Satellite fair organisers are planning increasingly inventive projects to make their events stand out from the pack. Overwhelmed? Here is our pick of what to prioritise this week, from performance art in Red Hook to outdoor installations in Harlem.
Watch a live performance This year’s edition of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair includes a new performance by the Jamaica-born, Brooklyn-based artist Dave McKenzie. This ship would set sail, even anchored as it was (2016) takes as its point of departure the arrival in New York of Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican Pan-African leader, in 1916. To mark the centenary, McKenzie will walk around in specially designed sneakers that “can be used to print, much like a stamp or relief block print”. The performance, inspired by Garvey’s use of the printing press to spread his ideas, will be ongoing during Frieze week.
Give your eyes a rest and Listen to the art Sound works take pride of place at Art Miami New York, in a section titled Sound Positions. The curator, Christoph Cox, selected 12 international artists, including Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Olivia Block, whose work encompasses “field recording, experimental documentary, audio poetry, sound collage and experimental composition”, he says. Listeners can experience each composition through a pair of headphones to avoid “sound bleed”.
See students make their design debut The Collective Design fair is working with students from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan for a non-selling exhibition called Fine Design for the End of the World. Around 15 graduate design students will present work that they have made especially for the fair. “It’s important to see the span of work, from students to masters, to see where design has been and where it is heading,” says Steven Learner, the fair’s director.
Take an art tour of Harlem Flux Public Art Projects is unleashing installations and performances by 40 artists across the parks and streets of Harlem. The show has been organised by Leanne Stella in collaboration with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Transportation. Flux has raised more than $20,000 to help fund the artists’ projects, according to Stella. This year’s theme, Changing Landscapes, examines “how global changes… impact on a local community”, she says.
Get a stanza bonanza at a poetry reading Fridge Art Fair is working with the Angel Orensanz Foundation this year for an edition that takes place in the foundation’s Gothic Revival building, a former synagogue that was built in 1849. The show includes a site-specific installation by Orensanz, the Spain-born, New York-based artist who has owned the building since 1986. The fair will also host poetry readings by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright and Jason Greendyk.
Play ball The New Art Dealers Alliance fair, which takes place at Basketball City, is honouring its home with a project by Tyson Reeder. In collaboration with Artspace, the artist has made an edition of 100 colourful basketballs (red, blue, green and black) that borrow from his brother Scott’s organisational system for jotting down ideas (green ink for thoughts on art, black ink for day-to-day items like grocery lists). The basketballs are priced at $95.
Discover some unrepresented artists The inaugural Portal art fair takes over the historic Federal Hall National Memorial building on Wall Street with a show of around 40 unrepresented artists and an unorthodox model. Participating artists can take home 100% of the proceeds from a sale, although organisers suggest a 30% commission for their work in putting together the event. The show is free to the public.
Where to go
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
6-8 May
Art Miami/Context New York
Pier 94, 711 12th Avenue
until 8 May
Collective Design
Skylight Clarkson Square, 550 Washington Street
until 8 May 2016
Flux Public Art Projects
Various locations in the streets and parks of Harlem
until 31 May
Fridge Art Fair
Angel Orensanz Center, 172 Norfolk Street
7-9 May
New Art Dealers Alliance
Pier 36, Basketball City, 299 South Street
5-8 May
Portal
Federal Hall National Memorial, 26 Wall Street
until 10 May
Salon Zürcher
Zürcher Gallery, 33 Bleecker Street
until 8 May 2016
www.galeriezurcher.com/salon-zurcher
Seven
The Boiler, 191 North 14th Street, Brooklyn
until 22 May
Spring Masters
Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue
6-9 May