LONDON.- Frieze Foundation announced that it will curate and produce four new public art projects as part of the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural Olympiad. Situated throughout east London, the series will be known as Frieze Projects East and will be launched on 25 June 2012.

The artists that will take part in Frieze Projects East include: Can Altay, Sarnath Banerjee, Anthea Hamilton & Nick Byrne and Gary Webb. The series has been programmed by Frieze Foundation curator Sarah McCrory.

The projects will take place in the six east London Host Boroughs for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Barking & Dagenham, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and will seek to engage both local audiences and visitors to the area.

Frieze Projects East has been commissioned by CREATE and The London 2012 Festival as part of their commitment to bring the best artists to east London in 2012. The series receives significant funding support from the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and Arts Council England.

Sarah McCrory said of the new series: ‘Frieze Projects East will be Frieze Foundation’s first programme of newly commissioned works outside Frieze Art Fair. Employing the same values as the projects at the fair, Frieze Projects East will incorporate outstanding artists and challenging works across a number of unique sites. By attracting both the visitors coming to London during the summer of 2012, and the local communities, we hope to expose exciting contemporary art to new audiences.’

Ruth Mackenzie, Director of Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, remarked: ‘We are proud that London2012 Festival is co-commissioning Frieze Foundation to create their first programme in east London. Working with CREATE and local communities, curator Sarah McCory is announcing artists who will delight east London residents and tourists from around the world.’

Hadrian Garrard, CREATE Director, observed: ‘CREATE works to connect artists with the communities of east London in ambitious, surprising and meaningful ways. So we are delighted to be working with Frieze Foundation and bringing their internationally-renowned programme to east London for the first time. From giant inflatables giving new life to Poplar Baths to beautiful sculptures that encourage families to play, these projects have been created to inspire public involvement and pleasure.’

Like all work produced under the auspices of Frieze Foundation, Frieze Projects East will realize ambitious ideas in exceptional environments.

The London 2012 Festival is a 12-week nationwide celebration that will run from 21 June until 9 September bringing together leading artists from across the world with the best from the UK.

The CREATE 2012 festival runs from 21 June to 21 July with more than 200 events in over 80 venues across the six host boroughs.