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The fifth edition of Frieze Masters will take place from 6–9 October, with a new Preview Day on Wednesday 5 October. Installed in a vibrant, lightfilled structure designed by Annabelle Selldorf in The Regent’s Park, Frieze Masters brings together 133 of the world’s leading historical and modern galleries. The quality and diversity of the 2016 fair is further strengthened through Frieze’s collaborations with leading international curators, including Toby Kamps (The Menil Collection, Houston), Clare Lilley (Yorkshire Sculpture Park), Tim Marlow (Royal Academy, London) and Sir Norman Rosenthal (independent curator), who have created sections and programmes dedicated to artistic discovery and connoisseurship.
Frieze Masters is supported by main sponsor Deutsche Bank for the fifth consecutive year, with Gucci as Associate Sponsor and sponsor of Frieze Masters Talks.
Encompassing expertly vetted art and antiquities from the ancient era to Old Masters to the late 20th century, Frieze Masters presents dynamic juxtapositions of period and genre, fostering new discoveries across art history. For the first time, the fair will host a Reading Room with hourly events, alongside the celebrated Frieze Masters Talks programme. Coinciding with the contemporary fair, Frieze London, as well as the Frieze Sculpture Park, the two fairs form the heart of Frieze Week – an international cultural event in early October which includes special programmes mounted by galleries and museums across London.
Victoria Siddall, Director, Frieze Fairs said, ‘The quality and breadth of work in Frieze Masters keeps it fresh and exciting each year. I am looking forward to seeing even more antiquities dealers in the fair, as well as Indian art, alongside the best Old Masters and 20th-century work. Curators play an important role in this fair as well as in our contemporary fairs, and this year we welcome Tim Marlow (Director of Artistic Programmes, Royal Academy, London) who is co-curating Frieze Masters Talks, and Toby Kamps of the Menil Collection in Houston who is presenting his first edition of Spotlight.
Once again we will see galleries from different fields collaborate on groundbreaking presentations, as the fair continues to offer new models for looking at and collecting art.’
New Galleries
The 2016 edition marks the first participation of a number of leading galleries that specializes in ancient art and antiquities such as Phoenix Ancient Art (New York), Kallos Gallery (London) and Rudigier (Munich); with Galerie Chenel (Paris) and Sycomore Ancient Art (Geneva) coming into the main section following their debuts in Collections last year. Old Master experts Koetser Gallery (Zurich) also join the fair, alongside specialists in 20th-century art Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris) and photography, Kicken Berlin (Berlin).
Innovative Gallery Collaborations
Building on the prominent gallery collaborations from the 2015 edition, 18 international galleries will partner to mount creative and thought-provoking presentations for Frieze Masters 2016. Collaborating for the first time, Salon 94 (New York) and Bernard de Grunne (Brussels) will juxtapose figurative works by Judy Chicago with African and Oceanic sculptures, to explore representations of the body in a stand designed by leading British architect David Adjaye. For the second year, Hauser & Wirth and Moretti Fine Art (both London) will bring together 20th-century icons including Philip Guston and Fausto Melotti, and Italian masterpieces from the Gothic to the Baroque –in a stand designed and curated by architect Luis Laplace. Newcomers Sies + Höke (Düsseldorf) and Kicken Berlin (Berlin) have curated a show centered on the photography of Sigmar Polke (1941–2010), his peers and influences, from Man Ray to Francesca Woodman. Sebastian Izzard Asian Art (New York) and London Gallery (Tokyo), specialists in Japanese and Buddhist art respectively, will combine their collections for a presentation spanning a thousand years of Japanese history in a variety of mediums, including medieval ceramics and Negoro lacquerware.
Solo Exhibitions & Extraordinary Objects
Frieze Masters 2016 draws 106 established galleries from around the world to present major solo and group exhibitions across its main section. This year’s edition features an increased presence of female modern masters including Anni Albers (Alan Cristea Gallery, London), Paula Rego (Marlborough Fine Art, London) and Susan Rothenberg (Sperone Westwater, New York). Other solos exhibitions include Tony Bevan (Ben Brown Fine Arts, London), Agustin Cardenas (Almine Rech Gallery, Paris), Robert Motherwell (Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London), Eduardo Paolozzi ( Jonathan Clark Fine Art, London), James Rosenquist (Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris) and Auguste Rodin (Bowman Sculpture, London), ahead of a major exhibition at London’s Courtauld Institute of Art.
