Fresh From Frieze: October 16th
Wednesday, October 16th was an incredibly intense day with another interview—this time with Channel 4 news. It seemed to go all right but when we watched the show, it became clear that for most people, it’s the prices that art commands that has become the focus of attention which - for an artist like me - is quite depressing. I work so hard in my studio to forge images that have meaning quite apart from their price tag that it is difficult to deal with the fact that art fairs—even those with a high level of quality like Frieze Masters—are ultimately seen as department stores.
There were some exciting moments yesterday like our lunch meeting with Adriano Pedrosa where we discussed the challenge of creating an alternative to the white, male Eurocentric narrative that has dominated art history for too many years or touring Nicholas Serota (the director of the Tate) through my show. I particularly enjoyed discussing the “Mary Wollstonecraft” gridded runner drawing which still has my color notations, used by the needleworkers in translating my images into thread. It was also fun to see Glenn Phillips who was one of the curators of the Getty’s “Pacific Standard Time” show and performance festival. And we had drinks with two young art dealers from Milan who are organizing a show of women artists in January to which they have invited me which will be the first time I’ve shown in Italy.
Tonight is the opening of “Multiplied”, the Christie’s print fair which will feature my new print series, “A Retrospective in a Box”, seven lithographs surveying my career that took five years to complete. We’re also going to try and go by Frieze which is in a different area of Regent’s Park than Frieze Masters. Who knows? Perhaps we will see some art that will restore my faith in art’s capacity to transcend the marketplace mentality that too often masks the true purpose of art which is to help us perceive and understand the world in which we live.
If we see something noteworthy today, we’ll write about it. Otherwise, this will be our last post; thanks to Artsy for inviting us to share our adventure in London. It’s almost time to go home.
