The Founders of Frieze Get Into the Restaurant Game, and Other News

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The Founders of Frieze Get Into the Restaurant Game

Frieze Art Fair co-founders Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover are expanding their reach into the culinary world with the launch of Toklas, a light-filled Mediterranean restaurant, bar, and bakery in London’s Temple Station neighborhood. Situated inside a 1970s Brutalist building with a 3,000-square-foot garden terrace, Toklas’s interior was spearheaded by Stafford Schmool and features reclaimed parquet floors and iroko table tops along with a Wolfgang Tillmans photograph of tomatoes and aubergines next to a sunny swimming pool. 

Spring and Moro veteran Martin Lyons’ menu hews toward comfort —sardines with salsa rossa, fettuccine with ceps, cuttlefish and chickpea stew—inspired by his upbringing in North London’s Arnos Grove area, known for its vibrant Greek community. Keep an eye out for the arrival of an artisanal grocery and cookware shop and highly anticipated bakery in November that will reunite alums of the much-beloved Little Bread Pedlar, master baker Adam Sellar and pastry chef Janine Edwards. 

Toklas was created to reflect the community Sharp and Slotover have spent years cultivating at Frieze in New York, Los Angeles, and London, the duo says. “The art world loves good food—artists and gallerists always know the best places to eat. Artists and chefs are always trying to perfect their craft, and care deeply about the tactile, the physical, and the aesthetic.”

Annabelle Selldorf’s Family-Inspired Furniture Line

Annabelle Selldorf grew up surrounded by design. Thank her architect father and the retail business founded by her trailblazing grandmother, Vica-Maria, who specialized in renovations and interior fit-outs that involved the entire family. Though it shuttered in the early ‘70s, the business remained influential on the award-winning architect, who’s launching a collection of furniture, lighting, and accessories named Vica and imbued with her collaborative spirit. 

The collection feels like a natural next step for Selldorf, whose namesake firm specializes in high-profile art-world and residential commissions that often incorporate furnishings of her own design. On offer are pieces with wide applicability, including the natural cane Dodi Woven Chair—named after Selldorf’s mother—that wouldn’t look out of place at a desk or dining table. The Ledger Etagère and Union Sofa, meanwhile, both sport sleek builds and distinctive silhouettes. “The furniture market is categorized by a lot of sameness,” Selldorf tells AD. “We hope we can make a difference in that.”

Herzog & de Meuron unveils a monolithic new cultural institution in South Korea. 

The SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation has a new home in the Cheongdam-dong ward in the Gangnam District, where the Swiss firm has completed an 86,000-square-foot concrete wedge-shaped structure “experimental and unexpected” mix of non-commercial art studios, galleries, and cultural spaces that “continue the mission of the Foundation to support young talented artists in pursuit of becoming a hub of culture, creativity and inspiration, connecting the public with art through prolific exhibitions and programs,” per a press release. The inaugural special exhibition will showcase the project’s journey from ideation in Basel to completion in Seoul, including the design process, strategies, methods, and tools used. 

A small-town show of emotional mementos by Ali Beaudette becomes TikTok famous. 

The pandemic’s emotional onslaught has seen the world cling to poignant anecdotes of human connection, and Beaudette’s memory collection in Rhode Island’s Greenville Public Library is proof positive. The longtime gallerist gathered remnants of social memorabilia that she shared in an exhibition called “Bookmark: A Collection of Items” that went viral on TikTok. “On a human level, people are drawn to the tiny details of strangers’ lives, especially in this weird time where we have so much distance from each other.”

Kim Kardashian helps solve the case of a looted Egyptian coffin worth $4 million.

Reality TV star, budding lawyer, and now a detective—Kim Kardashian’s photoshoot at the 2018 Met Gala, beside the coffin of Nedjemankh, has aided in capturing thieves who used false paperwork to sell the Egyptian artifact to the museum for more than $4 million. Originally uncovered in the al Minya region in 2011, the coffin fell victim to a series of falsified activities before its arrival at the Met and was returned to Egypt in 2017 with an apology from CEO Daniel Weiss. Kardashian’s viral snap led to the discovery of a finger bone within the exhibit that uncovered the history of the gold-encrusted piece that led to the case’s eventual closure.

Hiroshi Fujiwara partners with Loro Piana for the label’s first-ever artist collaboration.

Fragment Design, the brains and hands behind cult favorite prints, teamed with Loro Piana to drop a collection that imbued the luxury’s house with a street-savvy touch.“I thought it’d be interesting to break through the existing brand image and see how far they’d go to challenge it,” says Fujiwara. In an array of 30 genderless garments, the duo presented a lineup that fused Loro Piana’s signature silhouettes with the Japanese designer’s penchant for bold graphics in a process Fujiwara coined a “friendly rivalry.”

At Dubai Expo, a copyright lawsuit is sparking conversations about Arabic script. 

The Tunisian pavilion at the global fair is gathering criticism from French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed on the pretext of copyright infringement. Calling out pavilion designers Dix Versions for co-opting his forgone submission of Arabic calligraphy, the Dubai-based artist opens the debate of unlicensed recreations in a world run by digital media and NFTs.

Today’s attractive distractions:

Fat cats photobomb (and improve) nearly every painting in this wall calendar.

Archival images show how Dalí’s Lips sofa began on the back of an envelope.

These ethereal floral lamps are 3D printed using biodegradable algae extract. 

An architect attaches a giant skateboard ramp to a house in Rosaria, Argentina.