Overheard at the Frieze

I attended London's annual Frieze Art Fair yesterday and was underwhelmed by what I saw. There was some interesting, innovative work, but mostly the galleries and the artists that they presented seemed to be trying to be interesting without knowing what they were trying to say. In case that sounds bitchy, I'll add that I liked a lot more of what I saw at the Frieze last year.

Many Frieze attendees seemed to have a similar vice of trying to act and sound sophisticated without knowing what to make of what they were seeing. Of course views on art are subjective, but there have to be some standards of what is sensible. Here are some of the best things that I overheard:

"This for me is the most dense part of the fair. There is a lot energy here."

"Oh, really!? I mean Hong Kong. You think it's not Hong Kong?"

"Yeah, but it's not the kind of thing you would hang over your couch. You have to know the artist ... and you have to be ready to commit."

"I wanted to see a Chinese gallery, because I wanted to speak Mandarin. But I was so depressed by that one we saw that I didn't want to speak Mandarin."

Well, OK, the last one is something I said. A friend overheard and insisted that it be included in this blog. I really didn't know what to say either.