The contemporary Art fair Frieze London It has the novelty of a section of ceramic artists, mostly Latin American, who work with clay based on ancestral traditions.
For this 21st edition, the curator of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Guatemalan Pablo José Ramírezcreated a thematic section called “Smoke,” to weave a link between the art of ceramics and the work of 11 artists, mainly from the American continent.
This space “gives visibility to artists who would otherwise probably not be present at an international art fair,” says Ramírez, who was previously responsible for bringing works of contemporary indigenous art to the Tate Modern collections.
“Ceramic and clay work has always existed, but only recently has it been recognized as an art form,” which has given it “a boom in the contemporary art world.”
But more than the technique, it is the fact of navigating between various worlds, between “indigenous and ancestral stories” and globalized contemporary art that unites the artists of “Humo,” he points out.
The totems of the Venezuelan Lucía Pizzaniwhich arrived in London in 2007, which stand as guardians, are made of intense black English clay, on which Latin American plants such as corn or eucalyptus are printed. A mix that “reflects my migration story,” says Pizzani.
His other terracotta ceramics were made in the pottery community of El Cercado, on the Venezuelan island of Margarita, collecting clay from the mountains and then firing it over an open fire, according to traditions transmitted orally from pre-Hispanic times.
Also present are the Brazilian Ayla Tavares, Karla Ekaterine Canseco (USA) and Roksana Pirouzmand (Iran), Manuel Chavajay (Guatemala), Adam Vallecillo (Honduras), Christine Howard Sandoval (EU), Linda Vallejo (EU), Yeni Mao y Yuri Yuan (China) and Noah Martinez (Mexico).
Like every year, some 60,000 gallery owners, “influencers” and visitors are expected until Sunday in the gigantic white tent installed in Regent’s Park, where big names and emerging artists exhibit.
“Frieze brings together the entire artistic community, with collectors from all over the world, galleries with exceptional presentations (…) and already with great sales,” says the director of Frieze London, Eva Langret.
In parallel to this unmissable commercial event, for which 160 galleries from 43 countries have reserved their space at a high price, exhibitions, auctions and private parties will be held every day in the four corners of the British capital.
Visitors will be able to discover the exhibition of Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery, works by Tracey Emin in the White Cube gallery or Yayoi Kusama in Victoria Miro. You can also see works of Banksy during the auction of one of his bulletproof vests with the Union Jack, the British flag.
Frieze London arrives in a gloomy context for the global art market, whose sales fell by 4% in 2023, according to a report by UBS and Art Basel. Due to economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions, buyers are increasingly reluctant to purchase contemporary works whose value often fluctuates.
The UK remains a bastion of art, with 17% of the global market share in 2023, according to UBS and Art Basel. But it has seen its shine weaken since Brexit and its new tax regulations, being surpassed for the first time by China (19%).
Frieze, created in London in 2003 before spreading to New York or Seoul, also faces the appearance of a competitor on the other side of the English Channel with the “Paris + by Art Basel” fair, inaugurated on October 16 in a restored Grand Palais that could eclipse it.
Fuente: AFP