One of the most influential events in the international art calendar, Frieze London returns to Regent’s Park this week. At the helm is Eva Langret, who was named Director in 2019. Since, she has transformed the fair into a more inclusive, forward thinking platform placing an emphasis on emerging and underrepresented voices. We spoke with Langret on what to see, what not to miss, and what Frieze means to London.
What are your tips, secrets or recommendations for this year's fair?
It’s important to stay hydrated and well fed. The fair has 168 booths and everyone is coming with their A game! I’m excited for Gagosian who are showing Lauren Halsey; Modern Art, with a solo of new ceramics by Sanya Kantarovsky; and also, Lehmann Maupin, with a solo by Do Ho Suh. We have a number of new galleries including Garth Greenan, who is coming to the fair for the first time. In the Focus section, Ginny on Frederick with Alex Margo Arden, a recent graduate from the RA schools showing a piece about labour and work, working with reclaimed mannequins from the Museum of Automobiles. Artist to artist is always a highlight of the fair, where we ask established artists to select other artists for solo shows: Ana Segovia is showing with Kurimanzutto, an artist based in Mexico City who’s making a series of paintings referencing the golden age of Spanish cinema.
Can you tell me about the theme for the curated section, Echoes in the Present?
It's curated by Jareh Das and looks at the relationship between artists from Brazil and West Africa, a history rooted in the transatlantic slave trade. It thinks about connections across time and geography. It's a cross-generational section where there are young artists like Sandra Poulson, and more established artists, like Alberto Pitta. There are galleries from Dakar: Selebe Yoon and Galerie Atiss. There's Jahmek contemporary art based in Luanda, Angola and Mitre Galeria from Brazil who is showing the work of Aline Motta.
It's exciting there will be so many new galleries, as well as Focus being positioned at the front of the fair.
Focus is a huge chunk of Frieze. It’s thinking about the future of the art world: the galleries in the Focus section will be the leading galleries of the next few decades. This has always been one of the roots of the fair, to be future facing and to make space for those new voices. London has had a surge of new galleries opening since COVID, like Ginny on Frederick, Brunette Coleman and a.Squire. It's important for us to embrace this scene and make space for them.
How do you see the fair participating in the wider art world and art historical conversations?
The fair is a collective endeavour. We have a number of initiatives where we work in collaboration with various institutions to ensure we have a life beyond the tent. We have an acquisition fund with the Contemporary Art Society and the Arts Council Collection who acquire works to then donate to various regional and international museums. We run a prize with the Camden Arts Centre who award an artist from the Focus section with their first solo exhibition in the UK. We have programmes with the Contemporary Visual Art Network and London Gallery Weekend to support curators, including travel grants. Frieze London can only be successful if it exists as part of a healthy arts ecosystem. That includes healthy institutions, healthy art schools, healthy arts criticism, all of us.
Can you tell me more about the Frieze Artist Award?
It’s a commission we do every year in collaboration with Forma, a non-profit arts organisation in South London. We've had incredible alumni: Alberta Whittle, Abbas Zahedi, Laurence Lek, and this year Sophia Al-Maria who is organising a comedy club. The piece is called Wall Based Work (a Trompe LOL), and the idea is to create a moment of disruption, to experience a completely different register. She’s an artist I've admired for many years and it's exciting for us to have a format that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible at Frieze.
What do you hope a visitor who isn't connected to the art world will take away from the fair?
Tons of learning, and meeting people. The fair is about discovering art from all over the world. I think there is something extraordinary about a gallery from Tunis, a gallery from Tokyo, and a gallery from Dakar all together. This is the only place you have this global, kaleidoscopic view. That can feel overwhelming, but it’s a huge moment of wonder. It's also a place of gathering and community. Encounters with people: that can happen formally, we have a talks programme at Frieze Masters, but also informally, chatting to galleries or getting together in one of the restaurants after a long walk through the tent and talking about what you’ve seen. It's a human experience full of human encounters.
On a personal level, what does Frieze mean to you?
For me, it's where London comes together and hosts the entire art world. This season in particular there is so much happening around London. Sadie Coles, Stuart Shave and Maureen Paley are all opening new spaces as well as two new private foundations, Ibraaz and Yan Du Projects. London has always been about that spirit of community and being a really global city, a city where artists, curators and writers from all walks of life come and find their place. We're one cog in a bigger London scene and it all comes together in the most amazing way during Frieze.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Yes! Go and see the ICA film programme. It’s off-site and important to remind people. You’ll see brilliant new moving image work by new voices and emerging artists.
Frieze London takes place between 15th and 19th October in Regent’s Park
