Overheard: Around the Fair

Overheard: Around the Fair

Photo by David Grosz

At White Cube's booth: Gianni Motti, "Pre-emptive Act" (2007)

Frieze Art Fair 2007

On-the-Ground Reports from Frieze and the Satellite Fairs

Tubes, Taxis, and Shanks's Pony
An Ex-Londoner's Guide to Getting Around the Fairs

Thinking Outside the Booths
Art Events to Consider When Fair Fatigue Sets In

When in London…
Culture+Travel recommends where to stay, what to see, where to play, what to eat

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Unfazed Americans

One might think that with the dollar at an all-time low against the pound, American collectors might shy away from London. Wrong. They're out in force. Miami collector Dennis Scholl said he had seen all his American friends, and a few new faces. Indeed, making the rounds were Jerome Stern, Susan and Michael Hort, the ubiquitous Mera and Donald Rubell, Beth Rudin de Woody, Howard Rachofsky, and, spotted snacking at the Frieze cafe, Peter Brant and his wife, model Stephanie Seymour.

Bomb Shelter

Is Christoph Buchel angry over how the whole Mass MoCA debacle ended? Let’s hope not—or he might just follow his own rather incendiary instructions. At the booth of Zurich- and London-based gallery Hauser and Wirth, the artist is showing his newest work, a video mounted on a trolley that shows instructions on how to make a bomb, easily available (hey, what isn’t these days?) over the internet.

Frieze Frame

What’s so good about the Frieze fair, anyhow? We asked a few collectors. According to Rachofsky, “I like this fair because you have time to meet and visit with people. I don’t see this just as a shopping trip.” Scholl says he likes the fair’s “edgy and youthful” spirit. “People are willing to take risks here and do brave things,” he says. He had been shopping at artist Rob Pruitt’s flea market at Gavin Brown’s booth, and bought a stamp by Yoko Ono for a pound. (That’s $2!)

Whitney Acquisition?

Also spending a pound at Pruitt’s flea market was none other than Whitney director Adam Weinberg, who gamely admitted that by law he has to offer to the museum any art purchase he makes. Ironically, he had purchased a button from the collection of Ann Collier that reads “There Are No Rules.”

The Latest Model

We also heard that supermodel Claudia Schiffer made a purchase from Pruitt’s store, and she wasn’t the only celebrity on hand. Also seen wandering the aisles was actress Heather Graham.

A Big Stretch

That policeman contorting his body into yoga positions near White Cube’s booth? Not a mirage. Italian artist Gianni Motti’s contribution to Frieze Projects is inspired by what he sees as the police’s response to terrorism—to relax, and to try to get others to do the same. He has taken this in something of a spiritual direction. He tells ARTINFO the piece was also inspired by the recent uprisings in Burma, where monks were protesting military rule.