An artist from the United Kingdom has shared his latest “reverse heist” stunt in a video on TikTok at the renowned Frieze Art Fair in London’s Regent’s Park.
Known for his unconventional approach to the art world, Criatura set about to infiltrate the prestigious exhibition, defying security measures to insert his own painting into the display.
This marks the latest in a series of unexpected appearances by Criatura, who has previously left his mark at the Tate Modern in the city and Art Basel in Miami, adding his own art to galleries filled with curated pieces.
The Frieze Art Fair, developed by the founders of the contemporary art magazine Frieze, showcases avant-garde and contemporary art from around the globe. In recent years, it has expanded its influence to encompass editions in four major cities, making it a prominent event in the art calendar.
@___criatura___/TikTok
Criatura’s latest work in what he calls a “reverse heist” was done to mark a year since he pulled the same stunt at Frieze London 2022.
Bypassing security, Criatura entered with his painting and carefully slipped around the undercover security to tack his own work into the established art institution.
“The original Frieze was to highlight that so-called experts can’t tell what does and doesn’t belong in an art fair even when it’s written there right in front of them,” Criatura told Newsweek.
“Many artists face barriers to entry that occur within any legacy industry and so finding galleries that’ll showcase your work can be very hard for emerging artists,” he said.
Criatura’s signature vivid green and pink tentacle has become synonymous with his unconventional art interventions and approach to the modern art world.
“The painting this time round was to celebrate one year of reverse heisting which began with Frieze London 2022,” he explained. “So this time round the painting had the text ‘I saw this last year,’ and featured my signature imagery TENTA.”
Once he shared the outcome of the unusual stunt on TikTok, viewers were quick to react.
“It is beautiful with a very good message,” said Azzy. While TikTok user Risky wrote: “This is incredible. Both the art and the plan.”
“Brilliant,” agreed another art lover while one dubbed the idea “genius.”
“That wall was waiting for your art,” said another TikTok user.
Newsweek reached out to the Frieze Art Fair for comment via email, and while Criatura isn’t sure if the work is still in place, he does have an idea where it is.
“It did have an AirTag strapped to the back of it and from [what] I can see, it’s still in the tent where Frieze took place,” he said, but added: “I left shortly after I got it up for obvious reasons.”