The Frieze co-founder Matthew Slotover reflects on the maverick beginnings of the global art fair that established London as a destination for collectors
I FIRST THOUGHT ABOUT LAUNCHING FRIEZE IN 2000 with my co-founder Amanda [Sharp]. But a venue fell through; luckily, as we weren’t prepared. The day Tate Modern opened was the first time the global art scene came to London – then we knew it would work.
We had a clear idea about who we had to get as our core anchors; it wasn’t the big galleries but the cool, mid-level ones with interesting programmes. Those gallerists were put on our committee – Sadie Coles, Gavin Brown, Toby Webster – as we thought that if they were in, everything would follow. And we were right.
The night before we launched, in October 2003, I felt a lot of anxiety. It wasn’t just that we were putting on an art fair, it was the fact we were building a structure in Regent’s Park. It was ridiculous, risky and difficult. We had no idea about logistics.
When we did open, some stands were still being painted, I had to bring in a vacuum cleaner to clear the dirt, there were massive queues outside and we had the wrong kind of security. People were getting angry. We went outside and asked to bring certain individuals to the front, but others shouted at us. Inside, there were free drinks, so crowds were crammed around the bars; we had to rope off galleries nearby because people were falling onto their stands. You could also smoke in the tent, so when buyers took their art home, they said it smelled of smoke.
During the first years, we turned down galleries we shouldn’t have, which bit us later. We also couldn’t fit in all the institutions we wanted – but that was a good issue to have.
Every year there’s something unexpected and fantastic. Gavin Brown always had an incredible stand. In 2
