Prestige Apartments Blog

Big steve is back in town.

The Frieze Art Fair is one of the world's leading contemporary art fairs, and it takes place each October in London’s beautiful Regent's Park.

For a detailed line up, see their website: http://friezelondon.com/

Although the main purpose is to sell the artists work, the fair has become a cultural entertainment event and out of its 68,000 visitors, perhaps 80% attend purely to spectate! The fair also does other great stuff, like commission projects and hold programmes of talks. Frieze London is housed in a bespoke structure in Regent’s Park so it’s right in the heart of London and handily just a quick stroll from the West End.

In addition to being able to see (and possibly buy!) art by over 1000 of the world’s leading contemporary artists, there are also Frieze Projects going on around the capital. These are specially commissioned artist’s works which will certainly give you something to think about. From Disabled Theatre to ‘occasions’ at the Old Selfridges Hotel, an orchestral overture and works around Andy Kaufman to an environment where visitors movements are translated into light!

If you’re inspired by all this, then the Frieze Talk, a programme of debates, panel discussions and keynote lectures, will allow you to find out more about the contemporary art world. This year, the fair also includes LIVE. This is a brand new section focusing on performance-based installations. For a lot of people this section will be quite ‘out there’ with exhibits such as 'Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent?' where UNITED BROTHERS will offer portions of soup to fair visitors, made by their mother from vegetables grown within the region of Fukushima’s 2011 nuclear disaster!

Or maybe you’d like to take in 'Choreographic Service No. 2', a demonstration available for hire after the fair, where two dancers and an art writer transform critical reflections into real-time choreographic activity?. Or perhaps our favourite, Project Native Informant, where Shanzhai Biennial, which describes itself as ‘a multinational brand posing as an art project posing as a multinational brand posing as a biennial’, will reconceive itself as a lifestyle brand especially for Frieze. We’re not entirely sure what this entails but it sounds like fun!

And if all this artistic endeavour still isn’t enough for you, or perhaps you fancy something a bit more traditional and easy to understand, the Sculpture Park might be the place to go. Located in the beautiful surroundings of the English Garden, The Sculpture Park is within a three-minute walk of Frieze London and this year exhibits contemporary sculptures alongside historical pieces.And better still - it’s free!!

Basically, if you’ve ever wondered what contemporary art is all about, then Frieze is definitely the place to come and find out more. It might confuse you even further but you should have fun finding out! This year, the fair will be open from 12pm – 7pm on the following days: Wednesday 15 October (Professional Day, premium tickets only) Thursday 16 October Friday 17 October Saturday 18 October Purchase your tickets here: http://frieze.seetickets.com

If you’re coming to the fair why not take a look at our Marylebone Guide for more information on what to do and where to go in the local area. Prestige Apartments has some great serviced apartments and self catering flats on offer in Marylebone and throughout London.

We have something to suit all budgets and group sizes so if you are planning a city break to London to see the amazing art, just get in touch with our friendly sales team for the latest special offers. Tel: 020 7704 6514 or email: sales@prestigeapartments.co.uk

YOUR TURN... If you enjoy Frieze we’d love to hear about your experience - send us your photos or tell us about your favourite exhibits on Facebook or Twitter (#PASholidays) and I'll add it to our annual favourite places in a round up review post!

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