The Best of Frieze New York
By Samuel Cochran
This past week, Frieze New York returned to Randall’s Island for the art fair’s second Stateside edition, once again luring collectors, curators, and other culturati across the East River to the event’s snaking tent, designed by SO – IL. Inside, more than 180 of the world’s leading galleries staged displays—the most exhibitors in Frieze’s history and clear proof that the U.S. adaptation of the London mainstay was not, as some naysayers suggested, a one-hit wonder.
So what caught our eye?
Many seemed to abide by the saying “go big or go home.” Large-scale photographic works predominated, from Katy Grannan’s unflinching portraits at Salon 94 to a series of new photograms by Thomas Ruff at David Zwirner to Ryan McGinley’s signature nudes at Team Gallery. At the booth of Luhring Augustine, meanwhile, were Tom Friedman’s oversize sculptures of food, including a jumbo Twinkie, pizza pie, and slice of bread. (AD readers might recall his playful interpretation of a cereal box from the Vicente Wolf project that was our January 2013 cover story.) And dominating Lehmann Maupin’s space was an enormous piece by Do Ho Suh—a recreation of the Korean artist’s apartment using panels of green polyester. That was dwarfed only by Paul McCarthy’s 80-foot-tall inflatable sculpture Balloon Dog, which was installed on the lawn outside.
But it wasn’t just the big things that grabbed our attention (although size, in such a visually saturated setting, does tend to help). Equally mesmerizing were a handful of quietly powerful paintings by Mark Barrow, a rising star known for applying pixels of pigment to textiles woven by his wife and collaborator, Sarah Parke. Such works could be found at both White Columns and 303 Gallery, the latter also debuting Barrow’s forays into furniture design.
The most talked-about booth was arguably that of first-time exhibitor Marian Goodman, where no art whatsoever was hung. Instead, visitors entered an empty room to find a child actor reciting a 2011 piece by British-German artist Tino Sehgal. During the performance, appropriately enough, bleary-eyed audience members were asked, “Would you rather feel too busy or not busy enough?”
These past few days, anyone in the art world almost certainly felt overextended. After all, Frieze was just one stop on a long list of can’t-miss events. Friday night, the Museum of Modern Art revealed its presentation of Rain Room—a cutting-edge wonder by the British design firm Random International that allows participants to walk through a man-made storm while remaining perfectly dry. (J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons and her son were first in line to see the extraordinary piece.) Downtown, meanwhile, Pace toasted its first exhibition of work by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara at a glittering party atop the Standard hotel. On Saturday, people flocked to see that show and other gallery spectacles, chief among them the dueling unveilings of Jeff Koons’s latest at David Zwirner and Gagosian. Other highlights included Paul McCarthy’s simultaneous shows at both Hauser & Wirth outposts, Wolfgang Tillmans’s exquisite photographs at Andrea Rosen, and new work by the Cuban collective Los Carpinteros at Sean Kelly.
All in all, the mix provided a delightful if dizzying high and an indicator of what’s to come at the inaugural edition of Art Basel Hong Kong later this month—and of course at Art Basel itself, in June. Until then, rest up.