Matthew Slotover

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Slotover's Frieze Art Fair under construction in Regent's Park, in 2009.

Matthew Slotover OBE (born 1968) is an English publisher and entrepreneur. He is co-founder of Frieze, a media and events company, which now includes the Frieze Art Fair, frieze and Frieze Academy.

Early life[edit]

Slotover was born in London and grew up in South Kensington. He attended St Paul's School, London and then studied Psychology at Oxford University.[1]

His paternal family (originally the Zlotovers) emigrated from Lithuania in the 1930s and settled in Newcastle.[2] Slotover's father, Robert Slotover manages classical musicians including the composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle; his mother Jill Slotover is a children's book editor. Matthew's maternal grandfather, Richard Kravitz was an American magazine publisher who introduced Esquire and DC Comics to the UK.[3]

He first became interested in contemporary art after visiting the YBA art exhibition Modern Medicine, in 1990.[4]

Life and career[edit]

Slotover launched Frieze in June 1991 with Tom Gidley as co-editor. The pilot issue featured the first ever magazine interview with Damien Hirst,[citation needed] with a detail of a Hirst butterfly painting on the cover. Amanda Sharp joined Frieze in July 1991. In 1999, he founded Counter Editions, a low-cost, high-volume edition company, with Carl Freedman and Neville Wakefield.[citation needed]

Slotover is chair of the South London Gallery board of trustees. He has previously been a judge on the Turner Prize.[5] And in 1993, he curated a section of the Aperto at the Venice Biennale, which included Damien Hirst, Mat Collishaw and Rirkrit Tiravanija.[citation needed]

Through Frieze, Slotover has published the books: What the Butler Saw - The Selected Writings of Stuart Morgan; All Tomorrow's Parties - Photographs of Andy Warhol’s Factory, by Billy Name; and Designed by Peter Saville, a retrospective of Saville's graphic design.

In 2009, Slotover received an honorary degree from University of the Arts London.[6][7]

In 2010, Slotover debated whether "art fairs are about money" with Louisa Buck, Matthew Collings, and Jasper Joffe for the motion and against the motion Norman Rosenthal, Richard Wentworth, Matthew Slotover.[8] Joffe claims that his criticisms of Frieze Art Fair led to his work being banned from the fair in 2010. Frieze replied that Resonance FM had hung a number of works, including Joffe's, against their agreement with the fair, and that to ensure a high quality level, artworks in the fair are included only via the galleries in the fair who are selected by the selection committee.[9]

In May 2011, Slotover and Sharp announced the launch of two new art fairs - Frieze New York, and Frieze Masters.[10][11]

In 2010, Slotover and Sharp were placed jointly at number 41 in the ArtReview "Power 100", a list of influential people in fine arts.[12]

Slotover and Sharp were both appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to the visual arts.[13]

Personal life[edit]

In April 2017, the couple unsuccessfully applied for planning permission to build a townhouse just off Barnsbury Square in Islington, North London. They would have had to make a £50,000 contribution to affordable housing in the borough, if the plans had been approved, but the application was rejected on the grounds that the plans constituted an under-use of the land, and over concerns regarding the destruction of nearby trees.[14][15] In 2019 the planning rejection was overturned on appeal.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Fantastic Man 15 - Matthew Slotover". Bruil & van de Staaij. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  2. ^ "All the fun of the fair". the Guardian. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  3. ^ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+FAIR+GAME%3B+In+two+weeks,+the+key+players+in+the+contemporary+art...-a0137282339 [dead link]
  4. ^ Aida Edemariam (3 October 2009). "All the fun of the fair". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Haveron-Jones, Alexander (6 June 2021). "In Conversation with Matthew Slotover". Cherwell. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Frieze frame". Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  7. ^ "University of the Arts London - University of the Arts London Honorary Awards 14 May 2009". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Debate: Art Fairs Are About Money Not Art". Archived from the original on 4 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Diary: Joffe's jokey picture falls flat with Frieze". The Independent. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  10. ^ "From Frieze to triptych". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022.
  11. ^ Jonathan Jones (20 May 2011). "New Masters fair should end the classic art Frieze-out". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Site name. "Power 100 / Art Review". {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 12.
  14. ^ "Neighbours get preview of couple's townhouse plan". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Couple's bid to build dream home is dashed". Islington Tribune. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
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