NEW YORK, NY.- The sixth edition of
Frieze New York closed on Sunday, May 7, having brought together more than 200 leading galleries from 31 countries and driven exceptional sales and record collector attendance throughout the week. This year also marked the launch of new partnerships in New York, including the inaugural Frieze Brooklyn Museum Fund to support acquisitions made at the fair for the museum; the first Frieze symposium in the city held in collaboration with the Getty and the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; and a campaign to support the Americans for the Arts Action Fund to save the National Endowment for the Arts. Bringing together collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts from around the world, Frieze New York 2017 showcased the vanguard of contemporary practice and traced its key influences, highlighting established, emerging, and re-discovered artists alongside icons of 20th-century art and tribal works. Presented on Randall’s Island Park from May 5 – 7, the fair drew a record number of top-tier first-entry collectors visiting from around the world both on the Preview Day and throughout the fair. Building on ambitious gallery presentations as well as the fair’s Frieze Projects of site-specific artists commissions and Talks programs, Frieze New York reinforced its role as a vital platform for engaging with the most influential and inspiring artists working today.
For the sixth consecutive year, Frieze New York was sponsored by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing a shared commitment to discovery and artistic excellence.
Galleries across the fair’s Main and specially curated sections—Spotlight and Frame—enjoyed strong sales throughout the week, placing artworks across all levels of the market with major private collections and international institutions. Select highlights include: Lisson Gallery’s sale of an Anish Kapoor work listed as £1.2 Million; David Kordansky Gallery sold out its booth of Tala Madani paintings, ranging from $22,000 to $110,000 each, to both collectors and public institutions; Hauser & Wirth placed paintings and sculptures by American artist Lorna Simpson with both museums and private collections, ranging from $150,000 to $300,000; David Zwirner sold out of works by American sculptor Carol Bove, including four sculptures and one work on paper at prices ranging from $50,000 to $550,000;Grimm Gallery completely sold out its stand, including works by William Monk ranging from $20,000 to $26,000; and Mendes Wood DM sold works ranging between $10,000 and $50,000.
Victoria Siddall, Director, Frieze Fairs said: ‘It has been a great week at Frieze New York, with record attendance by collectors and curators that resulted in strong sales at a range of price points across the fair. We are proud to have had the opportunity to partner with great cultural organizations, from the inaugural Frieze Brooklyn Museum Fund, to our first-ever Symposium in collaboration with the Getty and Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, to our support for Americans for the Arts Action Fund to #SavetheNEA. The galleries in the fair made huge efforts to bring ambitious presentations of the highest quality work by artists from around the world – ultimately, this is what made the fair a great success.’
This year’s fair marked the inauguration of the Frieze Brooklyn Museum Fund supported by WME | IMG and LIFEWTR, which together contributed $50,000 towards the Brooklyn Museum’s acquisition of a work at Frieze New York. The selection panel, including curators from the Brooklyn Museum and guest curators from museums across New York City, selected the large-scale abstract work, Untitled 1971, by Virginia Jaramillo from Hales Gallery. This marks the first official museum acquisition fund for Frieze New York and follows a tradition of museum acquisition funds at Frieze Art Fairs, established with the Tate Fund at Frieze London beginning in 2003 that has supported the acquisition of more than 100 works for the national collection.
Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the Brooklyn Museum, said: ‘At the Brooklyn Museum we have a long history of championing artists before they have gained wider acceptance. We are thrilled to be able to continue that tradition through our acquisition of the wonderful and historically important 1971 work by Virginia Jaramillo at Frieze New York, with the support of LIFEWTR and WME | IMG in addition to funds from the Museum’s Contemporary Art Acquisition Committee.’
In coordination with the fair, Frieze mounted its first-ever symposium in New York in collaboration with the Getty and the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, presenting three panel discussions on Latin American and Latino art related to the Getty’s upcoming “Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA” (September 2017- January 2018). Participants included curators Cecilia Fajardo-Hill; Clara M. Kim; Chon Noriega, and artists featured in the exhibitions including Guillermo Kuitca, María Evelia Marmolejo and Clarissa Tossin, among others.
Joan Weinstein, Deputy Director of the Getty, said: ‘We so appreciated Frieze giving us the opportunity to present the research behind the upcoming Pacific Standard Time exhibitions to a broader audience. And the fair was a perfect place for us to connect with the leading Latin American galleries, which were so well represented this year.’
