COURTESY FRIEZE
This morning, Frieze New York revealed the list of galleries that will participate in its seventh annual stateside fair, and it consists of a grand total of 190 outfits from 30 countries. This year’s tweaked schedule will see the fair open to VIP cardholders only for its first two days, May 2 and May 3, before welcoming the ticket-buying public on May 4, 5, and 6.
Newcomers this year include New York standbys Essex Street and JTT, as well as Los Angeles gallery Château Shatto and Chicago’s Regards.
The fair is the first New York edition under Loring Randolph, who was named artistic director for the Americas in September 2017, and who will oversee changes in addition to the extra day of VIP previews. Booth fees will be 20 percent lower for galleries in the “Frame” sector, which is reserved for galleries established after 2009. This year’s lineup was selected by Andrew Bonacina and Ruba Katrib, and going forward, Bonacina will co-curate “Frame” with Swiss Institute curator Laura McLean-Ferris. (Katrib transitioned out of the position after taking a curatorial position at MoMA PS1 late last summer.)
Frieze New York 2018 will debut another sector, “Live,” which will consist of a series of performances and interactive events chosen by Performa’s Adrienne Edwards, who is also curator at large at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. And White Columns director Matthew Higgs will curate a sector dedicated to the life of Hudson, the late dealer who ran the gallery Feature Inc. and boosted the careers of Tom of Finland, Takashi Murakami, and Raymond Pettibon. Notably absent this year is “Frieze Projects,” the wild-card sector where High Line Art curator Cecilia Alemani had artists stage works in places decidedly outside the booth walls—in and out of the fairgrounds, in the air, out on the water, or in some ephemeral place.
And on top of all that, there will be an architectural redesign, one that will shift around the entrances and exits—a kind of rejiggering that can sometimes cause a headache for exhibitors and collectors with muscle memory of past tent layouts. See, for example, last year’s edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, held in a convention center that was still mid-renovation when the fair opened.
In a statement, Frieze Fairs director Victoria Siddall said she was confident visitors and participants would be receptive to the new layout, which is being handled by Universal Design Studio, the same firm that oversaw a well-received redesign of Frieze London in 2014. “Loring Randolph, the new artistic director of the fair, and I have worked closely with Universal Design Studio on a new look for the fair and this will make the seventh edition a fresh and exciting experience,” Siddall said. “Following record museum and collector attendance last year, we look forward to building on the fair’s reputation as a vital international and commercial hub.”
The full exhibitor list is below.