As Siddall Takes Center Stage at Frieze, No Hints of New Direction After IMG-WME Investment

The London Evening Standard does the briefest of profiles of Victoria Siddall far in advance of this year’s Frieze fair. Curiously not noting the new investment from IMG-WME nor closing down the interviewer’s suggestion that plans might be in the work for a new fair in, say, Dubai or another location, Siddall mostly sticks to the kind of anodyne art fair promotion we’re used to:

“We try to make it possible to have the most interesting young galleries at the fair too, with very heavily subsided rates of up to 50 per cent off, but, yes, it’s a significant investment for a gallery to do an art fair, so it has to deliver not just in terms of sales, but in contacts, meeting new collectors and curators, and maybe the artist being given a museum show as a result. That’s our responsibility.”

Siddall believes Frieze will remain Brexit-proof because of its far-reaching international scope. “The only obvious change is the exchange rate, which makes London less expensive for people coming over.” The additional spend in London on hotels, bars, restaurants, taxis and shopping, she tells me, has been calculated to be at least £50 million. “I remember Claridges telling me years ago that their best week of the year is Frieze week.”

Frieze Art Fair director Victoria Siddall: It’s Brexit-proof (London Evening Standard)