Frieze Warm-Up: Smaller Galleries

The Independent talks to Sarah Thornton and some gallerists about what’s likely to happen at Frieze this year. They’re bet is on the smaller galleries that have just gotten a break and are finally gaining access to the fair:

“Everyone can afford to be positive about Frieze,” says Gregor Muir, formerly a curator at the Tate and now director of Hauser & Wirth gallery. “Any amount of nerves will be soaked up by the sheer amount of activity in London around the fair.”

The fall-off in American galleries has made room for 21 first-timers in the main fair, including the Scottish Ingleby Gallery, where Turner Prize nominee Richard Wright recently exhibited, the Kukje Gallery from South Korea, The Third Line from Dubai, Polish gallery Raster and two new Japanese exhibitors, Hiromi Yoshii and Gallery Side 2. More exciting is the introduction of Frame, a section dedicated to solo artist presentations from 29 galleries from around the world, all under six years old. The organisers had planned to invite 15 up-and-comers but with extra space to fill and over 200 applications, Frame is now twice the size, giving collectors with an eye on the next big thing twice the chance of spotting it. Among those exhibiting are London galleries Limoncello and Seventeen, Project 88 from Mumbai, Melbourne’s Neon Parc, Rome’s Monitor and Rodeo from Istanbul.

For these smaller galleries, Frieze is an opportunity to have their name and their artists seen by up to 68,000 people (the number of visitors last year), not to mention the potential for being spotted by big-name dealers and curators or making up to 50 per cent of their annual turnover in just four days. “Whether there’s the turnover or not, it’s the exposure which is so important,” says Thornton. “Frieze is a club not all galleries can get into. There’s a quality control at work and it’s a prestigious event. It might not result in a sale but it’s a really important stepping stone in the artist’s career and for the gallery.”