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# Sussing Out Subtlety at the Frieze Art Fairs in London
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/sussing-out-subtlety-at-the-frieze-art-fairs-in-london/
- Published: 2015-10-14T17:42:01.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:35:05.000Z
- Description: LONDON — Last year was my first Frieze London fair, and I was baffled that it could seem so desultory, given that it was chock-a-block with pointlessly novel artworks.
- Author: Janet Tyson
- Tags: Art, Art Fairs, Carl Andre, Cornelia Parker, Do Ho Suh, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Artschwager, Tacita Dean, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:13 (2014, 2015, part 3)

![Carpet sweepers at Frieze London 2015 (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/01-carpet-sweepers.jpg)

Carpet sweepers at Frieze London 2015 (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

LONDON — Last year was my first [Frieze London](http://friezelondon.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) fair, and I was baffled that it could seem so desultory, given that it was chock-a-block with pointlessly novel artworks. Perhaps if I’d have seen [the Helly Nahmad installation](http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2014/10/14/helly-nahmad-constructs-his-own-reality-with-imaginary-collectors-frieze-booth/?ref=hyperallergic.com) at Frieze Masters? But this year, Frieze was fun, varied, inventive, thoughtful, even encouraging. And I made it to Nahmad’s meticulous [Frieze Masters](http://friezemasters.com/?%5Fga=1.167736758.943649844.1443036446&ref=hyperallergic.com) evocation of a Swiss asylum, as a space for showcasing works by Jean Dubuffet.

![Everything about this Louise Bourgeois sculpture at Cheim & Read, including the pedestal, inspires covetousness. Which is, of course, a sin.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/louise-bourgeois-frieze-masters.jpg)

Everything about this Louise Bourgeois sculpture at Cheim & Read, including the pedestal, inspires covetousness. Which is, of course, a sin. (click to enlarge)

Local reviewers thus far have already acknowledged Nahmad (perhaps to the extent of ignoring the art he’s showing) and have homed in on other curiosities. Among them: Ken Kagami’s [free drawings of visitors’ genitals](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/frieze-art-fair-2015-ken-kagami-will-do-a-comedy-drawing-of-your-genitals-for-free-in-30-seconds-a6693651.html?ref=hyperallergic.com); the large Felix the Cat inflatable (a sculpture by Mark Leckey in the [Galerie Buchholz](http://www.galeriebuchholz.de/?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth); and AYR’s “[smart bedrooms](http://www.friezeprojects.org/commissions/detail/ayrbrb/?ref=hyperallergic.com)” — considerately offering a chance to recline and recharge one’s cell phone.

But we see and write what we want, and I decided to ignore the things I didn’t care about. So I saw quite a lot of sculpture carved from marble or alabaster; small-scale photographs; text-related works; *arte povera* kinds of works; installations of ceramic and concrete objects; defiantly analogue works on film; and just plenty of smartly selected, witty sculptural works. And, wonderfully unintentionally, I ended up being attracted most often to works that were made by women.

![Cornelia Parker dominates the Frith Street booth but, in the background at right, Massimo Bartolini’s little marble diptych slyly asserts itself.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/02-cornelia-parker-dominates-the-frith-street-installation-but-in-the-background-at-right-massimo-bartolini_s-little-marble-diptych-slyly-asserts-itself.jpg)

Cornelia Parker dominates the Frith Street booth but, in the background at right, Massimo Bartolini’s little marble diptych slyly asserts itself. (click to enlarge)

![A Langobardic stele with a Renaissance-era inscription on its back, at Frieze Masters](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/07-a-langobardic-stele-with-a-renaissance-era-inscription-on-its-back-at-frieze-masters.jpg)

A Langobardic stele with a Renaissance-era inscription on its back, at Frieze Masters (click to enlarge)

[Frith Street Gallery](http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s strong presentation at Frieze was dominated by a large [Cornelia Parker](http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/bio/cornelia%5Fparker?ref=hyperallergic.com) grid piece, laid out flat on a platform. There were several other grid-formatted works by Parker in various media, with her choices reflecting her social concerns, but what attracted me were [Tacita Dean](http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/bio/tacita%5Fdean?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s small, uncanny Cibachrome images of stone figures in outdoor settings. I also was drawn irresistibly to [Massimo Bartolini](http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/bio/massimo%5Fbartolini?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s paired pieces of carved alabaster, in the form of A4 sheets of paper. I suppose you need to be, as I am, in love with intimate scale matched by audacious understatement to go for such things, but “Left Page, Right Page” stole my heart. Then, in Frieze Masters, I found a complement to Bartoloni: an eighth- or ninth-century Langobardic relief that had been reused as a memorial stele during the Renaissance.

Speaking of audacity, [Georg Kargl Fine Arts](http://www.georgkargl.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) featured two of [Carl Andre](http://www.carlandre.net/?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s typewriter pieces. They weren’t placed very conspicuously, but couldn’t be ignored, either. Hovering nearby, [Clegg & Guttmann](http://www.georgkargl.com/en/fine-arts/press/clegg-guttmann?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s nearly life-size photograph of a primly seated Leo Castelli summed up the dynamic of this year’s presentations at Frieze London and Frieze Masters: the intergenerational relationships between artworks and artists.

