Roman and Williams' Guild Gallery makes Frieze Masters debut

For Frieze Masters 2023 – Frieze London’s more historically minded arm – designers Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer of Roman and Williams present an exhibition concept that references their design of the British Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as part of the London art fair's Stand Out, curated by Luke Syson. A section that presents multimedia artefacts outside the boundaries of painting and sculpture, this year Stand Out explores the importance of colour in three-dimensional art, delving into the relationship between colour and nature, geography, material and innovation. 

As well as Romans and Williams' own Guild Gallery, Stand Out also features work presented by a varied roster of galleries including Galerie Chenel, Axel Vervoordt, Friedman Benda, Rose Uniacke among others. 

Roman and Williams' Frieze Masters debut

For their display at the fair, Roman and Williams looked back at their design for the British Galleries, a project for which they worked closely with Syson. The exhibition design explores strategies the pair developed to highlight four centuries of British sculpture, furniture, and applied arts at The Met, a gallery completed in 2020 for which the designers spent five years immersed in the museum’s collection, collaborating with curators and historians to challenge traditional exhibition design and offer a new experience for visitors. 

The same approach is replicated at Frieze Masters, an elevated backdrop for a display dedicated to American and Japanese ceramic masters inspired by British studio pottery. Among the booth's showcase are some of the most celebrated ceramicists of the 20th century, including George Ohr, Peter Voulkos, and Toshiko Takaezu, alongside next-generation ceramic artists such as Rick Hintze, Peter Callas, Eisuke Morimoto and Michikawa Shozo. 

Taking cues from Frieze Masters’ Annabelle Selldorf-designed setting, the designers offered visitors a sense of experiential unity. 

The design of the space is informed by classical architecture, with elements including arches and niches framing the artworks in a theatrical way and dark-hued backdrops and ceilings encouraging the pieces' narrative potential. A timber floor across the space gives the pavilion a sense of domestic interior, with a harmonious display conveyed by discreet plinths in uniform sizes throughout. 

In November 2023, Syson will once again collaborate with Guild Gallery on 'Earth and Accident', an exhibition that builds from the Frieze Masters display celebrating 'the formal qualities that can transform clay by happenstance of heat, the colours of different clays, and the incalculable behaviours of glazes, looking at the relationship between historic and contemporary works'.

Frieze Masters is on view until 15 October 2023

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