Colourful tapestry art, satirical performances by a Chinese gallery, a comic “reproduction” of Maurizio Cattelan’s recently stolen golden toilet and a giant duck.

1.  Frieze London 

A personal highlight: the work of Simphiwe Ndzube entitled The Spirit People, 2018 shown at Stevenson, a gallery based in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Pieces of real clothes from animalistic humans form a magical flow from the acrylic and spray painting into the gallery, spectator space.  A toilet, mocking Maurizio Cattelan 18-karat golden toilet, which was recently stolen from Blenheim Palace, was installed at the Galerie Gregor Staiger booth. Rest Is The Best Way Of Revolution by artist Tang Dixin at Aike Gallery Shanghai provides an immersive creative response to the intense “active” lifestyles of noisy big cities. As part of the performance, Tang Dixin dresses the “patients” in patient gowns and then plasters their bodies. For that purpose, the Aike booth is transformed into a medical clinic space.

2. Frieze Masters 

Highlights include a bright red and green Keith Haring at the Aquavella booth, Oceanic Art by Galerie Meyer Paris booth, a “horse” painting by Equipo 57 at Galeria Rafael Ortiz from Sevilla and an ancient hand at the Florence based Bacarelli Botticelli booth. Finally, a rare selection of final works by General Idea at the Mai 36 Galerie booth captures your attention while strolling through the show: entitled “Infe©ted“, these works are reformulated simulacra of works by Yves Klein, Piero Manzoni, Piet Mondrian, Marcel Duchamp and Gerrit Rietveld. A nice creative encounter with Deichtorhallen‘s Dr. Dirk Luckow and artist Caroline von Grone are the crowning glory to a great Frieze Masters show.

3. Gallery shows

Enormous works by Mark Bradford titled as ‘Cerberus‘ fill up the space of Hauser & Wirth’s Saville Row space and invite the spectator to explore the works from all distances and angles. Bill Viola’s The Dreamers Video installation at Blain|Southern takes your breath away and leaves you “dreamy”, while Patrick Caulfield’s British Pop Art works fill up the beautiful space of Waddington Custot gallery.

A final highlight: just across the street of Waddington Custot, a visit to Goodman Gallery‘s new space on Cork Street with a debut group show dedicated to the topic of collective memory and the possibility of healing. Many different mediums used, from painting, neon art to sculpture, including a work by Yinka Shonibare CBE of a little girl with a globe head, much in line with Shonibare’s artistic practice which examines race, class and the construction of cultural identity.

4. Duck on the bridge 

On the way to Kara Walker’s exhibition at Tate Modern, a giant duck crossed our ways, stealing the attention of both passersby and ships on the Thames.

Thanks for reading and until next year!