"The talks series Unexpected Views-when eight contemporary artists are invited to speak for ten minutes in front of their favourite works at the National Gallery-is always a Frieze week high point. "It's like art historical speed dating," quipped a befrocked Grayson Perry, who chose to talk about William Hogarth's Marriage A-la-Mode painting cycle, which he praised for its "storytelling, observation and sense of humour". He added that "humour is greatly under-rated" and that "we over-privilege misery"."
"Other participants included Shirazeh Houshiary, who said Francisco de Zurbarán's St Francis in Meditation was "an image of interconnectedness", and Haegue Yang, who enjoyed the deathly connection between the hidden crucifix and the anamorphic skull in Hans Holbein the Younger's The Ambassadors. The National Gallery's current artist-in-residence, Ming Wong, added that Gerrit van Honthorst's Saint Sebastian was not only a queer icon image but also "such a drama queen!""
"Emin was on fine form on Friday during a Dunhill x Frieze Masters talk with the British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan, intriguingly titled "Confessions in the Museum". Emin was her typically frank self, describing how "recently big museums have started buying my work which is important. I think it's because when I had cancer... they thought, 'Fucking hell, we haven't got any of her work.'" Cullinan meanwhile gave his reflections on recently having a child. "My husband Mattias and I have a ten-month old daughter... what will be wonderful especially at the British Museum is seeing that through a child's eyes.""
A series of eight contemporary artists gave ten-minute talks in front of favourite works at the National Gallery during Frieze week. Grayson Perry praised William Hogarth's Marriage A-la-Mode for storytelling, observation and humour, and criticised Expressionist brushstrokes. Shirazeh Houshiary described Zurbarán's St Francis in Meditation as an image of interconnectedness. Haegue Yang highlighted the deathly link between a hidden crucifix and the anamorphic skull in Holbein's The Ambassadors. Ming Wong read Gerrit van Honthorst's Saint Sebastian as a queer icon and called it a "drama queen." Tracey Emin noted major museums buying her work after her cancer; Nicholas Cullinan reflected on seeing museums through a child's eyes.
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