The Shock Of The Old Invades Berkeley Square
You’ve seen this year’s major exhibitions, now’s your chance to recreate them in your living room by buying your very own masterpiece! That’s right, the Pavilion of Art & Design has works for sale by all the names of the moment – Gerhard Richter (currently exhibiting at Tate Modern), Frank Stella (currently exhibiting at Haunch of Venison), Mark Rothko (currently exhibiting at Whitechapel Gallery), Barry Flanagan (currently exhibiting at Tate Britain), Dinos Chapman (recently exhibiting at White Cube), and Bridget Riley (currently exhibiting at Kettle’s Yard).
The V&A’s Postmodernism Style and Subversion is particularly well-represented, there being a plenitude of Andy Warhol dollar signs, a vinyl turntable by Ron Arad, and an Ettore Sottsass totem pole. There were also glimpses of the future, with works by the likes of David Hockney, the artist with a major Royal Academy exhibition scheduled to open in January 2012, and an etching by the late Lucian Freud, whose portraits will be on display in the National Portrait Gallery in February.
This is, as promised, the strongest edition of the PAD fair since its inception in 2007, living up to its reputation for sophistication, refined eclecticism, and the consistent high quality of its exhibitors. The list of works on display and on the market this year is formidable; with paintings by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Cy Twombly, Jean Debuffet, Sigmar Polke, Keith Haring, Joseph Albers, and Jean Michel Basquiat; drawings by Alberto Giacometti, Gustav Klimt, Otto Dix, Egon Shiele, and Barbara Hepworth; sculpture by Alexander Calder, Anish Kapoor, Dan Flavin, and Lynn Chadwick; as well as miscellaneous pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Lucio Fontana, Gavin Turk, and Damien Hirst.
Alongside these artistic giants is a diverse emporium of the some of the most covetable works of design from 1860 to the present-day. The Sweden-based Modernity, for instance, offer an exquisite array of high quality 20th century design (including furniture, lighting, ceramics and glass), with an emphasis on Scandinavian design from the likes of Wegner, Juhl, Aalto, Mathsson, Jacobsen, Salto, Friberg, Wirkkala and Sarpaneva.
There are also booths in which the distinction between art and design simply melt away: one such is that of Didier Antiques, boasting a stock that bridges the realm of art and design more than any other, with what has been described by the New York Times as ‘something like a Who’s Who of modern art in jewelry form’. On display is a dazzling and surprising set of ‘sculptures to wear’ by renowned post-war artists, mirroring and referencing their magnum opus in miniature form – from a standout pendant by Man Ray, to brooches by Roy Lichtenstein and Sonya Delauney; from a sublime comb by Alexander Calder to gaudy earrings by Salvador Dali.
Boasting 57 prestigious exhibitors coming together from Europe, Asia and North America, PAD has set itself up as a very real rival to Frieze, and is a must-see treat for art collectors and enthusiasts alike.
Words/ Photo Thomas Keane © 2011 ArtLyst
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