London’s Frieze art fair is back this week, and the Middle East is more present than ever. Now in its 17th edition, the four-day art fair brings together more than 160 of the world’s leading galleries, five of which are straight from the region.
Back again this year is Dubai’s The Third line, bringing together Slavs and Tatars, Nima Nabavi, Rana Begum, Sara Naim and Hayv Kahraman for a group exhibition.
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Joining them from Dubai is Green Art Gallery, who will showcase Seher Shah and Randhir Singh’s collaborative project titled Studies in Form. The project puts brutalism front and centre, showcasing a series of buildings like the Barbican in London, Akbar Dhawan in New Delhi, and the Dentsu Head Office in Tokyo in cyanotypes (one of the first photographic printmaking processes).
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Of course, Cairo’s leading contemporary art gallery Gypsum also makes a return to the fair. The gallery, which was founded by curator Aleya Hamza in 2013, currently represents 12 artists from the Middle East, but for Frieze they’ll be showcasing a solo exhibition by Tamara Al-Samerraei.
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Beirut gallery Sfeir Semler will be exhibiting Turner-Prize finalist Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s work in their booth. The gallery, which was founded by art historian Andree Sfeir Semler in 2005, will also present a body of work by Lebanese artist Rayyane Tabet, Iranian artist Timo Nasseri, renowned Lebanese-American painter Etel Adnan, and award-winning contemporary artist Walid Raad.
Newcomer Marfa’ Gallery will be making its way to London from Beirut for the first time as part of the fair’s unmissable section titled Focus: Emerging Art From Across The World, which is dedicated to champion emerging galleries aged 16 years or younger.
