Opinion: Frieze Art Fair spells bad news for art | reviews, news & interviews
Opinion: Frieze Art Fair spells bad news for art
Opinion: Frieze Art Fair spells bad news for art
Sarah Kent argues that the success of Frieze now means commerce not creativity rules
Thursday, 14 October 2010
A defaced £20 note by Jake and Dinos Chapman: 'The cash may be flowing, but the cost is too high'
With the Frieze Art Fair now upon us, the only sane response for anyone interested in art is to leave London until the wretched event is over. Art fairs are for art what pimps are for virgins, to misquote Barnett Newman. The work, in other words, doesn’t stand a chance. And just as supermarkets don’t give shelf space to products for you to admire the packaging, art fairs don’t display work for you to look at and enjoy. In each case, the point is to purchase.
With the Frieze Art Fair now upon us, the only sane response for anyone interested in art is to leave London until the wretched event is over. Art fairs are for art what pimps are for virgins, to misquote Barnett Newman. The work, in other words, doesn’t stand a chance. And just as supermarkets don’t give shelf space to products for you to admire the packaging, art fairs don’t display work for you to look at and enjoy. In each case, the point is to purchase.
London has become like New York, full of smart galleries catering for rich collectors while the grass roots are dying
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