Stone-cold sexy?
Underwear on the floor is turning heads at the Frieze New York stand of the Iranian gallery Dastan. This fetching pair of pants—the British term for undies—is not a soiled item discarded by a fairgoer but an exquisite piece crafted from Carrara marble by the London-based artist Reza Aramesh. “Each piece represents the last item of clothing taken off from a person before the prison uniform is given to them,” says the artist on Instagram. The relevant detention centre is printed on the underside; this edition has the title Action 473 Lefortovo Prison 23 April Progression #226. Aramesh was on the stand during Wednesday’s VIP preview, explaining that he showed 207 of the pants pieces at a church in Venice in 2024; he was interrupted by a fair visitor keen to point out that he’d “left something behind” on the fair floor. Charming.
Under wraps: the creators of the $150 works are revealed only after purchase
Secret Santa comes early to Tribeca
A highlight of Frieze Week is the open-house event held by Susan and Michael Hort at their impressive Tribeca townhouse, where guests can sneak a peek at works by top artists such as Elizabeth Peyton and Michaël Borremans. Works available in a special sale benefit the Rema Hort Mann Fund, with proceeds going towards an emerging-artist programme and the Peter Hort Quality of Life Cancer Grants. (Both Rema and Peter, the Horts’ children, died from cancer.) A particularly popular element of the sale is the “Buy What You Love” section, which includes works on paper by artist friends for the fund. Everything is priced at $150, but “you won’t know who created a work until you buy it”, according to a wall text. “We’ve been running this for 30 years. It’s fun!” says Elysia Borowy, the executive director of the Rema Hort Mann Fund. “People do try to game the system, which is fine.”
From Angel to artist: Lucy Liu’s show includes the languid portrait Make Haste Slowly (2026) Courtesy Alisan Fine Arts
Art loves Lucy
The actor Lucy Liu is making art-world waves again with a new show at Alisan Fine Arts on the Upper East Side (until 6 June). Hard Feelings includes paintings focused on “memory, family history and emotional reflection through a deeply personal body of work”, a spokesperson says. Liu, meanwhile, says the works unmask and strip away “the instinct to reframe the past or make it more palatable”. Known for films like Charlie’s Angels, Liu is a successful artist—or, as Pink News once put it: “What most of the internet didn’t know was that she creates erotic lesbian art.”