At the time of their debut in 2012, Freeze New York, The London Freeze spin-off ended up as a domineering undertaking. The exposition overlooked an island on the East River. Getting there can be difficult and costly. And once there, it took a humble effort to negotiate miles of pedestrian walkways formed by some 120 galleries.
This has changed. The fair, which runs through Sunday, is now moored in Manhattan, about a block away from the Hudson River. hut Located on West 30th Street. About half its original size, this year it will bring together 69 galleries, making for a very viable walkabout across three floors. Aside from the now standard “VIP” perks, the big ones are neglected.
Of course it’s a given. An art fair is a trade fair. On the supply side, professionals come to the market, interact, compete, compare, develop products, and hope to sell them. On the demand side, collectors have a one-stop-shop to check out new retailers and have the chance to drop cash on anything they like.
Even for those not in the business of selling or buying, the fair is a trading event. For the price you paid for admission, and now the hefty price of $55+ just to walk in the door, you expect a vibrant viewing experience.and Freeze New York 2023 delivers it in the form of dozens of substantial one-man shows, especially by bakers and historic groups whose quietly passionate spirit runs through the fair.
Some of the solos are on the first of the three levels of the fair. And the contrasting histories unfold in the two buildings set close to each other. Hauser & Wirth summarizes the results of a small, gorgeous but understated survey of paintings, sculptures, and drawings by Jack Witten (1939-2018) was a black artist who fled the Jim Crow South early in life and never returned, and remained largely unknown in the art world until his later years thanks to an unwelcome market. He’s become a big deal now.
Across from Hauser’s beautiful tribute aisle David Kordansky’s The booth is packed with vibrant sculptures and digital collages. Lauren Halsey The young Californian artist uses the difficult black life in his hometown of Los Angeles as the driving force behind his work, and now, at 36, his career is literally leaping forward. She debuted her installation commissioned for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop garden earlier this spring. , and hits.
Mary Lovelace O’Neal, who exhibits six large paintings at jenkins johnson He’s from Whitten’s generation, and he was also born in the South. Early on, she felt compelled to turn the abstract gestures she was drawn to into a political and personal medium. In her art, these two are inseparable.young african american artist Norine Pierrea person who performs a show at James Cohanfollowed O’Neill’s expressionist lead but moved it in a mythological and spiritual direction, transforming Cohan’s booth into a cavernous chapel of rich colors and swirling figures.
Elsewhere, it’s great to see two very different artists from New York show off in their amazing mid-career.Artist’s three-dimensional organic abstract form Susan Flacon carve out a formal concentration zone in David Zwirner.and Nan Goldinher gridded collection of photographs, gagosian, The gallery she recently joined is doing a victory lap after both successes. A film by Laura Poitras She has starred and documented performance activities.
Performances like video and conceptual art don’t really work in the context of an art fair. But engraving can or can be done, so it’s good to see some here.new york artist Matthew Roneyin the solo of Casey Kaplan It is a single piece 24 feet long called. “Cracks, swells, earth, odes.” Consisting of dozens of bruised, organic-looking (think fingers and fungi) toy-sized components, they span space like an apocalyptic horizon.
and compact show silver lensGalleries based in Manila and New York City condense his career. Carlos Villa (1936-2013), San Francisco-based Filipino artist, performer, and teacher. His pioneering advocacy of multiculturalism and his visionary, creative art (here’s a magnificent feathered coat, a combination of a shaman’s robe and a chazzurble) is only now widely known. I just started. .
Artist’s work, as in the villa June Clark New York used to be her home, but she’s had limited exposure there until now. Born in Harlem in 1941, she immigrated to Canada in the turbulent 1960s. Despite, or perhaps because of, such a strong departure, her home country remains an important subject in her art, be it the aggressive, pointy crowds or the worn old sculpts brought from Toronto to the Frieze. Glory is clear. Daniel Faria GalleryThe booth is part of a section called concentration The second floor of the fair hosts solo exhibitions organized by galleries less than 12 years old.
I encourage you to take your time and watch some of these. Bassobased in Buenos Aires and New York City, showing Monica Girons Wool knitted from the endangered bird species of Patagonia, where she was born.in toronto Cooper Cole have Jagdeep Raina‘Small hand-stitched embroidery evokes life in the Kashmir diaspora with words and images.and capsule shanghaiis entered by Liao WenEerily smooth carved wood cyborg; and with Miter Gallery where can i find Marcos SiqueiraAn image of the Brazilian countryside painted with pigments made from local soil.
The fair features a number of carefully selected and shaped shows as well as many others. Victoria Miro, Thaddeus Ropac, Michael Werner — Clear inventory display. However, one group exhibition Michael RosenfeldMr. Booth (D10) Being on the 3rd floor of the fair is exceptional.
All participating artists are women. All works date back to 1973, when abortion was legalized in Roe v. Wade. No technology directly addresses this. In fact, only a few works are overtly political in some way. It’s a collection of small pieces stuffed with pistols. Betty Searle And painted fantastic and prophetic pictures Nancy Grossman How the face turns into a gun.
But Rosenfeld has a lot of formal work going on by as-yet-unknown figures, such as: Baron Hannerole (1926-1987), Mary Bauermeister (1934-2023), and Lenore Tawny (1907-2007) is radical and subverts art historical norms. Taken together, this confirms a reality that markets have consistently ignored or suppressed. In other words, many of the most imaginative and innovative works of the past half-century have been by women.
Is awareness increasing? Are arts organizations making some sort of corrective noise? That’s what I’m good at. All I can say is that if you look closely at Freeze New York 2023, you’ll find treasures that probably wouldn’t have been found in such abundance just a few years ago.
These include dynamite paintings by harmony hammond and Joan Semmel and Alexander Graysan’s booth, and exquisite bethany collins There is a text part there. Jack Reynora thin spear-like collage of Esther Shipper (Berlin) and Fortes D’Aroia & Gabriel (Brazil) reminds me of this Brazilian The first large-scale New York survey by an artist recently swiss institute It will be on display here until August 27th.
painter Trisha Baga, It’s currently in space travel mode, and there’s also a double header ( society and Geo Marconi). And you’ll find amazing one-of-a-kind items hidden throughout the show. Leonor Antunes and Galleria Luisa Strina. in luscious lobster red Mary Hailman draw a picture 303 Gallery; In metal sculpture by Kathleen Ryan karma A crystalline spider web is hidden inside, Miguel Abreuis a tabletop version of Pamela Rosencrantz’s electric pink ‘Old Tree’, standing at full height on the high line outdoors.
Walking through the show and experiencing this slowly building choral effect is exciting and well worth the price of admission. Now, what has to change is the current inflated prices, so Freeze New York is just as out of reach for a wide audience, including a significant audience of young artists, as it was on the island a few years ago. It is certain.
freeze new york
Until May 21st at The Shed at Hudson Yards, 545 West 30th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues), Manhattan. 212-463-7488, Freeze.com.
