LONDON.- The 16th edition of Frieze London closed on Sunday 7 October, having brought together ambitious presentations by 160 international galleries in The Regent’s Park. A new two-day Preview as well as expanded VIP programming into the weekend, resulted in record attendance of top tier collectors from the United States to South America, Europe and Asia, and sales being made throughout the week.

Indicative of the fair’s convening power, Frieze London 2018 saw an increase in museum presence, including strong representation from international institutions. The inaugural Camden Arts Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze was launched, alongside the return of two major acquisition funds with Tate and Contemporary Art Society, demonstrating Frieze’s long-standing collaboration with leading institutions. Also new for 2018, the Frieze Debate brought together a panel of global museum directors for a free live event and recorded broadcast, in collaboration with BBC Radio 3.

Victoria Siddall (Director, Frieze Fairs) said: ‘The atmosphere in London this week has been phenomenal and the city has been packed with people from all over the world, drawn here by the fantastic exhibitions in museums and galleries as well as by the fairs themselves. This translated into substantial sales across all sections of Frieze London and Frieze Masters and throughout the entire week. I’m thrilled that Frieze Week in London continues to be a key destination for collecting institutions and major collectors from around the world and that this year it has been busier than ever. Cultural leaders have commended the significance and contemporary relevance of our themed and curated sections and programmes that celebrate and support the participation of an incredibly broad range of galleries and artists. It has been a fantastic week and one that shows London at its best, as a global centre for culture and the market.’

Jo Stella-Sawicka (Artistic Director, Frieze London) said: ‘I’m elated by the success of the Frieze London programming this year, which has been shaped by innovative curators and engagement with today’s most urgent questions. I’m thrilled that major institutions, from the UK Tate Collection to Istanbul Modern, bought works from Social Work and Focus. I’m also delighted with the Contemporary Art Society’s acquisitions, which support two of today’s most forward-thinking artists in the founding of a new public collection for all to enjoy. New collaborations with the Camden Arts Centre and the BBC, further establish the role of Frieze’s programming in supporting the wider cultural landscape. The Frieze Artist Award continues to be a fantastic opportunity for an emerging artist to reach international audiences; and Live and Film, enable galleries and artists to show more experimental works beyond the stand walls, as well as ignite conversations across cultures and disciplines.

Robust Sales At All Levels
Galleries at all levels of the market saw robust sales across the week, across the fair’s main and specially curated sections, with artworks being placed in major private collections and international institutions.

Select highlights include: Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac sale of works by Georg Baselitz for EUR 800,000 and an Antony Gormley for GDP 350,000; Hauser & Wirth’s sale of three works by Günther Förg with prices beginning at EUR 350,000 each; David Zwirner sold all the female artists brought to the fair in the first few hours including two works by Carol Bove in the range of USD 350,000-750,000 and by Lisa Yuskavage for USD 900,000. Timothy Taylor sold out its solo presentation of new paintings by Eddie Martinez in the first hour of the fair opening for USD 90,000 each. David Kordansky Gallery sold all works by Calvin Marcus in the range of USD 18,000 - 38,000. In the Focus section, winner of the Focus Stand Prize, blank, sold out their booth by the end of Wednesday with prices ranging between GBP 5,000-13,000; and Los Angeles’s Various Small Fires sold paintings by Julie Curtiss at USD 10,000 each to a Korean foundation and M WOODS, Beijing. Institutional interest in the Social Work section included Weiss Berlin’s sale of a Faith Ringgold tapestry to a museum in the range of USD 160,000-500,000; and Istanbul Modern’s purchase of multiple works by Ipek Duben at Pi Artworks. The Tate Collection acquisitions also included a seminal artwork by Sonia Boyce from Apalazogallery.

Comments
Michael Bloomberg, writing for the Evening Standard, said: ‘The Frieze Art Fair is back again in London, transforming Regent’s Park into the world’s capital of creativity. This week, the value of art, both fiscal and cultural, is on full display at the Frieze Art Fair. So if you’re in London pay Regent’s Park a visit. You may think some of it is brilliant and some it is, well, not so brilliant. Either way, you’ll be supporting people who are not only making valuable artistic contributions but important civic ones, too.’

Museums and Curators
Frieze London 2018 welcomed more than 235 groups from institutions around the world – including a marked increase in attendance from Asia and the Americas – cementing the fair’s position as a vital platform for discovery, engagement and acquisition.

Groups attended included trustees and patron groups from Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA Chicago), Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), Fosun Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), M+ Museum Hong Kong, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Indonesia (MACAN), M Woods Beijing, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Para Site, National Gallery of Prague, Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul, and Walker Art Center.

Museum directors and curators who attended include: Melissa Chiu (The Hirschhorn Museum), Lynne Cooke (National Gallery of Art, Washington DC), Thelma Golden (The Studio Museum in Harlem), Michael Govan (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Jessica Morgan (Dia Art Foundation), Lisa Phillips (New Museum of Contemporary Art), Pavel Pys (Walker Art Centre), Suhanya Raffel (M+ Hong Kong), Aaron Seeto (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Indonesia), Anne Ellegood (Hammer Museum) and Francesco Stocchi (Boijmans Museum).

Alex Gartenfeld, Artistic Director, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICAMiami) said: ‘The Focus section, dedicated to young galleries, was strong this year and represented a portfolio of important global positions. Frieze Sculpture also highlighted vital and activist voices. And of course, the fair was complemented by a brilliant range of museum exhibitions ranging from early renaissance to the contemporary.’

Museum Collaborations
In 2018, Frieze partnered with two major acquisition funds for national museums: the Frieze Tate Fund, supported by Endeavor, returned for its 16th consecutive year alongside the third edition of the Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund at Frieze, which supports a regional museum in the UK and will this year benefit The Box (Plymouth). In addition, the 2018 saw the launch of the inaugural Camden Arts Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze, awarded to an artist in the Focus section of the fair.