Galleries go beyond the white cube

Trends Contemporary art Fairs United Kingdom From rainbow carpets to nail bars, dealers are finding new ways to stand out from the crowd

By Melanie Gerlis and Julia Halperin. From Frieze daily edition Published online: 15 October 2014

Visitors to Frieze London this year are greeted by a childrens playground, a red forest and a nuclear bomb sheltera far cry from the typically pristine white booths. The standscourtesy of Carsten Hller at Gagosian Gallery (FL, C3; FM, C2), Angus Fairhurst at Sadie Coles HQ (FL, D2) and Michael Smith at Dan Gunn (FL, G27)show the adventurous ways in which galleries are showing their wares. Even White Cube (FL, D4) is not quite a white cube, having painted its walls grey.

Other dealers with a creative spirit include Anton Kern (FL, E3), who has carved two diamond-shaped holes in his empty grey walls. These encourage visitors to peek at three sculptures made this year by Mark Grotjahn (one sold yesterday for $500,000) and a collection of mid-20th-century beaded Tabwa masks (seven sold for between $9,000 and $40,000). Esther Schippers stand (FL, C12) is enlivened by cherry-blossom wallpaper made by Thomas Demand (45,000; one of an edition of three sold yesterday), while Lisson Gallery has a rainbow gradient carpet (made in 2014, priced at $115,000) courtesy of Cory Arcangel, who has also made clothes for his dealers to wear (FL, B5; FM, E7).

Some booths are doing their best not to be booths at all. At Hauser & Wirth (FL, D6; FM, B5), the artist Mark Wallinger has recreated Sigmund Freuds study, while the Venezuelan artist Sol Calero has transformed Laura Bartletts stand (FL, H3) into an internet cafe (Ciber Caf, 2014, priced at 90,000).

Its a tactic that makes Frieze Londonwhich has also had a welcome revamplook sharper, and acts as an antidote to fair fatigue. This keeps the viewers experience fresh; and lets face it, its hard to keep asking your artists to produce for each fair, says the New York-based art adviser Wendy Cromwell. It also boosts morale for the bigger dealers, like Hauser & Wirth, which exhibits at nine fairs a year. Its a breath of fresh air and has been a huge amount of fun, says Neil Wenman, a senior director of the gallery. Its sales yesterday included one of the stands centrepieces, Rashid Johnsons Untitled (daybed 5), 2012, for $90,000.

There are, however, generally fewer works on the more curated stands, so it can be commercially riskyand bespoke carpets, wooden floors and stage lighting do not come cheap. Christoph Gerozissis of Anton Kern says that the tweaks he made to his booth added around 20% to the cost, which can already run into six figures.

This option is not available to all. Cromwell says: Large-franchise galleries can afford to break the mould and take the risk. Smaller galleries that are selected for Friezes Focus section on the back of one project cannot afford not to. But those in the middle tier have to rely on the tried-and-tested format, which lends itself to more immediate results. They cant afford to invest in a booth without selling, says the Brussels-based collector Alain Servais.

The risks seem less dramatic now that the way in which people buy art has changed. Fewer buyers pluck works straight off the walls, with dealers backrooms and iPads increasingly serving as selling platforms. I dont feel I am missing out on anything; I ask the dealer if there is anything [else] to show me, says the Miami-based collector Martin Margulies. And much of the choosing happens outside the fairs. I have never bought at a fair before, says the art adviser Constanze Kubern. I do all my buying before or after.

Selling the brand

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Galleries go beyond the white cube