Before the Venice Biennale, we were at London Frieze Art Fair 2013. We just got Saturday 19th October to visit the fair, therefore we focus only on Frieze Masters, whit its Deutsche Bank sponsoured pavillon in Gloucester Green at Regent’s Park. Apart for some external installation we did not have the time to complete to consider the Contemporary art pavillon in Marylebone Green. The choice was due to our main interest: the Tribal Art from South Pacific.
The first Frieze Master’s stand reaffirms the increasing trend for primitive art, confirmed by London’s bid in the days after the fair. This stand was owned by Entwistle Gallery, working in London and Paris, which was exhibiting an early XX century wonderful, tall and carved spear from Papua. Then, many other African art pieces were shown.
In the very heart of the Frieze there was Meyer Gallery’s stand. With Mr.Meyer we had already long chatted during the Parcours des Mondes 2013 in Paris (our review will be only in the next weeks). In our opinion his collection does not have equal among the Galleries we know. The best about primitive art from Pacific, from Inuit little statues to aboriginal boomerangs and Solomon’s spear until the Haus Tambaran.
At the end of the Frieze, consciously place one complementary to the other, Ellis Gallery from New York was exposing. It’s specialized in Alaska’s mask, differed for colors and incisions. It’s unique and hardly found another series of these pieces, at the moment I do not remember any like this.
Frieze target stays high-price, however it stakes to inflactioning the value of tribal art, which has different valuation standard: its cultural meaning and South Pacific’s precious handicraftness are the concrete value differential, apart for the rarity. Whatsoever, Frieze Masters sections is a fascinating fair both for the precious masterpiece exhibited and for the Victorian ambience.