And on it went, Part Five and on with the sheer bloodihellness or at least the bloodimindedness of it all, are you still with us? Do I need to point out you’re probably best starting with Part One, Two, Three and Four if you haven’t already or is this already today’s chip paper? On with it all, on from that excellent Aline Motta multi media experience, her powerful textiles, her emotion. On past a big red and black something, on past people as pieces of art, good to bump in to the piece of art that is “Living Sculpture” Daniel Lismore as we search for more…

What else? Well there’s a big typewriter painting on the outside wall of the Josh Lilley Gallery booth, a large Sam Messer oil painting (on a 100x132cm canvas), a piece from the now 70 year old New York artist called New Directions, a piece from this year that stood out a little. Jahmek Contemporary (from Luanda, Angola) certainly have an interesting approach, another gallery that is part of Frieze’s “new curated section explores the intergenerational dialogue between contemporary artists from Brazil, Africa and their diasporas” that was touched on back in Part Four with Aline Motta’s deliciously impressive installation. The Jahmek Contemporary booth features the work of Lilianne Kiame and Sandra Poulson (didn’t we mention her already?), both the art and what has been done with the art is strong, the installation, the paintings, the cardboard food/fruit boxes, a site specific conversation, I’m guessing the boxes are Sandra Poulson’s and the paintings on the wall those of Lilianne Kiame although I could well be wrong? There was something positively intriguing about the Jahmek Contemporary booth and the work within, the white doves. yet more to explore further. 

There’s another big painting, this time a painting hanging on the wall of the Garth Greenan booth, the New York gallery is showing a really (really) bold Mark Greenwold painting that dates from the early 70s – “Mark Greenwold is an American painter, born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1942, whose subjects often include figures in psychologically charged domestic interiors” – I must admit reaction does slightly change when you look at the label and see that that painting was actually painting by a man now in his eighth decade of life, and yes I do question why it should, and yes he did paint this one fifty years ago, it does ask a lot of questions – The artist recently said of an exhibition of new work opened back at the start of 2025 in the same New York Gallery that’s showing this piece here; “These are profoundly confusing and chaotic times. All bets are off. The centre does not hold. Civilization is dying and I find myself (much to my astonishment) an old man. So what is my new work about? Love, empathy, relationships, conflict and the tragedy and joys of Middle-class life…. These were my obsessions for almost sixty years of painting. But alas, I found in the last five years or so a strong desire to move away from these largely autobiographical concerns, to seek something broader than my personal travails of Job-like suffering…” I wonder why the gallery chose to bring this piece over rather than one of his recent pieces as shown in their gallery this year? Did I miss his newer work? maybe they did bring it?  No, looks like this painting Bright Promise (for Simon), an “early-1970s masterpiece of figurative realism” was the gallery’s choice. it is certainly an interesting painting, in many ways a rather excellent painting, in other ways maybe not? A painting surely of those times? Certainly an intensity painted piece of work, a painting that apparently took “five full years to complete”. Wonder what the dog was thinking? 

there’s a couple of paintings by New York artist Ryan Sullivan over there and there’s a rather powerful Shaqúelle Whyte painting in the Pippy Houldsworth booth (that looks like it has been acquired by Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery as a result of being here) and things are also rather interesting over in the Harlesden High Street booth where there’s some rather bold Toby Cato pieces.

East London’s Rose Easton Gallery have a nicely colour coordinated booth, right now the Bethnal Green gallery itself is a rather soothing shade of mauve (where there’s currently a rather decent Eva Gold exhibition happening), over at Frieze the Rose Easton space was all impressively cream and green and something called ‘Smoke Signals’, a solo presentation with Los-Angeles-based artist Jan Gatewood that revolves around a giant toy bear was happening. Did the bear distract from the pieces on the wall? Or was the bear the most interesting thing besides the green carpet? is the grass always greener over there? Are there any artists in East London?

Really not sure what was going on in the Luís Lázaro Matos/Madragoa (Lisbon) booth, it all looked a little cartoon throwaway? Not sure what was going on with Nicoletti again this year either (we have seen some rather strong shows in their various East London homes in recent years)  Sophie Tappeiner Gallery (Vienna) are showing more of the same rather interesting body of Jasmine Gregory work that we saw in East London at Soft Opening at the start of the week, showing it in the same piled up way. Actually the show currently at Soft Opening is probably the most interesting things that’s been in the gallery for a number of years, Jasmine Gregory ( borm1987 in Washington, D.C., now living and working in Zurich), her works, so she says (or Sophie Tappeiner Gallery say) “examines the systems that define value and legitimacy, and what happens when those systems break. Working in painting and installation, she uses language, abstraction, and strategies of display to interrogate the contracts – social, aesthetic, and economic – that shape wealth, property, and taste”. The constant ‘divorce’ motif and the identical way the paintings are present here at Frieze and over in East London is fascinating, more about the Soft Opening opening in a bit, we still need to take a look at this year’s Frieze East London day that included the Jasmine Gregory opening just off Hackney Road in the old Vilma Gold space that Soft Opening now call home. 

