LONDON, ENGLAND.- The directors of Frieze Art Fair announced today the appointment of Neville Wakefield as Curator of Frieze Projects at Frieze Art Fair. Neville Wakefield is an independent curator, critic and editor based in New York. He most recently curated Defamation of Character, an international group exhibition on show until January 2007 at MOMA/PS1 in New York. Earlier this year he co-founded and co-produced Destricted, a series of films about the representation of sexuality in art.

The seven films were created by some of the world’s most acclaimed artists and directors, including Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Larry Clark, Richard Prince and Sam Taylor-Wood. The Destricted films were in the official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and the Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival. Wakefield has been published, and lectured, widely in the US and Europe.

Neville Wakefield commented today, “Regardless of whether it’s producing films, writing or curating, I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of art and commerce, the creative friction between rarefied interest and mass appeal. Joining the Frieze team at the point at which the fair enters its fifth year is especially exciting in this respect. Now the bellwether its commercial success provides is a perfect backdrop for Frieze Projects to explore and challenge this position.”

Fair directors Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover added, "We’re delighted to have attracted a curator of Neville's calibre, and are looking forward to working with him. He has an incredible scope of knowledge, ranging from art theory to pop culture, and we hope to see this range of interests reflected in next year's Frieze Projects."

Neville Wakefield replaces Polly Staple who had been with the fair since its inception in 2003 as Curator, Chief Curator and, for the past year, Director, Frieze Projects. Under Polly Staple's direction, the curatorial programme has grown to encompass Frieze Commissions, Frieze Talks, Frieze Education, The Artists Cinema and The Cartier Award. This year Frieze published Frieze Projects: Artists' Commissions and Talks 2003-2005, a fully illustrated record of the projects and talks realised at the fair over the past three years.

Polly Staple stood down after the 2006 fair in order to pursue independent curatorial and writing projects. She will continue to have a close relationship to the organisation in her role as Editor at Large, and regular columnist of frieze, the leading contemporary art magazine, published by the organisers of Frieze Art Fair.

Wakefield joins the existing curatorial team of Frieze Projects, Kitty Anderson, Associate Curator and Andrew Bonacina, Curatorial Assistant. He will divide his time between New York and London and takes up the post next month.

Frieze Projects are commissioned under the auspices of Frieze Foundation and presented in association with Cartier. Frieze Foundation is generously supported by Arts Council England and the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union (2005-07).