‘l’homme qui ne marche pas’ by elmgreen and dragset (2009) image: nils jorgensen / rex features / guardianfrieze art fair 15-18 october 2009 regent’s park, london

the frieze art fair started this week and the general consensus is that mortality and the economic recession are two of the dominant themes this year. turner prize nominee roger hiorn’s piece made with cow brains is on show at foxx and there’s also pieces from henrik hakansson made with bird faeces at franco noero. meanwhile elmgreen and dragset are showing a sculpture of a thin figure with a ball and chain attached to its ankle at helga de alvear’s stand.

frieze art fair 2009 untitled wall sculpture made from bovine brain matter and steel by roger hiorns – image: heathcliff o’malley / telegraph

pieces that are a bit more cheerful include takashi murakami’s work at gagosian’s stand and the specially commissioned frieze project of stephanie sujuco’s – where the artist is copying other works form the fair at her ‘copystand’. another frieze commission involves ryan gander’s studio at the entrance to the fair where he’s capturing portraits of visitors.

more info on this year’s exhibitors can be found at the frieze art fair website, and there’s daily commentary from: art info, the art newspaper, art review