From October 6 – 9 one of the world’s biggest art fairs, Frieze London, took place in the UK capitol. While the market wasn’t as strong as in other years, female artists fared generally well. Whether this is resulting from the higher visibility of women’ rights in the media or due to the fact that work by female artists are still typically priced lower than well-known white male artists, it is still a mark of solid progress in the art world and a shift in cultural consciousness.
One of the week’s most talked about booths was that of New York City’s P.P.O.W. The gallery featured different generations of female artists including Portia Munson, Carolee Schneeman, Aurel Schmidt, Betty Tompkins, Carrie Mae Weems, and Erin M. Riley who was recently featured in The Untitled Space’s group exhibition, “SELF REFLECTION.” The audience favorite of P.P.O.W.’s offerings came courtesy of Munson who created Pink Project: Table, a collection of hundreds of objects in the various shades of a very gendered pink. Several editions of photos of Pink Project sold for $15,000 each.
Over at Ghebaly’s booth, work by the late Channa Hortwitz was spotlighted. At least four pieces sold by the artist in the range of $20,000 – $50,000. A nearby booth, by Stevenson Gallery, of Cape Town and Johannesburg, had opening day success with the work of Penny Siopsis. Her multi-media piece, World’s Edge sold for around $60,000.
Several galleries at Frieze Masters also highlighted women artists. At Alan Cristea Gallery, the booth featured a solo presentation of prints by Anni Albers who was the first female weaver to have a solo show in the MoMA. Sperone Westwater, also at Masters, chose to use Susan Rothenberg’s 1974 painting, Dos Equis, as the center piece of their booth.
Other must see exhibits at Frieze included Shahzia Sikander’s 2016 video animation, Singing Suns at Pilar Corrias Gallery, paired with a balloon installation by Philippe Pareno and Celia Hampton’s paintings at Southard Reid, Hampton’s large scale renderings of male genitalia gives new meaning to the term “dick pic.” For the young & hip, Galerie Daniel Buchholz’s booth was a definite stop. The gallery recreated a 1993 show of the 1990s imagery that inspired Wolfgang Tillmans and placed it next to his early work for i-D Magazine.
Figures courtesy of Artsy.
