Frieze 2014 was another triumph (Frieze Art London – part one.)

David Franchi – Monday, 27th October 2014.

Once again Frieze Fairs were successful, at Regent’s Park, London. The 3rd week of October is an unmissable appointment to visit Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters in London, although there are many other fairs at the same time. This week is the London Art Week par excellence and lovers, fans and supporters have to run around London to cope with it.

The 12th edition of Frieze Art London brought together over 160 of the world’s leading contemporary galleries from 25 territories, under one roof with visitor numbers in the region of 60,000 during the five days of the fair. This year also saw the introduction of ‘Live’, a new section sponsored by Alexander McQueen and committed to ruthless performance-based installations, located throughout the fair.

Frieze Art London is one of the world’s leading contemporary art fairs. Every October, it brings an international art audience to London. For the third year, Frieze London coincided with Frieze Masters, a fair that gives a contemporary perspective on historical art, which also takes place in Regent’s Park, London. Together the two fairs attract an incomparable range of artworks and artists, together with a significant international art public and it benefit from a crossover between visitors of contemporary and historical art.

The London-based creative consultancy Universal Design Studio was the architectural team for Frieze London 2014. It created new interiors and lighting for the 2014 edition of the fair, with a new layout that radically altered the fair experience for exhibitors and visitors alike. Universal Design Studio was founded in 2001 by Edward Barber, OBE and Jay Osgerby, OBE to focus on architecture and interiors, building upon their award-winning product and furniture design portfolio.

Frieze Projects at Frieze Art London 2014 brought together seven new commissions, realised both at the fair and in a number of offsite locations around the city. Curated by Nicola Lees, Frieze Projects is the programme of artist commissions that takes place annually at Frieze London, and this year had a focus on artists whose works interconnect with other disciplines including dance, film and music. The collaborations born between institutions of London lead to productions that have arisen attention to the cultural network of the city.

This year Frieze Film has commissioned Cally Spooner to make a project that was screened in the auditorium at Frieze London 2014. Established in 2007, Frieze Film is a series of new artist films screened annually at Frieze London. Frieze Film 2014 is curated by Nicola Lees, as part of Frieze Projects, the fair’s acclaimed not-for-profit programme.

The winner of the inaugural Frieze Artist Award was Mélanie Matranga. The Frieze Artist Award allows an emerging artist to realise a major project at Frieze London as part of the critically acclaimed Frieze Projects programme. For Frieze London 2014, Matranga creates a series of online videos that follow a young artistic couple as they negotiate ‘freedom, success and the proper functioning of a couple.’ The episodes will be filmed during the construction of Frieze London in Regent’s Park, including a purpose-built café, which Matranga has designed for use by visitors. The narrative structure of the video focuses on the simultaneous building of both the couple’s relationship and the set of the café itself. By bringing together these two storylines, the project looks at the coming together of emotional and monetary trade economies. Each three- to five-minute episode is co-directed by Valentin Bouré and broadcast online.

Victoria Siddall has been appointed as Director of Frieze London and Frieze New York in addition to her existing position as Director of Frieze Masters. Founders of Frieze, Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, focused on developing new projects for the organization. Victoria will start her new role from Frieze London 2015 onwards. Supporting her in the development of the art fairs will be two Artistic Directors, one based in London and one in New York.

Frieze Art London 2014 was sponsored by Deutsche Bank for the 11th consecutive year.

Together with Frieze Masters 2014, the two fairs are the focal point of a season of significant exhibitions and art-related activities across London.

Frieze Art London 2014 took place from 15th until 18th October 2014 in Regent’s Park, London.