The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

ART13 at Kensington Olympia makes its mark on the global art calendar

ART13 at Kensington Olympia makes its mark on the global art calendar
3 March 2013
Eleanor MacFarlane
Avatar
Eleanor MacFarlane
3 March 2013

ART13 is a brand new art fair in London, set to become an annual event.

Often, wandering around art fairs can be an exhausting and overwhelming experience. There is just so much art competing for your attention that it’s difficult to see the wood for the trees. Olympia turns out to be a grand venue for the set-up, the high ceiling of the hall creating more ambiance than usual, and it is large enough for everything to be spread out on one level, so a fairly methodical meander can cover a lot of ground and a great deal of contemporary practice.

Since Frieze London art fair started in 1991, London has grown as an international venue for the art market and as the international shop front of art. Art fairs represent an enormous logistical enterprise, and a major risk to international galleries willing to invest. But ART13 has hit the ground running and made its mark on the art calendar, attracting 129 global galleries, some new to London.

The opening night was buzzing with arty types as well as the art-curious. Prices are not on display, but overheard conversations suggest that there is still enough money to keep artists in paint and galleries in champagne. Sales are high and some artists have sold out already, with commissions for more work being negotiated. Not everything is out of reach though, and there is even a crate of free posters that gets regularly topped up.

A large part of gallery audiences are often other artists and art professionals, not buyers. However, this is not a bad thing, as this artistic circulation is vital to galleries in the complex matrix that is the art world. It is puzzling that some galleries still persist in being a little too exclusive, not having cards and images available for the public to take, and not circulating knowledge about their artists. Mostly galleries get it though, and are pleased to get into conversation about a work or artist that catches your eye.

One of the outstanding features of the show is the impressive amount of specially commissioned art projects integrated into the exhibition space. Most of these works are enjoyable and interactive, including Roelof Louw’s 1967 piece, Pyramid of Oranges, which is a sculpture you get to dismantle, take away and eat. The central project is a tunnel of rice paper by Zhu Jinshi entitled Boat, that you queue to walk through. It’s an extraordinary experience to feel such an intimate and muffling effect within a place packed full of strangers. There is also a chance to see, mounted high over the entrance, El Anatsui’s In the World but Don’t Know the World, a stunning large scale work made from discarded bottle caps.

Among the many gallery highlights is Juan Fontanive’s adorable contraption Ornithology at Riflemaker, a motorised flick book of birds. Scaramouch is showing the creepy and nightmarish melting sculptures of Alessandra Brighetti. Magda Danysz has wonderful and poetic photographic constructs by Yang Yongliang, a dream world in each bowl.

Damien Hirst’s spot paintings are less than convincing in comparison, betraying an arguable lack of engagement in the making process. It’s surely no surprise to learn that painting is not dead, and that there are many creative practitioners still reinventing the scene.

An extraordinary art fair, worth the visiting price – but you’ll need at least three hours to do it justice.

Verdict: •••••

Eleanor MacFarlane

Photos: Arnaud Stephenson

ART13 is at Olympia until  3rd March 2013 , for further information click here.

Related Items

More in Uncategorised

Five dream travel destinations for this summer

The editorial unit
Read More

Win a copy of Link on Blu-ray

The editorial unit
Read More

Why coffee should be the first thing you need to go for in the morning

The editorial unit
Read More

How to sell your art online

The editorial unit
Read More

Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre: Centre stage for diversity

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

RSC Next Generation: Young Bloods proves Shakespeare is timeless

Brooke Snowe
Read More

What does the United Nations’ decision about medical cannabis mean?

The editorial unit
Read More

A beautiful home: Five tips and tricks for buying decor online

The editorial unit
Read More

The White Tiger

★★★★★
Emma-Jane Betts
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories
    Theatre
  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Jeremiah Fraites: Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Win a copy of Link on Blu-ray
    Competitions
  • Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre: Centre stage for diversity
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • RSC Next Generation: Young Bloods proves Shakespeare is timeless
    Theatre
  • The White Tiger
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The different types of Covid testing explained
    Tech & Sport
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ten short literary collections to get you back into reading
    Literature
  • Mayor
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Will Mario Balotelli be missed?
Five movies not to miss this month – March 2013