LONDON & FRIEZE ART FAIR 2014

I found Frieze fair last year very inspiring, and therefore I thought I would go again this year. Below are the artworks and artists I found most interesting and relevant to my project.

Jurgen Drescher, Yorgan 2012. Epoxy resin, pigment. (138 x 98 x 5xm)

Jurgen Drescher, Speech Bubble XII, 2014. acrystal, 24 carat, gold-plated. (120x140x60cm)

Of course I was attracted to metallics and extra ordinary objects throughout the fair. The gold plated speech bubble (top right) is obviously a material I could never use in my own practise, however I would like to experiment creating a similar looking material. Yorgan, 2012 looks like a soft quilted material , but by adding this epoxy resin it has lifted it's power. 

Tomas Saraceno. NGC 5892, 2013. Metal, mirror panels polyester rope, fishing like, steel thread, glue. (110 x 140 x 106cm). 

Thomas Demand. Hanami, 2014. UV print on nonwoven wallpaper. 

I loved this sculpture by Tomas Saraceno. The mirror, the composition, the use of 'found' objects. It's just a bit more out there than usual art. The detailing in the fishing like is also pretty spectacular. It works so well in composition with the UV print behind by Thomas Demand. They help lift eachothers appearance. The bright florals work to reflect on the mirror sculpture and can be seen though parts of the sculpture. 

Haegue Yang. Sonic Rotating Geometry Type G- Brass and Nickel Plated #34, 2014. Steel sheet, powder coating, ball bearings, metal grid, brass plated bells, nickel plated bells and metal rings. (91 x 95 x 8cm)

So I instantly thought about how Yang used found objects that were perhaps already shiny, and thought back to what Medina said about trying to find objects that were already shiny and using them in some way. I think things like bells, ball bearings etc would be a good approach to start experimenting with. 

Damien Hirst. Berlin. 2014. Scalpel blades, skin graft blades, zips, stitching needles, aluminum filings, stainless steel studs and gloss paint on canvas. 182.9 x 274.3cm.

The precision is aesthetically immaculate and of course the materials used relate perfectly to my own project. I will try and work with some of the materials used here in my own project. 

Kibong Rhee. About all of the places passing by, 2014. Plexiglas, acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 120.5 x 120.5 cm.

This is the first painting in a very very long time that I have been truly inspired by. The ethereal aura of it just takes you away. It really is a remarkable piece and restored my love for painting. For my painting elective, I want to do a painting in this style - it's just so detailed, but not too detailed. It doesn't give away too much- it leaves so much to the mind to interpret. 

Mark Hagen. A parliament of some things. Almine Rech Gallery, London.

I really liked the detailing around the edges of the canvas- this sort of squeegee effect in colour works so well against the holographic greys of the paintings. 

Edith Dekyndt, Untitled, Gold Blanket L, 2012, gold leaf on blanket, 268 × 62 cm

Perfect. Material. Gold. Need. Want. Desire. Must re-create. I could make a garment from this, and it would be pretty cool. 

Jesse Wine. Boyfriend's classics I 2014. Glazed ceramic. 13 x 35 x 30 cm.

Ceramic shoes! Yes, this is what I wanted to see. But I would have personally cast them in some sort of silver or gold material... Still pretty good attempt at recreating a garment for aesthetics.

Fiona Rae. Figure 1b. 2014. Oil and Acrylic on canvas. 

I really liked the mixture of forms in this painting. The way they background is precise, the brush strokes are fluid and the colour works great together. It is a really great piece.

A.K. Burns.

"A.K. Burns ladles molten aluminium into sand moulds of castoff button down work shirts and t-shirts to produce a series of mono-print reliefs. The results are silvery indexes of the blue collar uniform worn by labours and artists alike. The shirts mark an economic shift from the industrial labour of the body to immaterial and affective labour of advanced capitalism."- Callicoon Fine Arts, Frieze London Booth J 11. 

DID I REALLY JUST SEE THIS. Literally the epitome of my art practise. Probably the most inspirational collection I will see all year. This ticks all the boxes. It is precise, original, and has economical/ consumeristic themes. At first I thought they were just clothes themselves spray painted, but they are infact casts. 

While walking around Frieze I found myself asking 'what does that mean' about the pieces that depict things- or paintings that I didn't like. I think that's because if something is not aesthetically pleasing to me, it needs to have some other sort of value or meaning behind it to give it that value. Whereas the seductive sculptures and paintings I was attracted to didn't need an explanation- just their beauty was enough.