Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2018 highlights

There is a heightened sense of expectation as Frieze Art London opens its marquees to collectors and guests to reveal contemporary artworks designed both to challenge and inspire. Based in London’s gracious and spacious Regent’s Park the fair takes place from 4th to the 7th of October and features over 160 of the world’s leading galleries.

Highlights are below:

Drawing inspiration from the history of art and music, the talented artist Idris Khan investigates memory, creativity and the layering of experience in his works. The London based Victoria Miro Gallery represents the artists latest works "The Existence of Beauty, 2018", "Falling into the depth of the ground, 2018" and "Nothing to Believe, 2018" at their Frieze London stand this year.

The British artist Rana Begum loves to play with colors, light and perspectives. Her latest works are represented by Kate MacGarry Gallery London at this year's Frieze London and are outstanding pieces, you shouldn't miss, when strolling through the fair

Then our standout booth was at Timothy Taylor, London- with a solo presentation from Brooklyn based painter Eddie Martinez. The oil paints on linen are a wonderful play of vivd contrasts and aggressive combinations. His peculiar dynamic explodes traditional ideas of what a still-life can be where traditional opulence is cut with the grime of urban life.

At the same time, Frieze Masters sees over 130 specialist dealers displaying quality artworks whose timespan stretches from the ancient through to Old Masters as well as late 20th Century Art. Perfectly framing and then linking the two exhibitions is Regent’s Park itself; visitors can stroll and linger on a beautiful 20 minute walk  through the park, passing Frieze's sculpture park while absorbing the natural wonder of this year’s spectacular autumn colors.

One of the appeals of Frieze Masters is the way it forces wildly different eras to coexist;Artemisia Gentileschi Giorgio Morandi Steven Parrino and Dutch still lifes all have to share the same big tent. 

Gagosian, devoted its booth to Man Ray bringing a miniature museum exhibition to Frieze Masters. Small sculptures made from odds and ends—twine, metronomes, chessboards, springs, baguettes painted blue—are joined by photographs, paintings, and assemblages. A 1966 collage, entitled Demagogue, looks shockingly fresh, combining images of a parrot, a smiling blonde woman, and a silver wheel rim. A mixed-media work finds Man Ray mounting a toilet seat atop a photograph of an egg, and in Anal Sunrise (1956), he puts an anatomical spin on the landscape tradition. Not everything here is a masterpiece, certainly, but the pieces combine to form a picture of an artist who wasn’t afraid to follow his quirkiest inclinations.

Madrid based gallery Galería Elvira González set two giants of American Minimalism together, with a focus on their work in wood. Carl Andre’s Pyramus and Thisbe (1990), composed of 20 blocks of Western red cedar, is installed on either side of one of the booth’s walls. It jibes nicely with a four-part series of wall-mounted Donald Judd sculptures from the 1980s and ’90s, made of unadorned Douglas fir plywood.

Dig deep and you’ll come across Delacroix drawings and a terrific Lucas Cranach the Elder Mocking of Christ.