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Review Oct 29 2009 « | »
Zoo 2009 A new venue and identity for Frieze week's second fair brings mixed results

Donald Eastwood

Appearances go a long way in the art world. To many the Zoo Art Fair appeared to have been in decline this year. It appeared to have been pushed East out of the brilliant venue at the back of the RA by Haunch of Venison. It appeared to have been pillaged of its new gallery stall-holders by Frieze's new Frame section.

So, to many, Zoo 2009 appeared to have limped to its new home and identity in a group of Victorian warehouses with Ripper associations and where police attack dogs are now trained.

But has Zoo really gone to the dogs? Not at all. The financial crisis was, for Zoo, an identity crisis. Initially founded with the idea of supporting new, up-and-coming galleries and art projects, it had increasingly become trapped by its success and the success of those it contained. Every year it would increase its remit so galleries that are 2 years old, then 3 years old, then 4 years old could still be eligible. Often called Frieze's little sister, it never managed to grow up and define its difference from its sibling.

Now at last, with the assistance of the art market crisis, Zoo has achieved an identity and freed itself from now quite rusty ties. Realising its own value, the brand with the hand has stepped down its revenue from stalls to 35% and stepped up its sponsorship to cover the rest, and so disentangled itself from the collector's purse-strings. It has branched out into the far more exciting arenas of curation, site specificity and art that is not looking for a buyer.

The biggest advantage to this is that it is now a place where it is actually pleasant to spend a long time. The atmosphere reflected this. People milled about and spent time with the work. The cafe was a genuinely nice place to be in. The prize-winners were given pride of place, and genuinely pioneering artist-led projects including FormContent and a Rob Tufnell-curated space, replaced galleries that really wanted to (and did) graduate to the Frieze.

The issue this year was not the nature of the fair, it was that it lacked conviction and belief. As such it failed to impose this exciting rebirth to the typical fair goer. From this year forth its onus must be to invigorate this new and far more interesting identity, because while the art market may well have already recovered from 'crisis', most people agree that it should never go fully back to the heady collector-driven extremes that allowed the art fair culture to blossom over the last few years.

Zoo ran from Friday 16th October to Monday 19th October at 3-10 Shoreditch High Street. For more information visit their website.

Holly White

Zoo this year has moved to an industrial, triple building, location off Shoreditch High Street, a drastic change from its previous incarnation at the Royal Academy. Although never visiting Zoo in its previous embodiment, I can only assume this radical alteration is an effort to help to distinguish the art fair from Frieze's new Frame section.

The curated sections of Zoo, which have now become its major selling point, are by far the most exciting elements of the fair. The highlight is the Studio Voltaire commissioned collaboration between Anthea Hamilton and Nicholas Byrne Calipsos. The sculptor and painter have combined to create an intelligent and playful selection of animations and sculptures.

The hand of Hamilton is heavily apparent here; her signature leg cut-outs, heads and clamps are arranged in the space. It seems the animations are where the main collaboration has happened, with block colours, stripes, photos and stop frame, accompanied by a calypso soundtrack with lyrics such as "keep your hands off me nylons boy." The work is kitsch, but this doesn't mean the pieces are lacking depth or resonance, potentially holding more because of it.

Film As A Subversive Act, curated by Lux, shows a different artist each day, the opening artist being Ellen Cantor. The title of the show, taking its name from the book by Amos Vogal, is a little weak, but it looks to be an interesting selection of artists over the weekend.

Cantor's work included lengthy 'trailers' as part of a work in progress titled Pinochet Porn. The work is distinctive; its amateur aesthetic- bad acting, tightly framed shots and use of super 8, create a hybrid of soap opera, home made porn and political propaganda.

There are also some engaging films presented by FormContent entitled The Filmic Conventions, my personal favourite being Howlin' by Jason Underhill. Although the set up of monitors, headphones and stools facilitate a solitary and concentrated experience, the arrangement felt rushed and ill considered, not to mention making it difficult to actually get to a screen at busier times.

Rob Tufnell's exhibition was more staid than the rest of the shows. The building swamped most of the works, the art being overshadowed, if not lost, by the dark corridors and distinctive architecture. Saying this there were some good works on show, including a selection of slides by Adam Chodzko and recent RCA graduate Kate Owen's plastic bottles and dyed t-shirts.

Art fairs are always going to be about showcasing and selling artists and galleries, which ultimately challenges the integrity of the exhibiting itself, so it's great to see Zoo giving a large proportion of space over to curation outside of the stand context. The fair overall, sadly, feels half-hearted and compromised. The main fair was cramped and non-descript, and, although showing some new and exciting galleries, the roughness of the space didn't sit well alongside the, still present, commercial feel of the fair.

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