Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Economic doom and gloom may be swirling overhead, but during the Frieze Art Fair wealth, glamour and decadence still reign supreme. At the VIP opening, fat-walleted, fashioned-up collectors queued in droves to get in and scope out the 173 galleries and their artworks, which, as always, ranged from incredible to inscrutable, to downright annoying.

See more of our highlights from the Frieze Art Fair 2011

What to make of the swirling umbrellas placed on upside-down zebra print wallpaper designed 'in homage to famous new York restaurant Gino' by Alex Zachary? How to respond to Andra Ursuta's 'bog body'- a life-size sculpture of herself dragged from a marsh and covered in splodges of silicone to represent semen? A little goes a long way at Frieze; its size guarantees sensory overload, but straightforwardly beautiful pieces such as Doh Ho Su's fabric sculptures of doorknobs, pipes and lightswitches, or Carsten Nicolai's tableaux at Galerie Eigen+Art provide anchors in the storm.

Christian Jankowski's

yacht could be bought either as a boat or an artwork, depending on how much you were willing to pay for it, and had men clustering to take their picture next to it. Though it was meant as a symbol 'to open wide the structures behind selling art' in the words of the artist, it felt more Ideal Home Show than art show. Less oblique was Michael Landy's Credit Card Destroying Machine, first shown, remarkably, in the Louis Vuitton store in Bond Street last year. You put in your card and receive a signed drawing.

Now in its ninth year, the fair is as buoyant as ever, if a little more conservative than in previous years, and 2012 will see a sister event in New York and an additional Frieze Masters fair in London, dealing in artworks made before 2000. At the Frame part of the show, in which 24 young galleries exhibit one artist, curators whispered that South American artists especially those from Brazil and Argentina, are the ones to watch.

The ripple effect created by Frieze means galleries across town pull out all the stops to woo collectors, and a host of excellent shows, among them Ahmed Alsoudani at Haunch of Venison, run long after the tent has gone. Opportunists too, pitch in; on the south side of the Regents Park, a strip of John Nash terraces have been converted into millionaires pads with price tags of up to £45m. During Frieze, one mansion is turned into a temporary gallery of works from private collections for a show called The House of the Nobleman. Around 700 guests sashayed across the park to the opening party - and this time it wasn't art they were after.

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Galerie Eigen+Art dedicated its whole stand to Carsten Nicolai

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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More by Carsten Nicolai

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Michael Riedell at the David Zwirner stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled work by Isa Genzken at David Zwirner

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled (tondo) by Jason Martin at the Lisson Gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Detail view of Untitled (tondo) by Jason Martin

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled by Anish Kapoor at Lisson Gallery

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Self Portrait I' by Ryan Gander at Lisson Gallery

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Modern Tower' by Julian Opie at Lisson Gallery

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Gate' by Dirk Bell at the Sadie Coles HQ stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Something Changed Raymond' by Sarah Lucas at Sadie Coles HQ

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Solar Catastrophe' by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla at the Galerie Chantal Crousel stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Detail of the work, made from broken solar cells on canvas

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'30 pieces of silver' by Cornelia Parker at the Frith Street Gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Wasserregal' by Nicole Wermers at Herald St gallery

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Parking garage' by Rita McBride at the Mai 36 Galerie Zurich stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'If 3' by Roni Horn at Hauser & Wirth

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'August 6, 1945' by Matthew Day Jackson at Hauser & Wirth

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Detail of Day Jackson's piece, made from burnt wood and lead

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'White Earth' by Reyle Anselm at the Gagosian Gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled (Pray) by Barbara Kruger at the Sprueth Magers stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'What is produced' by Liam Gillick at the Maureen Paley stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Freischwimmer 190' by Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Sculpture by Abraham Cruzvillegas at the Kurimanzutto stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Crush' by Andra Ursuta at the Ramiken Crucible gallery in the Frame area of Frieze

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London


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The Box Gallery from LA reignites the work of Judith Bernstein

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Artist Patrick Jackson describes the figures in his 'Head, Hands and Feet' artwork as characters 'who are part Charles Manson, part hippy'

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Paul Johnson's sculpture for Ancient & Modern took three days to install on site using papier mache and tyres

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Plane' by Nick Relph at the Standard Oslo stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Alex Zachary's installation at the Ken Okiishi stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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A sculpture of cucumbers and Perpsex by Martha Friedman at the Wallspace Gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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From left: works by Callum Innes and Tommy Grace at the Ingleby Gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Blue lightbulbs by Katie Paterson at Ingleby Gallery

