It’s unusual that someone who was rubbish at art devoted his life to it. “I was rejected from my A level art class at school for what I thought was a very good drawing of my stereo – which I thought was a great piece of pop art in retrospect. I found it at the bottom of the pile of the papier mache crap. It put me off art for quite a long time...” Slotover recalls. After studying psychology at university, Slotover shared a flat with an artist and became fascinated by the burgeoning young art scene. It seemed natural to fuse it with his love of 1980s style mags. He began the publication aged only 22. “This is 89 to 91. Really the beginning of the whole Young British Art thing. One of the first artists I met was Damien Hirst. I didn’t see the legendary Frieze exhibition. I didn’t even hear about it until I decided to do a magazine and call it Frieze.” He ignored Damien’s advice to change the name. Freize lauched around the same time as Dazed. It was a recession. The desktop publishing revolution was beginning. Frieze was small but felt like a breath of fresh air.

The British art world, meanwhile, was beginning to get exciting. “There was a really great atmosphere in those days. There would only be 7 or 8 galleries worth really visiting, and about 50 people visiting them and you would all see each other maybe twice a week. Everyone was really adept at discussing everything,” Slotover enthuses. As the magazine slowly grew, he continued to throw himself in the deep end. He was asked to curate a section of the Venice Biennale at 24, including Hirst and Mat Collishaw. He judged the Turner Prize in 2000. 

The decision to do an art fair came early on. “Our education in art came from going to art fairs. At the time it was Cologne, and Paris a bit, Basel a bit. We thought art fairs were great places not to buy art but just to look at art, to learn about it. Around ‘98 we started to think maybe we should do it.” Slotover notes. Approached like a giant 3D magazine, the Frieze Art Fair began in 2003. “We were very green. It was very risky. We didn’t really know about the art market and how it worked but we did know about galleries. People gave us a chance because they knew at least the selection of galleries would be done properly.”

Frieze has been criticised for being a giant art supermarket – the playground for the rich. “That’s part of what I love about it. The whole art world is full of the super poor and the super rich and the super smart and the super stupid and everything. They’re all there in one big pot. It’s totally crazy. I think its great there are lots of competing interests. Gives it an edge. People love it or hate it. It’s everything. Art’s always everything,” he points out.

Since Slotover started Frieze, the art world changed dramatically. The prices keep rising. Everyone wants to be an artist. It is easy to wonder if there are too many artists? “I think the question a lot of people ask is are there a lot more great artists produced per decade now than before.” Slotover ponders yet he still remains excited by art. “I’m quite idealistic about the art world. There’s a kind of economy that subsides radical ideas. I think that used to be the case in film and theatre and literature. And I don’t that really exists. There are people that say Godard or Jarman if they started today would be artists…” If they were, you could count on Slotover being there to root them on.

Oct 16-19 Frieze Art Fair sponsored by Deutsche Bank 
www.friezeartfair.com
www.frieze.com

FG