Frieze London artistic director Eva Langret has said the UK's position as the world's second-largest art market depends on the year-round community of artists, galleries and institutions, not just the week of the fair each October.
Writing in a comment piece, Langret said collectors and international galleries take over Regent's Park every October, but what makes London matter is who stays all year. London's galleries connect the UK to artists and collectors across the globe, and its museums, many of them free, put collections within everyone's reach.
Artists building careers in London
Langret cited several artists in this issue who studied in London and are building their careers there. George Rouy came from Sittingbourne to study at Camberwell College of Art in 2012; his canvases of contorted, ambiguous bodies are now shown by Hauser & Wirth. Alex Margo Arden began working with her gallerist, Freddie Powell, when Ginny on Frederick was still a curatorial project in a sandwich shop.
Last year, that partnership brought Arden to Frieze London's Focus section with an installation of decommissioned mannequins from the National Motor Museum. It won the inaugural Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation Prize, and her work is now on view at the Foundation in Chelsea until January.
No single London style
Okiki Akinfe and Hettie Inniss were both born in London in 1999, studied at the Royal College of Art and are building their careers in the city. Rene Matić came to Central Saint Martins and, five years after graduating, was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings studied at Goldsmiths, while Marcus Jefferson draws on his upbringing in north-west London, and Ella Fleck uses scent, sound and installation to investigate desire and technology.
Langret said there is no single London style. The city's strength lies in the meeting of different histories, cultures and ways of thinking.
Practical support needed
That freedom needs practical support, she wrote: a studio you can afford, time to develop your work, and a gallery willing to take a chance. Rising costs and the expense of art education make those possibilities harder to access.
Frieze brings international collectors and curators into contact with that year-round scene. The Focus section, for galleries operating for 12 years or fewer, is placed at the entrance because discovery should be at the heart of what Frieze does. Arden's prize-winning installation is now in the Arts Council Collection, while the Contemporary Art Society's Collections Fund at Frieze celebrates ten years of acquiring work for museums from Middlesbrough to Plymouth.
Langret urged visitors to carry some of that curiosity and commitment into the rest of the year, to visit exhibitions and support the spaces that take a chance on emerging artists.