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Pieces by Alex Isreal at the Peres Projects stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Michael Landy's 'Credit Card Destroying Machine' crushes Frieze vistors' cards in exchange for a signed drawing

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Three works from the late Romanian artist Florin Mitroi at the Johnen Galerie stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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A series of works by David Shrigley at the Yvon Lambert gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Nick van Woert's boxes filled with waste matter piece at Yvonne Lambert is called 'Not Yet Titled'

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Ivan Navarro's work at the Paul Kasmin gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Land artist Roger Ackling uses a magnifying glass to burn the wood in his Voewood sculptures at the Annely Juda gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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More by Roger Ackling

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Claude Rutault reproduces the evolution of Mondrian's 'New York Boogie Woogie'

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Norman Foster' by Xavier Veilhan at the Galerie Perrotin stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Tatiana Trouvé at Galerie Perrotin

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Tatiana Trouvé at Galerie Perrotin

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Elmgreen & Dragset's untitled piece suggests a woman in a morgue

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Detail of the Elmgreen & Dragset piece at Galerie Perrotin

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Artist Marianne Vitaly has reproduced in minute detail IBID Project's original exhibition space for the gallery's Frieze stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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A work by Anthea Hamilton at IBID Projects

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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The 'Nemesis' by Muntean/Rosenblum turns Galerie Georg Kargl's stand into a house and garden...

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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... complete with a picket fence

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Doh Ho Su's fabric sculptures of doorknobs, pipes and lightswitches

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

(Image credit: TBC)

Doh Ho Su's fabric sculptures of doorknobs, pipes and lightswitches

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

(Image credit: TBC)

A work by by Lucy Williams at the Timothy Taylor Gallery stand

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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A work by by Lucy Williams at Timothy Taylor Gallery

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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'Icon' by Will Ryman in the sculpture park in Regent's Park

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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On the south side of the Regents Park, a strip of John Nash terraced houses has been converted into millionaires pads with price tags of up to £45m. During Frieze, one mansion has been turned into a temporary gallery of works from private collections in a show called the House of the Nobleman. Pictured here is a Yves Klein sculpture on Fredrickson Stallard table

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

(Image credit: TBC)

Damien Hirst 'Who's Afraid of Red Yellow and Blue' at The House of the Nobleman exhibition

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled by Ahmed Alsoudani, on show at the Haunch of Venison in Mayfair

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

(Image credit: TBC)

Untitled by Ahmed Alsoudani, on show at the Haunch of Venison

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled by Ahmed Alsoudani, on show at the Haunch of Venison

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

(Image credit: Peter Mallet)

Untitled (brown) from the 'Hostage' series by Alex Hoda at 20 Projects

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Untitled (plum) from the 'Hostage' series by Alex Hoda at 20 Projects
Peter Mallet

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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The Wendy Mayer piece at the Future Can Wait show in Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, has been purchased by Charles Saatchi

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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The White Cube chose Frieze week to launch its third London gallery in a 1970s warehouse on Bermondsey Street. Retrofitted by Casper Mueller Kneer Architects, the building's 780sq m South Galleries opens with ‘Structure & Absence', a group show that uses the Chinese concept of a scholar's rock as a motif. It features several veterans of White Cube and Frieze alike: Andreas Gursky, Brice Marden, Sterling Ruby, Gabriel Orozco and Damien Hirst
courtesy of White Cube

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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In Room I, Gary Hume's 'Pink Brown Smoke' paintings flank his 'Green and Green Brown Smoke' on one wall. On the far wall are works by Sterling Ruby. Pedestals in the centre of the space feature two scholar's rocks
courtesy of White Cube

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Berlin-based artist Kitty Kraus shows her installation of mirrored light boxes as part of ‘Inside the White Cube', an exhibit located in White Cube Bermondsey's North Galleries
courtesy of White Cube

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

(Image credit: Ben Westoby)

Colour field paintings with digital-print overlays by Romanian-born artist Marieta Chirulescu, also shown as part of 'Inside the White Cube'
courtesy of White Cube

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London

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Thomas Dane's new, raw space at 3 Duke Street, a minute's walk from his original gallery at number 11, has also launched during Frieze, inaugurated by the monochrome works by Albert Oehlen. The house in St James', London, was entirely redesigned by architect David Kohn

Frieze Art Fair 2011, London


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Oehlen's exhibition of large-scale drawings, 'Painthing on the Möve', runs until 19 November

Emma O'Kelly

Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025. 

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