Vulture Magazine The Michaelmas Issue 2013 | Page 6

F

FRIEZE

rieze, the world’s largest art fair of its
kind, was held for the eleventh time
at Regent’s Park. Each year more than
60,000 artists, critics, tourists, curators
and collectors pass through the doors.
This year the fair showcased artwork
from more than 30 countries and from a
unique combination of established names
and younger, less experienced galleries.
My visit to the Fair culminated in an interest in the sheer diversity of art on offer. Some of the most memorable works
included the offerings of American pop
artist Jeff Koons, who produced 5 pieces for this year’s Frieze. My personal
favourites included a giant sculpture
of a hanging kitten and a huge blue aluminium heart that reminded me of a
giant kitsch chocolate: a similar piece
recently sold for $33 million. The fair is
technically a sale, but a very small proportion of the people at Frieze are actually looking to buy the artworks (the
cheapest of which is around £1000).
The pieces vary not just in medium but
in tone: from Rob Pruitt’s comical traffic cone faces, some of which have hair,
glasses or beards, to Tania Bruguera’s
copy of the ‘Arbeit macht frei’ sign from
Auschwitz, which lies in pieces in a corner. These two pieces are remarkably
close to each other and the juxtaposition
is striking and verging on the absurd.