Frieze Fair lighthouse of the art week 2018 in London.

Frieze Art Fair London 2018 © Frieze

Frieze London Art Fair 2018 closed with great success. The Frieze Fair 2018 showed 160 international art galleries at its usual location in Regent’s Park, London.

Frieze Art Fair London 2018 presented a new two-day preview as well as expanded VIP programming into the weekend, resulted in record attendance of top tier collectors from the all over the world, including international institutions together with museums.

For the first time ever the Camden Arts Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze was launched, alongside the return of two major acquisition funds with Tate and Contemporary Art Society.

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.

Frieze London is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank for the fifteenth consecutive year.

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.

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

The 2018 Frieze London edition partnered for the launch of the inaugural Camden Arts Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze a major fund for national museums – awarded in the Focus section of the fair to Wong Ping (Edouard Malingue, Focus). Ping will realize a major exhibition at Camden Arts Centre within the next 18 months. The Prize was selected by a panel chaired by Martin Clark, (Director, Camden Art Centre), with Gina Buenfeld, Sophie Williamson (both Programme Curators, Exhibitions, Camden Art Centre) and Joe Hill (Director, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne). A group of UK and international patrons have generously supported the Prize. These influential supporters share an interest in supporting the work of emerging artists and the economy of younger galleries within the contemporary art scene.

In 2018, Frieze partnered also with funds for national museums: the Frieze Tate Fund, supported by Endeavor, returned for its 16^th 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 this year will support The Box (Plymouth). The 2018 Frieze Tate Fund, supported by Endeavor, acquired works from Frieze London by the following artists as gifts to the Tate collection: Sonia Boyce from Apalazzo in the new themed section Social Work; Giorgio Griffa from Galleria Lorcan O’Neill in the main section; Claudette Johnson from Hollybush Gardens in the main section; and Johanna Unzueta from Proyectos Ultravioleta in the Focus section.

The Contemporary Art Society has acquired Kehinde Wiley’s first film installation and two works – a cloak and mask

Frieze Art Fair London 2018 © Frieze

that relate to the performance practice of Zadie Xa, who has a solo stand in the Focus section of the fair. Both works will be donated to The Box, Plymouth, a new museum and art gallery opening in 2020 that brings together six of the city’s collections into one venue.

Frieze London 2018 presented two awards – the Frieze Stand Prize and the Focus Stand Prize – confirming outstanding gallery presentations across the fair. The Frieze Stand Prize, which recognises an exceptional gallery presentation in the main or Social Work section at Frieze London, was awarded to Sprüth Magers (Berlin/London/Los Angeles), whose presentation at Frieze London included works by Thomas Demand, Jenny Holzer, Marcel van Eeden and Kaari Upson. This year’s jurors included: Francesco Stocchi (Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, Boijmans Museum); Anne Ellegood (Senior Curator, Hammer Museum); and Katrina Brown, (Director, The Common Guild). Jurors commented that Sprüth Magers was ‘inventive with their use of space and created an absorbing environment that places the works in dialogue with each other, while also highlighting the significance of each individual piece’, and that the presentation ‘brings together four distinct artists in unexpected harmony.’

The Focus Stand Prize, recognizing an outstanding gallery presentation in the Focus section, was awarded to blank (Cape Town). This year’s Focus Prize jury included: Margot Norton (Curator, New Museum and co-curator of New Museum Triennial in 2021), Victor Wang (independent curator) and Christina Lehnert (Curator, Portikus Frankfurt). Jurors commented that that blank’s presentation ‘highlighted the strength of each individual artist’ working in a variety of mediums, but also brought them together in a way that is both ‘dynamic’ and ‘complimentary’. They were also impressed by the level of context offered by the gallery about the works on view.

The Frieze Art Fair 2018 was running from 3th (preview) to 7th October in Regent’s Park, London.