Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters, London 2017

Another edition of Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters openes this week- here are our highlights from the fair:

BRONZE AGE c.3500BC – AD 2017: Hauser & Wirth, Frieze London

Hauser & Wirth is renowned for its unconventional booths and this year it has excelled itself with a tongue-in-cheek presentation that introduces the dusty interior of a forgotten museum - fire extinguisher and all - into the unlikely setting of a contemporary art fair.

Organised in close collaboration with eminent classics professor Mary Beard, the display focuses solely on works made in bronze. Artefacts on loan from various British museums and institutions, together with loans from private collections nationwide are mixed up with modern and contemporary bronze sculptures by the likes of Louise Bourgeois, Henry Moore and David Smith - along with Marcel Duchamp’s bronze cast sink stopper, Subodh Gupta’s bronze potatoes and a cast bronze flower by Martin Creed.

These have been mischievously interspersed with “ancient” bronze objects purchased by Beard from eBay, inviting us to ponder on the magical – and confusing – power of a museum display to render even the most insignificant object precious.

Kallos Gallery London: Frieze Masters

One of the more dramatic antiquities stands at Frieze Masters is that of Kallos Gallery in London which, with its specially constructed arched colonnade and intimate niches, resembles the kind of neoclassical English country house interior designed to house a collection of trophies acquired on an aristocratic Grand Tour.

Among the stunning array of ancient objects on display is a rare and exquisitely carved Roman marble theatre mask from around the third century AD which once belonged to the politician and socialite Sir Philip Sassoon, and an enormous multibreasted torso of the Great Mother Goddess Artemis from Ephesus which dates from the first century AD.

Timothy Taylor, London: Frieze Art Fair

The London gallery has staged an impressive solo presentation by the 81-year-old Mexican artist and architect Eduardo Terrazas. The artist has not only created the 23 works on view, but also the design of the booth. Using the floor and walls like a white canvas, Terrazas has crafted geometrical shapes with blue lines, creating a space that feels as if walking inside one of his paintings.

The works, with prices ranging from £10,000 to £40,000, include acrylic pieces on canvas, works made of wool yarn on wooden board, and four vintage drawings from 1974. This overview of the oeuvre of a founding member of Mexico’s contemporary art scene strikes the perfect balance between art historical pieces and very recent works.

Travesía Cuatro – Madrid, Guadalajara

Few booths were more eye-catching than Travesía Cuatro’s phenomenal group presentation featuring the works of Charlie Billingham, Mateo López, Gonzalo Lebrija, Elena del Rivero, and Jose Dávila.

The mix of British, Spanish, Mexican, and Colombian artists did really pop against Billingham’s stencilled wallpaper, priced at £10,000. The young London-based artist is also showing a number of satirical paintings (with prices ranging from £6,000 to 13,000) that draw inspiration from politicized illustrations in the style of William Hogarth.

Billingham’s composition complemented the geometrical canvases and texturized sculptures of his Latin-American counterparts. Prices for their works ranged from $5,000 for a Lebrija piece to $75,000 for a work by Dávila.