For the third consecutive year, FRIEZE ART FAIR was held from the 9th until the 12th of May in Randall`s Island Park in New York City. The original fair, first held in 2003 in London at Regent Park, aimed to display the work of established living artists alongside that of emerging artists.
In 2012, the founders of Frieze Magazine, Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, put together this project, sponsored each year by Deutsche Bank. This year`s curator, Cecilia Alemani, is the organizer of exhibitions at PS1 gallery and Director at X Initiative, and featured seven site-specific artworks created by: Darren Bader, Edouardo Basualdo, Eva Kotatkova, Marie Lorenz, Koki Tanaka and Naama Tsabar. Two special sections, Focus and Frame, highlighted 190 galleries some of them world renowned while others still emerging. In addition to the in-situ projects, the initiative hosted FRIEZE TALKS: conferences held by some of the world`s most important leaders in contemporary art such as Tom Eccles (Executive Director at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, NYC) and Adam Szymczyk (Artistic Director of the DOCUMENTA 14).
Frieze Art Fair – New York 2014
One of the most intriguing and current conferences that FRIEZE Talks organized was between two members of the controversial Russian feminist group Pussy Riots, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina, who confronted David Remnick, editor and journalist of the New York Times. The theme of the conversation was the Zona Prava, an organization created by the two young activists which fights for a prison reform notably following their harsh incarceration in the Siberian jail.
The 2014 edition included Frieze Sounds, three commissioned audio works by international artists: Keren Cytter, Cally Spooner and Hannah Weinberger. These works of art are also available for download from the 9th of May.
Frieze New York 2014
Curator at Migros Museum in Zurich, Raphael Gygax and New York Curator Tim Saltarelli collaborate for the Frame section of the fair, whose objective is to boost the visibility of galleries founded in the past eight years. The aim is to create a proposed solo presentation as in the case of Barcellona based gallery Nogueras Blanchard where a majestic work of art by Cuban artist Wilfriedo Prieto is presented.
The art piece “Shark Tank” dating of 2012 is a reproduction of a cage in which scuba divers immerse themselves in deep waters to observe sharks from close up. It is seen as a metaphor of the artist`s descent into the depths of the subconscious and irrationality.
The artwork on display, including the site-specific projects, is the work of artists and professionals who are generally unknown to a wide audience, but are recognized and admired by the contemporary art cognoscenti; an example is the project of New York based artist Marie Lorenz Randall’s Island Tide Ferry in which she proposed an alternative trip for visitors from the official ferry boat of FRIEZE ART. She has always been interested in the water flow of the Big Apple and wishes for the general public to have another point of view of the natural and artificial shores that surround the city.
Some of the participating galleries include the Gagosian, Gladstone in New York, Kurimanzutto in Mexico City, Taka Ishii Gallery in Tokyo and many more from around the globe.
Frieze New York 2014
Deborah Galante Short bio
Always interested in traveling and in art history, Deborah has combined these two passions by studying and working in the cultural sphere in various parts of the globe. After having obtained her Bachelor`s Degree in Management and Communication in the Market`s of Art and Culture she moved to Sydney in Australia to pursue a Master in Art Curatorship and subsequently went to Paris to finish her studies in contemporary art. Following a year spent in Montreal in Canada working as a translator for contemporary art associations the next step is the Big Apple.
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