Yesterday morning, on the first regular (non-VIP) open day of Frieze London 2022. I was among the first visitors to enter the gigantic premises, which will welcome art aficionados until this Sunday, 16 October. HOUSE-KEEPING Unless you see a reference to the artwork discussed in the caption below the picture, the pictures are not related to that particular section of the blog post. I basically took a lot of pictures of random artwork before I sat down and wrote this article. GIGANTIC IN SIZE As in previous years, the size of this art fair is simply breath-taking and at times intimidating. How on earth would a mere mortal with other tasks such as working, eating, breathing, and sleeping on their plate, ever be able to even only briefly eyeball all artworks. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE Luckily, as everybody knows, there are three exceptions to the day-time drinking ban: airports, family […]

A few hours into my Frieze safari, earlier today, I was getting a tad tired, when suddenly something grabbed my attention. Right in front of me, there was a young gentleman, no older than in his very early twenties, dressed up like staff from Facilities. Neon-coloured hoodie with reflector bands on it. Baseball cap. He was attaching a piece of artwork to the wall, as well as a small caption. It read: “Oil Painting, Used fish and chip paper on wooden stretcher, Dion Kitson, signed on reverse, £26,000.”     Perhaps a bit of a steep price for what it was? A Dion Kitson? Something else didn’t feel right. Why a solitary piece of art on this otherwise art-free, rather narrow corridor wall? Furthermore, the good man seemed apprehensive, was looking over his shoulder, avoided eye contact, and soon appeared to be on a pretend-phone call on his mobile.   […]

I just visited Antoni Tapies, Alchemy, at Nahmad Projects, which opened at its Cork Street, Mayfair, venue, day before yesterday. It will run until 9 December. A long time ago, I used to live in Barcelona for just under a year. During that time, I stopped by the , at least once a month. I had fallen in love with Tapies’s art in secondary school. Back then, I simply enjoyed the mostly large-scale works for their textures, materials, colours and cool vibes. If anything, I found Tapies’s art decorative. In a similar way to how I find much of Anselm Kiefer’s, Joseph Beuys’s, or Alberto Giacometti’s work decorative.     “When we paint, a kind of magic happens. The simple materials we paint with become something else. From earth and dust, we extract an essence. Dreams become concrete. The ordinary is made sublime. We turn the crude into the ideal. […]