Elena Soboleva (@elenasoboleva) is a Specialist at Artsy.
Sail past the crowds admiring Kusamas, Condos, and Emins. There will be plenty more in the next fair and the one after. Instead, this week at Regent’s Park, stop by these 10 booths and galleries to check out what’s really new. And I don’t mean Christian Rosa new; you’re not going to find the majority of these Under the Influence while at Phillips nor at Christie’s First Open, quite yet. With strong examples of sculpture and installation, these artists invade London and push material boundaries and art fair-goers’ attention spans, while challenging viewers to elevate their cognition.
Jayson Musson – Salon 94 – Booth A1
Unleashing ‘Hennessy Youngman’ persona on the U.K. in the form of cryptic pseudo-iconographic canvases, (based on comic book perceptions of what ‘modern art looks like’) Musson rewrites pop-culture with his own unique take. He currently has a show at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in his hometown of Philadelphia with Alex Da Corte, and this week brings his humor to the Brits.
Michael Rey – Office Baroque – Booth B11
Hailing from L.A., Rey’s “IBJECTS” are hybrid forms which occupy a space between between image and object. Made from oil on plasticine clay on panel, the works are flat near-recognizable shapes that intersect painting and sculpture with holes, which the artist calls “orifices, points, or measures of space.”
Ben Schumacher – Croy Nielsen – Focus, Booth J7
After curating a summer show with Berlin’s leading space for emerging talent, Croy Nielsen, Ben Schumacher presents his analog-meets-digital sculptures at Frieze. Packing more information than any press release could convey or hard drive could contain, his elaborate systems push the limits of conceptualization into sleek forms.
Michael Dean – Supportico Lopez – Focus, Booth G21
Drooping, tongue-like, and corporeal in essence, Michael Dean’s “Analogue” series (left), are equally evocative and lethargic while propped against the walls. Berlin gallery Suportico Lopez is bringing his sculptures to Frieze along with some excellent pieces by Zin Taylor and Steven Bishop, promising an all-round great booth.
Laure Prouvost – MOT International – Main, Booth F7
For a mid-fair respite, melt into one of Prouvost’s films. This pixie-cut, French queen of video, who unexpectedly claimed the Turner prize last year, has recently turned the hearts and eyes of many Americans her way. MOT presents Grandma’s Dream, 2013 which compliments the Turner Prize piece and employs whispers to tell a personal narrative.
Ante Timmermans – Barbara Seiler – Focus, Booth J12
Presenting an enveloping installation that delves into philosophical tropes of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot along with a five-member dance troupe, Belgian artist Timmermans brings his laborious drawings and performances to Frieze. He synthesizes repeating motifs such as the donkey, a traditional animal of burden, along with symbols of order and control.
Jonas Wood – David Kordansky Gallery – Main, Booth C1
Bringing West Coast cool to the grey U.K. shores, Kordansky presents a booth including L.A.-based Jonas Wood, an artist who American collectors have been chasing for couple of years (and whose works have made it to Phillips). Wood creates collages, which then in turn he paints; the final, flat effect is akin to something that Matisse would’ve created, had he been living circa now and a devoted NBA fan. In his works exquisite fauna and hip-hop culture collide.
Virginia Overton – Freymond-Guth Fine Arts Ltd. – Focus, Booth H17
Working in abstract sculptural forms that tend to challenge the nature of the materials used, Overton creates pieces with rigor and poise. For Frieze, she is in the Focus section upheaving and upending her practice and the floorboards.
Justin Adian at Skarstedt + Eddie Martinez at Timothy Taylor + Will Boone at Jonathan Viner Gallery
Recalling the American generation of manly AbEx personas, this is what happens when you take New York’s bearded boys (Boone has yet to grow his) and transplant them to London. These three, who are all friends back at home, will be occupying London and your Instagram feed—and they’ll be having more fun than anyone else, along with the Half Gallery and Karma crew.
Justin Adian’s well-deserved first solo show in UK at Skarstedt opened this Monday. His warped and malleable forms have a quality which is irresistible in person. Playing with tension between canvas and wall, sculpture and painting, the ‘Backlit’ works cast iridescent shadows.
Sunday Art Fair
Lastly, if you really want to see some great emerging art, make your way over to The Sunday Fair just down the street from Frieze. There you will find Zürich’s BolteLang, London’s Seventeen Gallery, New York’ s Laurel Gitlen and Kate Werble, and Detroit’s What Pipeline. All 24 participating galleries are carefully chosen and excel at curatorially driven art installation and artists who are way more substance than hype.
Photo credits: Will Boone, GOLIAD. Courtesy of Jonathan Viner, London; Jayson Musson, Stone River IV, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94, New York; Michael Rey, Knimpp, 2014. Courtesy the artist and Office Baroque, Brussels; Michael Dean. n (Working Title), 2013. Courtesy always Supportico Lopez, Berlin; Jonas Wood. Orange Orchid Clipping, 2014. Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles; Justin Adian. Photo by Elena Soboleva.
