Stephen Friedman Gallery, based in London and New York, is highlighting the work of three contemporary artists across the 2024 editions of both Frieze London and Frieze Sculpture. Frieze Sculpture premiered in Regent’s Park on September 18, featuring large-scale, public artworks by 22 international artists. Stephen Friedman Gallery, along with Karma and Jessica Silverman, is co-presenting the work of Woody De Othello with seeing both sides (2024), on view through October 27.
Woody De Othello, seeing both sides (2024). Photo: by Mark Blower. Courtesy of the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London / New York, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco / Karma, New York.
The bronze sculpture clocks in at 7-feet tall, and its presentation within Frieze Sculpture marks Othello’s first-ever large-scale public work in Europe. Using Dogon cosmology and beliefs, which espouses ideas around bodies as vessels spirituality and sites of harmony and balance, Othello took inspiration from the shapes of objects that have an axis, such as sundials or crosses to craft a new form of figuration. Evoking the visual culture of the African Dogon people that frequently taps ideas of twinning and androgyny, seeing both sides reads as a challenger, conveying elements of animism and anthropomorphism common in Othello’s practice.
Frieze London will take place October 9–13, 2024, and Stephen Friedman is showcasing new work by British artists Caroline Walker and Clare Woods. Juxtaposing each respective artist’s work, the presentation interrogates the “role of the observer” and ideas around perception and engagement.
Caroline Walker, Reading Books (2024). Photo: Peter Mallet. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York; GRIMM, Amsterdam / New York / London; and Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.
In Walker’s paintings, the artist turns her creative vision to the oft overlooked jobs that women perform in contemporary society. Recognized for her practice that explores women’s perspectives across societies and cultures, the present body of work takes sharp focus on the everyday contributions that are taken for granted. A key subject here from the artist’s own life are the teachers she encountered at her daughter’s nursery school in 2022, when she took the original source photos. The ephemeral nature of childhood and the myriad moments of care are translated into sumptuous compositions that not only call attention to these encounters but celebrates them.
Clare Woods, The Improver (2024). Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London / New York
Like Walker, Woods finds inspiration in the quotidian and uses photography as an early starting point for her paintings. In the series of work presented at Frieze London, Walker taps images she took from the city’s Regent’s Park two decades ago, specifically of the stone planters and the lush arrangements of plants they held. Translated through a rich color palette and unique brushwork, the vignettes, though of a common sight in the park, take on an air of mystery and opulence. Part of the tradition of still life painting, the implied fleetingness of season and the corresponding plant life in her work serve as a reminder of humanity’s connection with nature, as well as the human condition.
Clare Woods, Good Bye to All That (2024). Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London / New York
Amidst the cacophony of Frieze and related events this month, the trio of artists’ work presented by Stephen Friedman Gallery each in their own way invite viewers to take pause and reflect, offering new perspectives on contemporary life and art.
Woody De Othello will be on view at Frieze Sculpture, Regent’s Park, London, through October 27, 2024. Caroline Walker and Clare Woods will be on view at Frieze London with Stephen Friedman Gallery, Booth B16, October 9–13, 2024.