It’s the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.. The leaves are turning and the nights are drawing in. It must be time for Frieze. This year, I started with Frieze Masters. Typically, I begin with the artistic extravaganza that is Frieze London, and then conclude with the quieter, more contemplative atmosphere of Frieze Masters. But this year I flipped it around. Among the Louis XV mirrors, the white Parian marble statues and Greek urns are some gems of modern art. One of the joys of the Masters is seeing museum-quality work from private galleries before it disappears from public view into private collections.
Near the entrance, Robilan+Voena have some delicate pieces from the king of the slash and rent, Fontana, including Concerto Spaziale (Spatial Concept) 1957, a squished painted terracotta pot, in which he has intervened to insert six pierced holes, alongside a painted terracotta plaque where the punctured surface erupts like a pustule or wound.
Annely Juda, a gallery renowned for its quietly sophisticated eye, features some stunning Naum Gabos, including a barely there head, Blue Marble from 1977, which is poignant in its simplicity, along with an almost transparent Linear Construction in Space, 1976, from a series created in Perspex with nylon monofilament. Nearby is a tiny, iconic pencil cross sitting in the middle of a white sheet of paper by Kasimir Malevich. A 1920-21 version of his seminal work, which may not be seen again by the public for many years. Another delight I stumbled across at Charles Ede was an intense pastel and charcoal portrait of Dominie, done in 1978 by Kitaj, which already had a red dot next to it. While Stephn Ongpin Fine Art has some fantastic little Turner watercolours, including one of ruins in Switzerland, gently dissolving in a miasma of mist.
Reflections is a new section in this year’s fair, showcasing a wide range of decorative art and objects that draw inspiration from two opposing sources: Sir John Soane’s home in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which became a museum in 1837, and Kettles Yard in Cambridge, a high temple to British Modernism. Both interiors are filled with wonderful objects left by their owners, showcasing their interests, passions, and taste. The galleries are arranged in two rows, opposite each other. On one side, there are presentations inspired by Soane’s collection from galleries such as Brun Fine Art and Vagabond Petworth.
On the other hand, displays from the likes of Erskine, Hall & Coe present minimalist ceramics from great British makers such as Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, paired with London-based artist Jennifer Lee’s hand-built, coloured stoneware. The Studio project aims to illustrate how studio practice and the world outside are inextricably linked. Now in its third year, it has showcased 21 contemporary artists to date. It aims to show exciting older work alongside the new from particular artists, as well as more ephemeral material from their studios. Anne Rothenstein and Anju Dodiya discuss their mutual fascination with Japanese prints, while the Frith Street Gallery presents an impressive stand by the Irish artist, Dorothy Cross. Cross’s studio overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, where she has created relic-like works in various materials, including Carrara marble and a foxglove plucked from the land outside her studio, which was dipped in red wax before being cast in bronze.
One of the pleasures of Frieze Masters is discovering important work by artists one hasn’t, perhaps, encountered before—Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori’s bold, colourful abstractions zing with fuchsia, yellow, blue and red. An Aboriginal artist who didn’t start painting until the age of 81, she has created an impressive body of work, showcased here alongside the minimalist ceramics of Shoko Suzuki. Already an accomplished weaver and basket maker, one day she picked up a paintbrush while waiting for supplies to arrive and never looked back. The first painter from the Kaiadilt community, for Western audiences, her work reads like abstract expressionism with its bold swoops and blocks of colour. Still, it is inspired by something very different: her memory of Country, of Bentinck Island, from which she and her people were displaced. The outpouring in bold, saturated areas of colour is entirely modern, linking her (incidentally) to the history of Western Modernism and making her the equal in power to any of the male American Abstract Expressionists. Yet, she is not in the collection of any major American museum.
Another artist new to me was Berlinde De Bruyckere from the Belgian gallery Galleria Continua. Born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1964, her powerful sculptural installations meld something of Joseph Beuys with the sensibility of Eva Hesse. The stuffed body-like forms draw on religious imagery and mythology – the crucified Christ, the flaying of Marsyas by Titian. Using metal, wood and rough materials, she creates raw figure-like forms that exude vulnerability. The use of blankets – like Beuy’s use of felt – is symbolic of warmth and shelter, suggesting, too, the vulnerability of those displaced by war.
At the other end of the cultural and visual spectrum is John Rocque’s magnificent map of early Georgian London, on display at Daniel Crouch Rare Books. An extended view of the Thames is dotted with tall sailing ships, while boatyards, orchards, and churches are all visible. Comparing 18th-century London with the city today is fascinating. And there’s a timeline of English Kings that reaches back into the ancient mists, including the long-forgotten Edwy All-Fair, who reigned from around 995 to 959, and Edgar the Peaceful, who succeeded him.
Frieze Masters presents history not as something fixed but as a living dynamic force. There are delights here, from ancient Egyptian jewellery to Rococo mirrors, all jostling alongside gems such as the small landscape by Emil Nolde at Bastian Gallery. Unlike its sister fair, the work here is not dependent on being new or brash, but instead on standing the test of time and drawing in its audience regardless of its provenance.
Words/Photos Sue Hubbard Top Photo: © Artlyst
Sue Hubbard is an award-winning poet, novelist and freelance art critic. Her latest novel, Flatlands, from Pushkin Press can be ordered here: https://pushkinpress.com/books/flatlands/
And her latest collection of poetry, God’s Little Artist: poems on the life of Gwen John, can be ordered here: https://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/products/gods-little-artist-by-sue-hubbard-pre-order