, which displayed artworks from the famous Saatchi Gallery. The selection focused on the emerging Asian talents, who are gaining important positions into the contemporary art market. Saatchi presented also “the Saatchi Online”, where London-based artists and recent graduates registered on the site were shown.

At Lightcontemporary Gallery I was particularly impressed by Justine Smith’s work. Her flowers made of paper embedded into glass appear to be solid but at the same time more weightless and delicate than they first appear. (photo).I was really fascinated by Swoon Myler’s work, a street artist presented by Miki Wick Contemporary Art. Her technique of carving wood to make a complicated drawing was amazing and looked absolutely fabulous hung on the white wall of the fair stand. (photo).I had the same impression when I turned my glance at the Eleazar’s work at Imagineart Gallery. It recalled Picasso’s Cubism however with a clear reference to the street art. (photo).Last but not least Ricardo Canalli’s at MITO gallery vividly captured my attention for his detailed images. I reckon Italian Old Master’s human body study was the main reference, also likely noted in the religious symbol of the cross. (photo).

Frieze Art Fair, Zoo Art Fair and SCOPE Art Fair are very different each other, for the art they exposed and the audience they reached. Sometimes I found very difficult not categorizing them; giving the art they expose a label. I tried to express instead my point of view that likely won’t coincide with that of other people but as the fairs promote the principle of accessibility and inclusion, we all are allowed to judge the contemporary art panorama of the 21st Century.