The Biennale and Museum Exhibitions Effect on Frieze
The 56th Biennale of Venice opened a month earlier than usual this year. When the Biennale normally opened each June just before Art Basel, galleries cognizant of the buyers coming from it would know to bring artists whose works were seen there. There would be an indirect influence of how the market swung in terms of preferences and prices of course. But this year it opened in May instead, just before Frieze in New York, and many expected this to happen just the same. And it didn’t. It could be because the Biennale had a gloomy theme to it.
At Frieze New York, I saw a Chris Ofili painting, an Elmgreen & Dragset statue, and Joan Jonas’ work who represented the US in Venice, but not much more. Come October, Frieze London had more works of artists who displayed in the Biennale than Frieze New York. Granted, together with Frieze Masters the London event is bigger. But in the London fair I saw works by,
Jenny Holzer,
Chris Ofili,
Theaster Gates, and,
Georg Baselitz, in Frieze London, and,
Marlene Dumas at Frieze Masters, among others.
Wael Shawky who had his latest film installation Cabaret Crusades at MoMA PS1 during the summer, and then in the Istanbul Biennale, had the marionettes used during filming on display at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, and I saw one available for sale at Frieze Masters.
While Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas' installation Empty Lot opened at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, two smaller scale works of the artist were at Frieze.