The seventh edition of Frieze Art Fair was held from 15–18 October in Regent’s Park, London. Sponsored by Deutsche Bank, the fair presented 164 of the world’s leading galleries from 30 countries.
At the close of Frieze Art Fair 2009 participating galleries reported clear evidence of renewed confidence in the contemporary art market.
Over 1,000 artists were showcased. The fair welcomed 24 new galleries and a further 29 new galleries under six years old as part of its praised new section Frame.
The winner of the inaugural Frieze Art Fair Stand Prize, sponsored by Champagne Pommery, was Salon 94.
Visitor figures once again reached 60,000, making attendance comparable to that of the last two years.
Frieze Projects, curated by Neville Wakefield and presented in association with Cartier, received huge critical acclaim. Artists commissioned this year were Mike Bouchet, Kim Coleman and Jenny Hogarth, Ruth Ewan, Ryan Gander, Per-Oskar Leu, Monika Sosnowska, Stephanie Syjuco, and Superflex. Cartier Award 2009 winner Jordan Wolfson’s commission presented at the fair was Your Napoleon.
Frieze Talks, programmed by frieze magazine editors presented an international line-up of artists, philosophers, writers and cultural commentators including John Baldessari, Hella Jongerius, Sylvère Lotringer and Agnès Varda.
The Sculpture Park in 2009 showed work from established artists including Louise Bourgeois and Paul McCarthy. Younger artists such as Vanessa Billy showed work in the Sculpture Park with the help of the second year of sponsorship from the Heath Lambert Group, incorporating Blackwall Green.
Frieze Film 2009 was by artist-activists Superflex. The Financial Crisis (Session I-IV), were broadcast as short films on Channel 4 television during the week of Frieze Art Fair and are available to view on frieze.com.
Frieze Music received extremely positive reviews this year. The performance conceived and choreographed by Turner-Prize winning artist Martin Creed was his first ever ballet. Work No. 1020, was a co-commission with London’s leading dance theatre Sadler’s Wells.
Frieze Education saw over 300 children taking part in the artist-led programme of workshops and discussions organised with ReachOutRCA (The Royal College of Art’s Educational Outreach Team) and held in the Deutsche Bank Education Space.
The Outset/Frieze Art Fair Fund to benefit the Tate Collection acquired: Alice Channer, See-Thru (2009) from The Approach, London; Zbigniew Libera, How to Train Little Girls (1987) from Raster, Warsaw; David Maljkovic, Images with their own Shadows (2008) from Annet Gelink, Amsterdam; Gareth Moore, Neither Here nor There (2009) from Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin; Marwan Rechmaoui, Monument for the Living (2001 – 2008) from Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Beirut and Hamburg; Artur Zmijewski, Democracies (2009) from Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. A total of 120,000 GBP was spent acquiring the works.
Museum Groups visited from Stedeljik Museum, Amsterdam; MACBA, Barcelona; GAMEC, Bergamo; Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin; ARTIC – The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; MAMCO, Geneva; Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg; Kunsthalle Kiel, Kiel; Patrons of The Outset /Frieze Art Fair Fund to benefit the Tate Collection, London; Tate American Acquisitions Committee, Tate International Council, Tate Latin
American Acquisitions Committee, Tate Major Supporters, Serpentine Council, London; LA MOCA, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami; Kunstverein Munich, Munich; Guggenheim New York, New York; MoMA Contemporary Art Council, New York; MoMA Junior Associates, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington.
Frieze Art Fair 2010 will be held in Regent’s Park, London, from 14–17 October 2010.
Visit frieze.com for more information, to sign up to the Frieze Newsletter and to listen to podcasts of Frieze Talks.
