Never go to Frieze after Frieze Masters. It will always disappoint. The comparison is unfair—it is called “Masters” for a reason. For me, the most extraordinary item displayed was a Qing-dynasty taxation map. Huang Qianren’s “Blue Map of the World” of 1811 was extraordinary historically, culturally, aesthetically and a steal at GBP 400,000 (Daniel Crouch Rare Books). Another Asian masterpiece was the beautiful (but now tragic) Head of a Nobleman, 4th/5th Century, Afghanistan, at Carlton Rochell Asian Art. As ever, there were numerous Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-classical sculptures and paintings. Striking for its execution and display was Francesco Pozzi’s “Jupiter in the guise of a satyr, seduces the river nymphe Antiope” from 1828 at Cesar Lampronti.
Moving up the centuries, Picasso’s “Maya au Bateau” from 1938 at Richard L. Feigen & Co. was colorful, disarming and a reminder that not all the artist’s works from this period are yet in museums.
It is clear the colossal resurgence of abstract painting has spread far beyond New York and Paris and is reaching both forwards and backwards in time. The contemporaneous Euro-German Zero Group and Japanese Gutai artists from the 1970s–1980s are suddenly everywhere. Axel Vervoordt Gallery showed Jiro Yoshihara, Shozo Shimamoto, Gotthard Graubner, Günther Ueker and Raymond Girke. Meanwhile, Dominique Levy showed Yves Klein, Sergio Camargo and Günther Ueker. Similarly, minimalist artists who had slipped from view are being revived, most notably Los Angeles veteran DeWain Valentin with a solo show at Almine Rech Gallery.
Richard Hamilton remains one of the most underrated British artists. Fortunately, Alan Cristea, his gallerist of over 30 years, continues to work hard to promote this promethean artist. The booth was full of fascinating works, including an experimental photographic self-portrait form 1974, “Palindrome”.
Sprüth Magers displayed a large but incomplete selection of Hanne Darboven’s scores, while Helly Nahmad tried to repeat his theatrical success from last year when they built a fake 1960s collector’s apartment. This time, a fake mental asylum was chosen as an ideal scenario to present Jean Dubuffet. It looked nice, but did it really have to be a mental asylum? Sadly the high production values only delivered a B-Grade horror flick.
Sperone Westwater showed a rare Gilbert & George drawing from 1971, “THE HEAD AFLOAT ON TOP LEVELS ON THE HORIZON OF OUR THOUGHT”; renowned London dealers Annely Juda Fine Art showed a number of important small-scale Christo works, including “Packed Supermarket Cart” from 1963.
Let us finish with something quite different, though: Charles Ray’s “All My Clothes” from 1973 at Matthew Marks Gallery —a series of photos of the artist wearing his limited wardrobe, mainly jeans and flannel checked shirts; it is the opposite of a grand gesture and status symbol. And it is a masterpiece.
