Frieze Week - Wednesday : The Age of the Marvellous in London

One of the highlights of Frieze Week this year was the exhibition entitled the The Age of the Marvellous (14th ‐ 22nd October) at the church of Holy Trinity, Marylebone.

Inspired by the Wunderkammer or Cabinet of Curiosities, popular in the late Renaissance through the Baroque period (ca. 1550– ca. 1700), the show featured over 60 works of art, most of them especially produced for the exhibition, that displayed a new‐found tendency for contemporary artists to look beyond the limitations of aesthetic conventions, to a varied, more cross‐disciplinary approach that integrates areas of human knowledge that exist outside the boundaries of traditional art making.

George Clooney (who was earlier opening the London Film Festival) was rumoured to have come to the opening, but surely Tracey Emin, Jay Jopling or Charles Saatchi were seen that night.

Conceived and curated by All Visual Arts Director Joe La Placa, The Age of the Marvellous was the arts organization’s third major exhibition since it was launched in 2008.

I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere around this exhibition and the goth-inspired setting. A perfect show for the pre-Halloween period.

Amongst the most amazing artworks the Polly Morgan's coffin filled with baby-birds that one had the chance to see at the inaugural show of Haunch of Venison in London, the crucified Gorilla by Paul Fryer, "the Levitation of the Head of John the Baptist" by Martin Sexton (a small, life-like head of John the Baptist which seemed to levitate in a reliquary by an invisible force, without physical contact), Ben Tyers’ sculpture which draws attention to what is an otherwise largely unconscious process ‐ breathing.

The crypt will still be opened for another 6 months so run if you haven't seent it ! I loved it !

More information on: http://www.allvisualarts.org/