![An Artschwager table coolly confronts its public from Gagosian's booth at Frieze Masters.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/03-an-artschwager-table-coolly-confronts-its-public-at-frieze-masters.jpg)

An Artschwager table coolly confronts its public from Gagosian’s booth at Frieze Masters.

Hugely exciting for me was one of [Richard Artschwager](http://www.gagosian.com/artists/richard-artschwager?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s classic, cubic, Formica-clad table pieces. It was part of a monographic installation in the [Gagosian](http://www.gagosian.com/news/2015/10/12/953?ref=hyperallergic.com) booth at Frieze Masters — probably the least ingratiating of the set pieces that galleries have begun constructing. It was a good overview that left people room to back up without bumping into the sculpture. By way of complement to Artschwager’s materiality, [Do Ho Suh](http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/do-ho-suh?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s filmy, architectonic objects and environments, were being shown by [Victoria Miro](http://www.victoria-miro.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and at least one other dealer.

![Sylvia Sleigh, "Venus in the grass, Crystal Palace Garden" (1957)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/04-venus-in-the-grass-crystal-palace-garden-by-sylvia-sleigh-1957.jpg)

Sylvia Sleigh, “Venus in the grass, Crystal Palace Garden” (1957)

Although Louise Bourgeois was present via a broad spectrum of her works — including a haunting, pinkish marble sculpture of an arm with hands at each end — the senior artists I was excited to see represented were [Betty Woodman](http://www.salon94.com/artists/detail/betty-woodman?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Sylvia Sleigh](http://www.sylviasleigh.com/sylviasleigh/Sylvia.html?ref=hyperallergic.com). Woodman seems to be regaining recognition as a major US ceramist and representative of Pattern and Decoration, rather than simply as the mother of [Francesca Woodman](https://hyperallergic.com/a-formal-take-on-francesca-woodman/). And Sleigh’s cabinet-sized paintings on canvas, shown by [Freymond-Guth](http://freymondguth.com/?page%5Fid=11&ref=hyperallergic.com), were almost unbearably evocative of a moment in British art. Prior to departing permanently for New York, Sleigh visited the ruins of the Crystal Palace Garden and painted its bits of statuary.

![Richard Deacon's gnarly clay piece touched on all of the things I best liked about Frieze 2015.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/05-richard-deacons-gnarly-clay-piece-touched-on-all-of-the-things-i-best-liked-about-frieze-2015-.jpg)

Richard Deacon’s gnarly clay piece touched on all of the things I best liked about Frieze 2015.

Another favorite piece was [Richard Deacon](http://ropac.net/selected%5Fworks/richard-deacon?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s “North 8” (2006) at [Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac](http://ropac.net/?ref=hyperallergic.com). It was placed directly on the floor — a gnarly clay object covered with viscous-looking white-and-brown glaze. I was concerned about it being damaged by someone who didn’t notice it, but also concerned about someone injuring themselves on it. Perhaps if it had been guarded by [Miroslaw Balka](http://miroslaw-balka.com/en/?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s “200x60x24” (2001) it would have seemed less perilous.

![The dimensions for Miroslaw Balka's "200x60x24" lovingly contradicted the work's title — they are 60 cm by 200 cm by 24 cm](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/06-dimensions-for-200x60x24-by-miroslaw-balka-lovingly-contradicted-the-works-title-60x200x24.jpg)

The dimensions for Miroslaw Balka’s “200x60x24” lovingly contradicted the work’s title — they are 60 cm by 200 cm by 24 cm.

Lastly, [Cerith Wyn Evans](http://whitecube.com/artists/cerith%5Fwyn%5Fevans/?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s sound and picture installation in honor of [Luis Barragán](http://www.barragan-foundation.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) mixed projections from two carousels of slides with recordings from the late architect’s LP collection. Barragan kept a record player in each room of his house, but most had broken down. When I learned that Evans had each of them repaired and put back into place, I was even more moved than I’d been when sitting inside the installation. Sometimes the generosity of artists is their greatest work.

![Richard Nagg's gorgeous Vienna Secession salon at Frieze Masters, with a brilliant solution for suspending pictures](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/08-richard-naggs-gorgeous-vienna-secession-salon-at-frieze-masters-with-brilliant-solution-for-suspending-pictures.jpg)

Richard Nagg’s gorgeous Vienna Secession salon at Frieze Masters, with a brilliant solution for suspending pictures

![Hauser and Wirth's installation of small sculptures was crowned by a quotation from Ruth Asawa: "Sculpture is like farming. If you just keep at it, you can get quite a lot done."](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/09-hauser-and-wirths-installation-of-small-sculptures-was-crowned-by-a-quote-from-ruth-asawa--sculpture-is-like-farming--if-you-just-keep-at-it-you-can-get-quite-a-lot-done-.jpg)

Hauser and Wirth’s installation of small sculptures was crowned by a quotation from Ruth Asawa: “Sculpture is like farming. If you just keep at it, you can get quite a lot done.”

[*Frieze London*](http://friezelondon.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *continues in* [*Regent’s Park*](https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park?ref=hyperallergic.com) *through October 17\.* [*Frieze Masters*](http://friezemasters.com/?%5Fga=1.167736758.943649844.1443036446&ref=hyperallergic.com)*, also in* [*Regent’s Park*](https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park?ref=hyperallergic.com)*, continues through October 18.*