The 2014 edition of Frieze London has begun, swinging its doors open to VIPs this morning at 10 a.m. in Regent’s Park. It runs through Saturday. By noon the aisles were thick with people, on the hunt for a new artwork, an old friend, or just a plate of sushi. Some people say that all art fairs are the same, and I often agree, but amidst their monotony (the same aisles, the same people), there are always surprises—fresh galleries, restaurants, and yes, art.
Below, a look around the fair, with more updates to come throughout today and tomorrow.
Regent’s Park this morning.
Andrew Kreps of New York, with a Goshka Macuga wall piece and new Darren Bader works on the floor—among them an axe with sugar and a jack-o’-lantern bearing a rubber-band ball.
New Sarah Crowners on the back wall of Brussels’s Catherine Bastide gallery.
Who knew that experimental filmmaker Paul Sharits’s drawings were so sexy? I did not. Greene Naftali did.
Remarkable, rich sandwiches at Gail’s Kitchen.
Wolfgang Tillmans at David Zwirner.
A Carl Andre at Berlin’s Konrad Fischer.
The Gap Lounge was popping.
T-shirts for sale in the Gap Lounge.
Friends (2013), at right, by Martin Creed, at Munich’s Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle.
The VIP room, rich with a Caravan coffee and food stand and a Moshi sushi restaurant.
Dancers prepare for the ballet performances that Nick Mauss has planned to run throughout the fair.
Oscar Tuazon at Standard (Oslo).
Gelato at a pop-up version of London’s ever-popular Bocca di Lupo eatery.
Three new Jordan Wolfsons at Sadie Coles HQ, of London.
The Cobra comeback is building steam. Why not get on board now? Here’s a 1964 Karel Appel at Blum & Poe.
A stunning new
The most popular show with the kids? Carsten Höller’s trippy playground, complete with a giant mushroom, a die-shaped playland, and a mysterious octopus. Legalese on the side of the booth warns that parents and children play at their own risk.
Always smart to bring furniture that is also an artwork: these are by Sarah Lucas, and popped up last year at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh.
At Salon 94, The Smile Face Museum, a project by curator Mark Sachs and artist Adrienne Garbini, with works by Dan McCarthy, Marilyn Minter, Nate Lowman, and others.
At Ropac, of Paris and Salzburg, a fine suite of Alex Katz’s 1996 ‘Women in Jackets’ paintings.
Morag Keil of Real Fine Arts.
Yes! New Xylor Janes at Canada.
Vern Blosums at left and a new piece by the excellent Park McArthur, a series of street signs sans text.
Villa Design Group at Berlin’s Mathew gallery. All-out, full-booth installations were out in force in the emerging-art Focus section.
Morag Keil’s Cuddlies.
Sol Calero’s Ciber Café (2014) at London’s Laura Bartlett Gallery.
A funk arms race is on among fast-rising young photographers. Elad Lassry ups the stakes at New York’s 303 Gallery.
Anton Kern showed up with wildly impressive new beaded Tabwa masks from the Zaire-Zambia border.
Donelle Woolford ‘Dick Joke’ paintings and sculptures by Nancy Lupo at Wallspace, of New York.
Supreme European cool at dépendance of Brussels: Merlin Carpenter, Jana Euler, and—what’s that?—a Gerhard Richter grey painting.
New York’s Bureau gallery.
New Yorker’s P! and Simone Subal collabed on a Focus booth showing a new rope drawing by Brian O’Doherty. Feels ridiculous to look at a JPEG of the piece. It’s a delicate thing. Swing over and have a look.
Berlin’s Société gallery stocked its booth with Bill Hayden, Sean Raspet and Ned Vena.
A mysterious, scrappy special project by Tobias Madison.
Lisson give three artists free rein in their booth—Ryan Gander (who is responsible for the sculpture), Cory Arcangel (the gradient floor), and the ever dependable Joyce Pensato (the scrappy Mickey painting).
Works by A.K. Burns and Ulrike Müller at Callicoon Fine Arts, of New York’s Lower East Side. Also here: four new paintings by Sadie Benning, just out of view.
Office Baroque, of Brussels.
London’s Carlos/Ishikawa gallery devoted its Focus booth to a scrappy mix of work by Korakrit Arunanondchai, Ed Fornieles, and Oscar Murillo.