Specialist art and antiquity dealers will bring rare presentations of singular pieces, from an Egyptian mummy mask from the 26th Dynasty (Ariadne Galleries, New York), to one of the oldest ancient idols extant in Cyladic art (5th millennium B.C), presented by David Ghezelbash Archéologie, Paris). Highlights from works on paper include Daniel Crouch Rare Books’ (London) exhibition of Morgan and Ogilby’s 1676 plan of post-Great Fire London; and a drawing by Georges Seurat shown by Le Claire Kunst (Hamburg).
Spotlight: Rare Presentations of 20th-Century Artists
Curated for the first time by Toby Kamps (The Menil Collection, Houston) and expanding from 15 to 21 stands, Spotlight builds on its reputation for thoughtfully designed, museum-quality presentations, revealing foundational movements in art through pioneering 20th-century figures worldwide.
Toby Kamps said: ‘Spotlight at Frieze Masters features a diverse range of rare and under-recognized bodies of work by 20th-century artists from around the world. Like previous versions, it illuminates important and influential figures from outside European and North American mainstreams in Latin America, Asia and South Asia. This year’s section also shines a special light on women artists, those who challenged or subverted the period’s dominant stylistic and cultural narratives, and brilliant outliers who forged unique and powerful visions.’
The section will feature an international selection of painters, sculptors, and Fibre and Land Artists from India, Western and Eastern Europe as well as the United States who expanded the scope and reach of feminist ideas. It also includes pioneering works in painting, sculptures, drawing, video and social practices by artists from around the world that add new complexity and interest to the stories of modern and contemporary art. Among the many highlights will be Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949-2015), a key female sculptor from the postwar period who challenged boundaries between art and craft, presented by Jhaveri Contemporary (Mumbai); and little-known bodies of work by international artists and theorists Wolfgang Paalen (1905-1959, with Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco) and Li Yuan-Chia (1929-1994, with Richard Saltoun, London), who used painting and sculpture to reach for new dimensions in visual art and consciousness.
Collections with Sir Norman Rosenthal
Following its acclaimed debut in 2015, the Collections section returns with seven specialist galleries chosen by Sir Norman Rosenthal, who said: ‘These dealers represent an enormous repository of art - each of the selected presentations is a kernel of an idea that could easily develop into significant exhibitions at any of the worlds’ great museums.’
The section features an array of thoughtfully curated presentations of extraordinary historical art and objects of the highest quality, still available to buy: from Suprematist ceramics (Sophia Contemporary Gallery, London) to exquisite items of east Christian art (400-1500) (Axia, London). Simon Theobold’s (London) presentation will explore German Expressionism’s relationship with the ‘Cult of Nature’, while Galerie Ulrich Fiedler’s (Berlin) ‘Destijl room’ will contain works by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld and Theo van Doesburg. The Gallery Of Everything (London) will recreate groundbreaking early exhibits at Jean Dubuffet’s Le Foyer de l’Art Brut; and Jason Jacques Gallery (New York) will present exceptional Art Nouveau ceramics.
Frieze Sculpture Park
Following its celebrated three-month residency in 2015-16, the Frieze Sculpture Park will return to the English Gardens in The Regent’s Park, creating a major free cultural attraction at the heart of London. Curated by Clare Lilley (Yorkshire Sculpture Park) and featuring large-scale artworks presented by galleries from both Frieze London and Frieze Masters, the full programme will be announced in September.
Frieze Masters Talks
Co-curated for the first time by Tim Marlow (Royal Academy, London) and Jennifer Higgie ( frieze & Frieze Masters Magazine), Frieze Masters Talks will present panels and conversations exploring relationships between historical art and contemporary practice. Featuring speakers including artists Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Carroll Dunham, critic Alastair Sooke and The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Sheena Wagstaff, the full programme will be announced soon. Frieze Masters Talks is supported by Gucci, Associate Sponsor of the fair.
The Reading Room
For the first time, visitors are invited to take part in book signings, conversations and artist events hosted by world-leading cultural publications in the new Reading Room.
Frieze Bespoke
Visitors can enhance their visit to Frieze Masters with a personalised tour of the fair through Frieze Bespoke. Returning for a third year, the service pairs emerging collectors with an independent art world professional, for introductions to art and galleries tailored to interests and budget.
Frieze Week magazine
Following its launch in 2015, Frieze Week magazine returns offering a guide to the wealth of art and activity taking place at the fair and across the city during Frieze London and Masters, including complete fair gallery listings for browsing.
Restaurants and Hotels
This year’s fair welcomes back London’s leading restaurants and cafés including GAIL’s Artisan Bakery, Locanda Locatelli and Umu. Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley are the main hotel partners for Frieze Masters 2016.
Sponsors and Partners
In addition to Main Sponsor Deutsche Bank and Associate Sponsor Gucci, Frieze Masters partners with BMW, the Art Fund, the Financial Times and new Official Champagne Ruinart.
Further Information
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