Spit, desire and identity: Meet the standout queer artists at this year’s Frieze
Amelia Abraham speaks to five LGBTQIA+ artists showing at Frieze London and “off-Frieze”. WORDS AND CURATION BY AMELIA ABRAHAM IMAGES (EXCEPT TAREK LAKHRISSI) BY LYDIA GARNETT IMAGES OF TAREK LAKHRISSI BY CARTER HOWE This week, the international art world spotlight turns onto London, as the Frieze Art Fair descends on the capital.
The fair – the UK’s biggest, now in its 21st year – promises visitors the opportunity to encounter the work of queer former Turner Prize winners like painter and cultural activist Lubaina Himid, conceptual artist Jesse Darling, and canonical queer photographer Wolfgang Tillmans’ work.
Plus, that of underground-inspired artists like Dean Sameshima, whose screenprints draw on references to queer history and whose photographs capture queer underground spaces like porn theatres and bathhouses, or Jenkin van Zyl, whose experimental, bizarro and almost hallucinogenic films are playfully gory, fetishistic and grotesque.
There’s a “but”: Frieze can feel exclusive – those in the art world or adjacent may snag a free pass, tickets purchasable online come with a substantial price tag, and this is before we speak of the private networking events and parties.
