The Fair Game ; in Two Weeks, the Key Players in the Contemporary Art World Will Jet in to Buy, Sell and Show Off at Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park. Sophie Leris Meets Its Founders, Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, to Discover How They Became the New Arbiters of Art

Evening Standard - London › October 07, 2005

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Summary

As coveted tickets to the private view of Frieze Art Fair are sent out this month, the question on the lips of London's art crowd is just how did two previously unknown thirty-somethings come to preside over the world's most glamorous contemporary art fair? While 160 international galleries are planning their four days in the tent, specially designed by their architect friend David Adjaye in Regent's Park, another 290 applicants who failed to secure a stand are licking their wounds.

This event is just two years old but already, according to the Evening Standard's art critic, Brian Sewell, 'it is the most important contemporary art event in Europe'. The inaugural fair housed 125 of the world's most prestigious galleries showing more than 1,000 works by blue-chip artists as well as rising stars. It attracted visitors ranging from Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lauren Hutton, Stella Schnabel and Dan Macmillan to Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the Chapman brothers. The opening night culminated in a massive shindig at Sketch thrown by White Cube's Jay Jopling. 'Tickets to Jay's party are like gold dust,' says Tracey Emin. 'There are about 5,000 people involved in Frieze and only 700 can go. It's impossible to get a table at any well-known restaurant during Frieze they're chock-ablock with art people. But what's so clever is that Frieze is in a beautiful setting rather than in some industrial complex out of town like other fairs.

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The Fair Game ; in Two Weeks, the Key Players in the Contemporary Art World Will Jet in to Buy, Sell and Show Off at Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park. Sophie Leris Meets Its Founders, Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, to Discover How They Became the New Arbiters of Art

'The galleries are vetted so the quality is top-notch,' she adds, 'and the jet set are flying in and buying art. That only used to happen abroad, and it's a great export for British artists. For me, though, the best thing is the food. Mark Hix [executive chef at The Ivy and Le Caprice] is in charge so the thing to do is have a look round, maybe buy something, have a fantastic lunch and then a walk in the park.' I meet the fair's 38-year-old organisers, Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, for lunch in a shabby Thai cafe in deepest King's Cross. Matthew has led us through the drizzle to this little gem of a dive. He seems proud of ...

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