Art fairs are always a bit of a maze, but the organisers of Frieze New York are taking the idea of the labyrinth to a new level at this year’s edition.
This is especially evident in Frieze Projects, the fair’s non-profit programme of artists’ commissions, which has been organised for the fourth year by Cecilia Alemani, the curator of New York’s High Line. Visitors can explore the narrow corridors and tactile obstacles of the 200ft-long Flux-Labyrinth (1976/2015), a revival of the Fluxus funhouse first staged at the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin.
Another maze-like installation, the Japanese-born, New York-based artist Aki Sasamoto’s Coffee/Tea (2015), is conceived as a three-dimensional personality test with one entrance but seven exits. Meanwhile, visitors will have to step outside the fair to see the Frieze Projects commission by the Los Angeles-based artist Samara Golden. She is creating a mirrored chamber underneath the Frieze tent to expose fairgoers to its hidden infrastructure, air-conditioning pipes and all.
Punters will have more choice than ever this year. The number of galleries and non-profits taking part in the fair has crept up from 190 to 198, including major US dealers—such as Acquavella, Blum & Poe, Matthew Marks, McKee and Skarstedt—that are showing for the first time. Their presence suggests that the British fair is beginning to cement its position in the US. “Last year felt like a real sea-change, in that the city really embraced the fair and people came from all over the Americas,” says Victoria Siddall, who masterminded the launch of Frieze Masters in London in 2012.
Siddall is poised to take the reins of all three Frieze fairs as co-founders Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover prepare to step back. She is looking forward to creating a greater crossover, while maintaining the fairs’ distinct identities. “Even before I took over at Frieze New York, we talked about the ways in which we learn from each fair,” she says. “You get to see what works in one and how it might work in another.”
So this year’s Frieze New York introduces Spotlight, a section that launched at Frieze Masters in London in 2012. Focusing on solo presentations of 20th-century art, it will be overseen by the Brazilian curator Adriano Pedrosa for the last time before he takes up a new appointment as artistic director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil. There will be stands dedicated to the work of artists including Carolee Schneemann (Hales, London), Howardena Pindell (Garth Greenan, New York) and Ibrahim El-Salahi (Vigo, London).
After navigating the 250,000 sq. ft tent, visitors can expect to have tired legs. The weary would do well to take advantage of the Frieze Projects commission by Korakrit Arunanondchai. Massage chairs upholstered in his signature bleached denim will be placed throughout the fair, free for all to use.
• Frieze New York, Randall’s Island, Manhattan, 14-17 May