Frieze London is long over. FIAC is just a fading memory of a six-hour session at Les Chandelles with two lugubrious London art dealers. It was a marvellous evening despite misplacing my Dolce & Gabbana embellished velvet headband. However it’s left me feeling melancholic for the next major shindig, Art Basel Miami Beach in December. To remind me of the good times I’m going to register my interest in the first item of this week’s wishlist, a naughty piece by Keith Haring of a fellow languidly pleasuring himself. The work is one of those being flogged by advocates of Tantric sex, Sting and Trudi Styler, who are downsizing to a bijou apartment in Battersea Power Station, and is estimated at £70,000 to £100,000 by Christie’s.
Of course another way to move on from that night at Les Chandelles is to simply go and stand in the middle of Eddie Peake’s The Forever Loop on show in The Curve at the Barbican. In place of ageing French political types and enthusiastic art historians there’s a sheer-suited roller skater and some naked dancers. It’s all about the performativity of identity and desire and in no way the Barbican trying to model itself on Bethnal Green gentleman’s club Metropolis, which visitors can easily locate by its convenient location round the corner from Wilkinson Gallery. I’m going to celebrate Eddie’s installation with the second item on this week’s wishlist, the rather lovely limited edition Hymn (2012), an image of Eddie in more innocent times that is available from noshowspace.com for £300 (edition of 20).
All the performing and gyrating reminds me of my favourite art world karaoke singer, Tim Griffin. The Executive Director of New York not-for-profit The Kitchen and former editor of Artforum does a mean Johnny Cash, and I hope to persuade him to take up the microphone once more if I get the third item on this week’s wishlist, the rather marvellous Petra Cortright digital painting reflectingpool_grey (2015), that is estimated at £2,800 in the benefit auction for The Kitchen. Internet bidding on it is open now at Paddle8. Throw in an extra donation and there could be a trip to New York’s Winnie’s Bar and Restaurant, on Bayard Street, an unlikely but fun spot for an evening of karaoke.
Tim can certainly bellow out a tune although I’m sure he won’t mind me disclosing that his dancing left something to be desired. And that leads me on nicely to the last item on this week’s wishlist, Nam June Paik’s Robot (1997), that is estimated at $6,000 to $8,000 by Christie’s in their Post-War and Contemporary Art Online auction featuring the Holly Solomon Collection, that‘s now underway. Not only was the motif of the robot central to the Korean artist’s oeuvre, it seems that most artworld parties descend eventually into the kind of unwieldly robot dances once popularised by England footballer, Peter Crouch. I’m going to look carefully at it once I’ve bought it and start polishing my own robot moves, after all Miami is just a few weeks away.
Online exclusive published on 5 November.