Reverence? What was that about, and that arse sticking out? Or the Hollywood Gypsies? Or the Daily Departmental Accident Record? Maybe Ginny on Frederick knows? Ginny on Frederick has something to do with the Accident Record and presenting Alex Margo Arden‘s use of “theatrical methodologies to examine how histories are produced, interpreted, restored, and restaged” at Frieze this year; “Based on a reconstructed accident reporting board from a film studio, this painting highlights the quiet memorials embedded in workplace safety tools. Originally used to track days lost to on-set injuries, such boards are both bureaucratic instruments and registers of risk, pain, and invisible labor. Behind every polished film scene lies a hidden toll – bodies under pressure, accidents, and time lost – making the board more than managerial: it becomes a marker of the human cost behind the spectacle” Hey hip young new breed of aloof London Galleries, stop using AI (or the big yellow bird of Sesame Street) to write your statements, there’s a bloody great big bleedin’ letter U in labour., stop dumbing it down.   

Ah look, we did go on, we caught a performance piece, we took in the Public Gallery booth (that is such a strange name for a gallery), dropped by the Gallery Artbeat space, had a look Margate’s Carl Freedman Gallery, once again some interesting work in the Carl Freedman space, a new series of ceramic works by Lindsey Mendick, a rather energetic Lola Stong-Brett painting and such. We went back to look at those two Faiza Butt paintings again, refreshed ourselves again with that absolutely gorgeous Katherine Bradford swimming pool painting and that series of beautifully coloured Ana Segovia  paintings before before retiring to the Green Man for the traditional yearly first day debrief and a healthy debate over an equally healthy pint or two of Guinness. 

The intention really was to come back before the weekend and explore some more, maybe start a fresh in some of the space with finished at on the first day and then the treat that is all the treasure the Masters, the pudding as it were, several big indulgent puddings at the weekend. Alas the bug, whatever this bug is, the art bug that everyone is sharing, the damn bug went and struck and wiped out the rest of Frieze week. (actually it forced me back into the studio, no bad thing possibly, some might well disagree). Really would have liked another day of exploring the main event but hey, well over five hours of properly really exploring the actual fair (actually looking rather than just standing around talking which does seem to be what a lot of people mostly do at these kind of things), I think I saw enough of the fair to voice a (mouthy) opinion or two didn’t I? Yes we did bump into a celebrity or two, we’re not really interested in that bit though, and yes, we did just get the press release about the money and the dealers and what sold and yes I know the money is really what Frieze is all about (lots and lots of sales apparently million dollar plus sales aplenty, one off pieces sold for eye-watering amounts. Alison Jacques relatively modestly sold multiple works across all five days of the Fair, ranging from $10,000 – $100,000 so I’m not really feeling as guilty as I was about the grabbing of that second can of pink gin as I was leaving her Cork Street opening last Tuesday night). Nah, let’s not read all that, let’s pretend the money isn’t what Frieze is about, let’s pretend it was about the art, about the people who actually make the actual art, that it wasn’t all about the men and women in suits and on phones or avoiding eye contact behind their laptops if your shoes don’t impress them enough.  

Yes, there was good art, of course there was, as we’ve already said, how could there possibly not be? Yes, frieze was a little more conservative this year than it was last year (we seemed to have said that for at least the last six or seven years in a row now), yes it did seem to lack that bit of buzz this year, yes there was too much art, yes it is obscene, yes you do wonder what some of the art is actually doing there? How the hell did that piece earn a space here? I maybe didn’t enjoy it as much this year, I maybe haven’t been enjoying art in general this year? I’m certainly not that excited about the London Art Scene as I maybe once was. Yes, I did see more than enough to make it worth the time and effort, to make me want to go and explore an artist or two a little more as a result, yes, there was art that excited, that asked questions, that occasionally annoyed, that demanded conversations, that demanded more than time allowed. it wasn’t the best Frieze, it was even more conservative, if didn’t really buzz, neither did the week, did anything get anywhere near challenging Frieze this year? Did anyone even try? Is it even possible,  these days? Like we asked in that Brandon Ndife review way back at the start of this whole Frieze Week episode, where are those car park shows now? That big thing that happened in Dockland one year? Where’s the next Play? Is an overcrowded  group show of miniatures on the side of a canal boat the best anyone can offer? I mean CanalBoat Contemporary has been rewarding through the Summer but is an overcrowded group show of minatures on the side of a canal boat really it? We’ll probably be along in a minute with the obigatory (now traditional?) Frieze Week Top Ten. First that excellent David Hepher show that opened in Cork Street the day before the Fair itself, now David Hepher’s big concrete paintings really are exciting things to see, that big show of his back in February remains a highlight of this year… (sw)

Previously…

ORGAN: Frieze week – The Fair itself Part One; in via The Pit and Viola Frey, a gorgeous Katherine Bradford painting, the colour of Ana Segovia, Faiza Butt, llana Harris-Babou, the first hour and a bit…

ORGAN: Frieze week – The Fair itself Part Two; heading towards Amitesh Shrivastava’s powerful Backyard, via Matthias Weischer, Anna Ruth, those No Nose tributes under the bed frame and are we having fun yet?

ORGAN: Frieze week – The Fair itself Part Three; Lauren Halsey brings a bit of attitude, a bit of a challenge, a bit of bite. Good to see a wall of Khadija Saye’s work…

ORGAN: Frieze week – The Fair itself Part Four; in which Aline Motta, Selma Selman, Antonis Donef and the sheer bloodihellness of George Rouy demand our attention…

ORGAN: Frieze Week – Exploring Frieze Sculpture before the week seriously kicks off, exploring the work of Reena Saini Kallat, Andy Holden, Assemble, Simon Hitchens, Burçak Bingöl and more, we’re off…

Frieze London 2025 is now over, it was Regent’s Park, London until Sunday 19th October.

As always, do please click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show (the labels will miraculously appear on the work a little later on)