Italian luxury fashion brand Stone Island is set to offer financial support in the form of bursaries to emerging galleries participating in Frieze art fairs. These bursaries will cover up to 30% of the stand fees for exhibitors taking part in the Focus section.
Emily Glazebrook, Commercial Director at Frieze, expressed the organisation's dedication to nurturing creativity and aiding emerging galleries and artists on a global scale through this multi-year partnership. She noted that Stone Island's generous support would significantly boost the visibility of fresh talents featured in the Focus section while strengthening connections within the global artistic community.
The Focus section specifically highlights galleries established within the last 12 years, a tradition dating back to 2009. This announcement precedes the upcoming London edition of the fair, scheduled for October 11-15, featuring 34 galleries from 18 different countries, each presenting solo or dual-artist exhibitions in the Focus section.
Notable artists participating in these presentations include Larry Achiampong (Copperfield, London), Débora Delmar (Llano, Mexico City), Hamed Maiye (Harlesden High Street), and Jordan Strafer (Heidi, Berlin, and Hot Wheels, Athens). The section will be curated by Angelina Volk, the director of Emalin Gallery in London, Piotr Drewko, director of Wschód in Warsaw, and Cédric Fauq, the director of CAPC Musée d’art Contemporain, Bordeaux.
To celebrate the fair's 20th anniversary, the advisory partners will host an event at Camden’s Koko music venue on October 12, featuring DJ sets from Haroon Mirza, Andrew Pierre Hart, Mark Leckey, and Rabz Lansiquot.
Stone Island will further solidify its partnership by becoming the official sponsor of Frieze 91, the art organisation's membership program.
In a press release, Robert Triefus, Chief Executive of Stone Island, says, “Stone Island is built on community and creative energy inspired by research and innovation, characteristics that define the Focus section of Frieze’s art fairs, as well as the Frieze 91 programme.” He adds, “Through this partnership, Stone Island will offer foundational support to some of the world’s most significant emerging galleries and artists for years to come.”
Main image: Thomas Dane Gallery, Frieze London 2022. Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze and Linda Nylind.