I finally got the time and chance to attend this year’s Frieze in Regents Park to which I was greeted by an inviting piece of graffiti walking up from Great Portland Street. Too bad this wasn’t apart of the show .. or was it?!
The Review Inspiration ** Variety ** Mind Blowing *
The ‘modern artists’ that were there seemed dated and precious. Not to say that there weren’t any show stoppers but predominantly I wasn’t deeply moved nor inspired. I felt nothing as my eyes just hit the barrier of most canvases and completely disengaged. There was a quaint little plexiglass cube with toilet roll card inside…What happened? We live in 2011 and we still paint on canvas, draw on paper… is it really reflective of how we live today? I’m no fool – art is selfish and a slave to self expression but we are at the beginning of the next decade in the 21st Century! WTF happened? Art Curators YOU are responsible for some of this crap!
Some of the art work present had the appeal of that of the short attention span – which can be exciting if you document a journey through ADHD but that of a blank canvas of which there were at least three..SERIOUSLY!? The last time it was partially acceptable was that of…. wait …never. Personally, blank canvases can no longer be allowed to participate in any show – it’s fucking shit and let’s down collections. What is the point? Implode me with your rationale.
I get it – art has been in this sod it state for way too long, at least at big galleries and shows keep funneling it in. We are so comfortable to the point where art doesn’t have the weight it used to .. for most of it. Frankly, I’m bored with what’s been going on – Selfridges window displays fulfill my deep need for a crazy narrative of some kind…but there were some equally enthralling pieces that made the show for me.
One of my tutors at uni once said to me once, ” Inji, if you can make someone feel an emotion as they go through your work you’ve achieved something”.. and there were a few gems that just dragged you across the room asking to be laughed at and admired closely. Here are my favourites:
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Top 5 Pieces At Frieze
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1. Tattooed Sculpture of a Man. The detail on this was ridiculous and intricate. The narrative followed through with with swarms of people circulating and trying to put the pieces of this man together as told through tattoo.
2. Approprietly titled: My Motherland can Fuck Your Fatherland by William N. Copley – This couldn’t be more appropriate today as it was conceived back in 1975.
3. Marxist Disco Cancelled – Need I say more?
4. Hobo Hallucinations – This was pretty mesmerizing to walk towards, the colours were so vibrant with such a strange character taking center stage.
5. Gary Neil with this beast of a painting just drowning out Damian Hirst and gang all around.. I felt like a bee in a hive amongst the 20 other people just wanting to get a decent up close encounter.
Although these were just amazing in both content and execution…Is this really the way we should be expressing the way we live and see our 21st century existence?
We are constantly typing away at our laptops, desktops, keypads isolating ourselves from contact with other humans by putting headphones on catching up on a playlist, friends and 1000s of little icons that help us escape our commutes. We are selfishly interactive with technology – art can still move you – but why can’t you move it? Touch it ? Abuse it?
Interact ? A reaction from the art itself?
I just believe that there are otherways we can express the way we can see the world and how we interact with it…maybe this is one way… a little gem from
Yuri Suzuki.
