Frieze has revealed a series of collaborations with UK arts organisations and public institutions to mark 20th anniversary in London
Frieze today confirms details of the curated programme at Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2023. A centrepiece of Frieze London’s 20th-anniversary celebrations, the programme will shine a light on the UK’s rich cultural landscape through a series of collaborations with key arts organisations and public institutions.
Highlights include a special project with Outset, installed in the entrance corridor to Frieze London, and a new off-site film programme at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). Key institution-led initiatives returning to the fairs include the Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund; the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze and the Frieze Tate Fund supported by Endeavor. This year also sees the addition of the Arts Council Collection Fund, which will see the work of a UK-based early-career or overlooked artist added to their collection, as well as the second year of the Spirit Now Acquisition Fund in collaboration with Hepworth Wakefield.
Frieze Masters will see the return of the Art Fund Curators Programme, connecting early career curators from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to exchange ideas through talks, workshops and tours, as well as the highly respected Frieze Masters Talks, in collaboration with dunhill and curated for the fourth consecutive year by Dr. Nicholas Cullinan (Director of the National Portrait Gallery), which will feature speakers including artists Maggi Hambling, Thomas J. Price, Arlene Shechet, Rachel Whiteread and more.
For the 20th consecutive year, Frieze London and Frieze Masters are supported by Deutsche Bank, which this year will present a collaboration with artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA.
By putting an emphasis on key arts organisations and institutions that have defined the cultural landscape of the past two decades, we will look to celebrate and support their vital work. This year we are very proud of Frieze’s programming beyond the tent, actively benefitting the arts non-profit ecosystem with the establishment of new initiatives with the Arts Council Collection and the ICA. It’s also fitting to mark our anniversary by extending the series of acquisition funds that we host at the fair, enabling both major public institutions and regional museums alike to expand their collections for the public, building their legacies for the next 20 years and beyond.
Eva Langret, Director of Frieze London,
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS
Frieze London will partner with an extended network of key cultural institutions from across London and beyond to recognise the work of the creative community and wider arts ecosystem that has evolved over the fair’s 20-year history.
These collaborations will sit alongside Frieze London’s special section Artist-to-Artist which, in keeping with the fair’s 20-year tradition of artist-led programming, invites eight world-renowned artists to propose a counterpart for a solo exhibition at the fair, as well as the return of the critically acclaimed Frieze Artist Award and much-loved public programme Frieze Sculpture, curated for the first time by Fatos Üstek.
Channelling, Outset Studiomakers Corridor Commission
To mark the 20th anniversaries of Frieze and Outset Contemporary Art Fund, recipients of Outset’s Studiomakers Prize have been invited to present an artist takeover of the entrance corridor to Frieze London, responding to the space as a site of movement, threshold and possibility.
Frieze and Outset’s inaugural partnership saw the creation of the Outset Frieze Tate Fund (OFT), which acquired 100 works of art for the Tate Collection over 12 years. Funded by Outset patrons, the project redefined cross-institutional collective philanthropy, building a legacy of support for challenging artistic projects in the UK and beyond. We are proud that the fund has lived on through the generous support of Endeavor since 2016. Outset’s return to the fair will highlight another of the charity’s major initiatives.
Studiomakers champions the security of long-term, affordable spaces for London’s cultural infrastructure, to retain artistic talent in London. The Studiomakers Prize was launched in 2017, awarding rent-free workspaces annually to outstanding MA Fine Art graduates, selected from London’s leading art schools.
This is the only prize to focus on this inflection point in an artist’s career, granting space for professional development and mentorship at a time of financial precariousness. The Frieze corridor commission will be the first time the Prize cohorts have worked together and reflects years of investment in London’s creative talent. The installation will be led by curator Annie Jael Kwan, who Outset has supported throughout several international projects in cities including London (2017), Amsterdam (2018), and Kassel (2022). Her research explores feminist, queer and alternative histories and knowledges, collective practice and solidarity.
Frieze x ICA Artists’ Film Programme
Launching Monday 9th October, this year sees the introduction of the Frieze x ICA Artists’ Film Programme, a new collaboration selected by a jury of leading curators who specialise in artists’ film and moving image. A programme of films will be selected from an open call to all participating galleries in Frieze London and will be shown at the ICA throughout Frieze Week, from 10 – 15 October. The jury includes Steven Cairns (ICA Curator, Artists’ Film & Moving Image); Róisín Tapponi (Founder, CEO and
Head of Programmes, Shasha Movies); and Greg de Cuir Jr. (Co-founder and artistic director of
Kinopravda Institute in Belgrade).
Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize at Frieze
Launched at Frieze London 2018 and now in its fifth year, this annual prize awards an emerging artist, whose work is exhibited in the Focus section of Frieze London, with the opportunity to deliver their first institutional solo exhibition in London in the Camden Art Centre galleries. The 2022 recipient of the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize is Marina Xenofontos (Hot Wheels, Athens) who will realise a
major exhibition at Camden Art Centre titled ‘Public Domain’ that will open, timed for Frieze, on 6 October 2023. The 2018 Prize was awarded to Wong Ping (Eduoard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong) whose exhibition ‘Heart Digger’ was realised to critical acclaim at Camden Art Centre and an off-site space at Cork St Galleries in 2019. The 2019 winner, Julien Creuzet (High Art, Paris) showcased ‘Too blue, too dark, too deep we sank…’ in January 2022 and Tenant of Culture (Soft Opening, London), the 2020 winner, realised ‘Soft Acid’ in September of last year. The winner of this year’s Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize will be announced during Frieze London 2023.
