Courtesy David Zwirner Gallery, New York

Luc Tuymans, "Bouhouche" (2007)

January 2007 In Brief

The Wright Price

Comeback Kid Brother

Jose Maria Cano Luc Tuymans The State of Things: Brussels/Beijing / Center for Fine Arts Behind the Blur: Curator Helen Molesworth on Luc Tuymans Art Basel Conversation With Maria Baibakova 10 Tomes When in... Brussels

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Since it popped up in Regent’s Park in 2003, Frieze has branded itself as a place for cutting-edge contemporary art — unlike Art Basel and similar fairs that also feature modern work. But despite wares that are hot off the press, Frieze now resembles those big-name productions in gathering together well-heeled galleries selling high-priced items. Case in point: David Zwirner’s sale this year of Bouhouche, 2007, pictured at left, a new painting by Belgian artist Luc Tuymans, for a reported $1 million. Worse, some collectors, including Miami-based Dennis Scholl, felt that this edition’s participating dealers "played it a little safe," although Scholl was pleased to discover the charcoal drawings of Brooklyn-based artist Joyce Pensato at New York’s Friedrich Petzel gallery.

In contrast, the three-year-old Zoo — the longest standing among this year’s five satellite fairs, which included a first-timer from Paris-based Patrick Perrin that gathered 20 galleries devoted to design — was as untamed and pioneering as ever. A stellar lineup of 51 international dealers lured connoisseurs to brave the hours-long lines to enter Zoo’s brand-new venue, 6 Burlington Gardens — a.k.a. the back entrance to the Royal Academy — on a VIP day for select collectors and press. The fair’s final numbers were more than respectable, with total sales exceeding £2.8 million ($5.7 million), including the £22,000 ($45,100) paid for a painting by Spaniard Jose Maria Cano at London’s TI+2 Gallery, and attendance reaching 12,500. Scholl, who shopped at both Frieze and Zoo, shrugs off the somewhat cramped quarters: "It was a bit hard to look at things, so I just asked dealers to send me jpegs. Fairs don’t have to be about getting the work on the wall!"

"Frieze Reframed" originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's December 2007 Table of Contents.