CAS Collections Fund
The Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund is designed to support the acquisition of significant contemporary works for Contemporary Art Society Museum Members across the UK. This year CAS has selected The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge as the recipient of the Collections Fund at Frieze 2023.
The work selected will explore power hierarchies from a postcolonial perspective, with the aim to decolonialise the institution’s collection which consists of art as well as global historic artefacts. A key aim of the scheme is to draw together the knowledge, experience and expertise of private collectors with that of museum curators in a programme of research leading to an acquisition, which in turn can influence and ignite future collecting policy.
Frieze Tate Fund supported by Endeavor
For the eighth year running, the Frieze Tate Fund Supported by Endeavor will provide £150,000 for the acquisition of works by emerging and leading international artists at Frieze for Tate’s collection. This year’s selection panel includes Polly Staple (Director of Collection, British Art, Tate) and Gregor Muir (Director of Collection, International Art, Tate), alongside external curators Salma Tuqan and Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy. To date more than 160 works by over 95 artists have been acquired,
contributing to many displays that have taken place across Tate’s four galleries.
Arts Council Collection Fund This year also sees the addition of the inaugural Arts Council Collection Fund at Frieze London. The acquisitions fund will select one or several UK-based early-career or overlooked artists selected from Frieze London to become part of the Arts Council Collection, the most widely circulated national loan collection of modern and contemporary British art. The selection committee, chaired by Sir Nicholas Serota (Chair, Arts Council England), includes Harriet Cooper (Programme Director, Jerwood Visual Arts); Peter Heslip (Director of Visual Arts, Arts Council England); Marie-Anne McQuay (Director of Projects, Art & Heritage); Vanessa Peterson (Associate Editor, writer, and photographer, Frieze); Ralph Rugoff (Director, Hayward Gallery); Deborah Smith (Director, Arts Council Collection); and John Walter
(artist).
With over 8,100 works by nearly 2,200 artists, the Arts Council Collection continues to bring art to every corner of the country through loans to museums, galleries, schools, hospitals, and other public institutions. Further engagement is through public programmes of exhibitions and learning and engagement, as well as research and scholarship activities. Our commitment lies in building and preserving the public’s art collection for its use and enjoyment.
Spirit Now London Acquisition Fund Founded in 2015 and directed by Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Spirit Now London is an international community of patrons with a philanthropic mission to support cultural institutions, women artists and emerging artists. In partnership with Frieze London, Spirit Now London will present the second edition of the Spirit Now London Acquisition Prize. With a firm commitment to advancing gender equality in the art world, Spirit Now London places a special emphasis on empowering female artists, and the Acquisition Fund seeks to recognise the achievements of women artists below the age of 40 exhibiting at Frieze London. This year the selected work will be chosen and acquired by the Spirit of Giving committee of SNL on behalf of The Hepworth Wakefield Art Museum. This donation not only enhances the museum’s collection but also provides an enduring legacy for the artist and contributes to the enrichment of culture more broadly.
Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art Prize This year marks the introduction of a new award by the Comite Professionnel des Galeries d’Art (CPGA), realised in collaboration with Frieze London. The CPGA Prize honours a French or France-based artist exhibiting at the fair, with the aim to promote the work of French artists to an international audience. A panel of esteemed international curators and collectors will select the recipient, who will be granted a £10,000 prize.
Frieze Masters Talks in collaboration with dunhill Dr Nicholas Cullinan (Director, National Portrait Gallery) returns to curate Frieze Masters Talks exploring the connections between historical art and contemporary practice. In collaboration with dunhill, the talks will take place in a dedicated auditorium at the fair, with speakers including artists Maggi Hambling, Thomas J. Price, Arlene Shechet, Rachel Whiteread and more. The conversations will be recorded as a podcast and made available on frieze.com and dunhill.com, as well as platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The Frieze BBC Debate: Museums in the 21st Century Since its celebrated launch in 2018, the Frieze BBC Debate has brought together leaders from throughout the international artworld to explore what it means to run an arts organisation in this century. The discussion will be broadcast for Free Thinking, BBC Radio 3’s flagship art and culture programme.
Art Fund Curators Programme at Frieze Masters Since its celebrated launch in 2018, the Frieze BBC Debate has brought together leaders from throughout the international artworld to explore what it means to run an arts organisation in this century. The discussion will be broadcast for Free Thinking, BBC Radio 3’s flagship art and culture programme.
Launched in 2016 at Frieze Masters in partnership with Art Fund, the programme brings together emerging career curators from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to exchange ideas through talks, workshops and tours. The programme connects curators to explore different models of working — from collection care and development, to loaning, partnerships and research opportunities. The aim of the programme is to create a network of curators from different backgrounds and disciplines who can share their knowledge to strengthen institutional programming and research.
Frieze and Art Fund have collaborated with Subject Specialist Networks at The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, London to explore specific areas of study and connect with a broad and diverse network of regional UK based curators, and counterparts from leading international institutions. This year’s keynote speaker will be Ann Demeester (Director, Kunsthaus Zürich).
Frieze London/Masters, 11th to 15th October, Regents Park, frieze.com/london
