With all the commotion surrounding Frieze New York, it may seem hard to believe that the fair, which runs May 9-12, isn’t the only event happening this week. There’s also the Collective Design Fair and a plethora of satellite fairs, openings, parties, and talks worth checking out. What’s more, Frieze has organized a lecture program that brings the likes of 2015 Venice Biennale director Okwui Enwezor and members of Pussy Riot to Randall’s Island. Below, ARTINFO has compiled a list of Frieze Week events to keep you engaged beyond the booths and tents. But we can only tell you about what’s going on — getting into everything on our list is up to you.
Wednesday, May 7
Opening: Ragnar Kjartansson, Roberto Cuoghi, Camille Henrot at the New Museum, 235 Bowery, 6-8 p.m.
The New Museum celebrates three new exhibitions by extending its usual hours into the evening. Kjartansson presents his first New York museum show, an exploration of his relationship with his mother and father through video, performance, and drawings; Cuoghi recreates an Assyrian lament from 612 BC; and Henrot shows four new videos as part of a survey of her recent work.
Awards:The Whitney American Art Award at the Highline Stages, 440 West 15th Street, New York, 7 p.m.
The Whitney’s 23rd annual American Art Award honors Dorothy Lichtenstein, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Maramotti Family. The award, an original work of art, is commissioned from an American artist and presented to the honorees at a gala dinner. Josephine Meckseper, whose work was shown in the 2010 Whitney Biennial and is represented in the museum’s permanent collection, designed this year’s award.
Book Launch: Keren Cytter Celebrates “Peacocks and Hiccups” at the Russian Samovar, 256 West 52nd Street, 9 p.m.
Prolific multimedia artist Keren Cytter celebrates the launch of a new volume of poetry and prose, “Peacocks and Hiccups,” released by her publishing imprint Art Projects Era. There’s a reading at 9 p.m. from the trio of writers featured in the book (Karl Holmqvist, Luna Miguel, and Catherine Wagner), followed by a “political party” with DJs and booze.
Thursday, May 8
Opening:“Hot House,” 418 East 115th Street, May 8-11, Thursday, 1- 10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
L.A.-based Night Gallery and Brooklyn’s Knowmoregames curate an exhibition of “performance, music, and other experiences of art as ritual” inside a formerly abandoned townhouse in Spanish Harlem. Presented by the new “curatorial concept” Blackrock/Whiterock, the show is spread across four levels: a sculpture-garden basement, a ground floor performance space, a second floor gallery for tchotchkes, and a third floor living space for participating artists, where they will share meals with guests.
Opening: Yves Klein and Andy Warhol at Skarstedt Chelsea, 550 West 21st Street, 6-8 p.m.
Skarstedt Gallery opens its new Chelsea space, designed by architect Annabelle Selldorf (renowned for last year’s David Zwirner expansion), following the success of its Upper East Side and London branches. The downtown space, devoted to historical exhibitions, will present an inaugural show of Klein’s “Fire Paintings” and Warhol’s “Oxidation Paintings.”
Talk: Andrew Kuo and Ari Marcopolous at NeueHouse, 110 East 25th Street, 6:30-8 p.m.
Marlborough Gallery artists Kuo and Marcopolous will talk about the intersection of art and sports with moderator Kalefa Sanneh. Reserve at spot by writing to rsvp@neuehouse.com.
Party: Whitney Art Party at the Highline Stages, 440 West 15th Street, 8 p.m.-1 a.m.
The annual fête and silent auction, staged to raise money for the Whitney’s Independent Study Program, will be hosted by actress Zoe Saldana, MaxMara heiress Maria Giulia Maramotti, and Whitney director Adam Weinberg. VIPs will have the chance to preview a silent auction hosted by Art.sy that closes on May 8. The night’s highlight, however, promises to be a .gif photo booth directed by the artist group assume vivid astro focus.
Friday, May 9
Talk: Okwui Enwezor with Jason Moran at Frieze New York, Randall’s Island, 12 p.m.
Enwezor, artistic director of the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, will talk with jazz musician and performance artist Moran about their shared interests — the interplay of art and music. The two appear to be friends: Enwezor and Moran had a similar public conversation in October, after the latter held a performance in Munich.
Talk: Pussy Riot with David Remnick at Frieze New York, Randall’s Island, 4 p.m.
Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, the two most infamous members of Pussy Riot, will speak with Remnick, editor-in-chief of the New Yorker and Russian culture expert, about their work in activism. The Russian duo will discuss their new NGO, Zona Prava, devoted to advocating for prison reform.
Opening: Jens Praet at Sebastian + Barquet Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, Suite 300, 6-8 p.m.
Praet’s first solo show in New York City will debut his “Shredded” series of furniture, made from copies of Art+Auction magazine (published by Louise Blouin Media, which also publishes this website) that have been cut into strips, mixed with resin and confetti, poured into a furniture-shaped molds, and polished. The designer’s “Dressed” series, made from scrap fabric covered in wax and cast in bronze, will also be on display, including a low table specially commissioned for Sebastian + Barquet.
Performance: Antifreeze at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, 8 p.m.
Hosted by Whitney Biennial alumna Zackary Drucker, the evening of short, off-the-cuff performances by Colin Self, Joseph Keckler, and Dynasty Handbag skewers gender conventions, consumerism, and, of course, art fairs. Reserve a seat at info@nypac.org.
Saturday, May 10
Talk:“Nordic Influence: Designers Discuss the Scandinavian Legacy at Collective Design Fair,” Moynihan Station, 330 West 33rd Street, 1 p.m.
Museum of Arts and Design director Glenn Adamson talks with designers Wendell Castle, Joseph Walsh, and Cathrine Raben Davidsen about the enduring influence of Scandinavian design on their own work. Adamson has also guest-curated “Collective Focus: Scandinavia,” with Nordic pieces borrowed from Collective design fair exhibitors, to highlight the region’s presence at the fair.
Opening: Mana Exposition at Mana Contemporary, 888 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1-7 p.m.
The art storage facility and gallery complex in Jersey City hosts its inaugural commercial exhibition, showing works with a market value over $10 million inside its Richard Meier-designed Glass Gallery. Curated by artist Ray Smith, “The Best Artists Are My Friends, Part 1” includes pieces by Alex Katz, the Bruce High Quality Foundation, and Swoon. The selling show runs through August 1, but on May 10, shuttle buses from Manhattan will run every half hour from Milk Gallery at 450 West 15th Street, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Gallery Night: Frieze Chelsea Night, Between West 14th and West 28th Streets, 6-8 p.m.
A number of New York-based Frieze exhibitors are staying open late to welcome new and VIP clients to their principal gallery spaces. Participants include Sean Kelly Gallery, showing Rebecca Horn, and Anton Kern Gallery, showing Matthew Monahan.
Sunday, May 11
Art Walk: Lower East Side Art Walk, Between Houston and Canal Streets, 12-6 p.m.
In conjunction with Frieze, East Village and SoHo galleries will stay open on Sunday afternoon to welcome clients and the public. Participants include Lesley Heller Workspace, R. Jampol Projects, Christopher Henry, and Molly Krom.
Talk: Kenneth Goldsmith at Frieze New York, Randall’s Island, 4 p.m.
The poet and founder of online avant-garde art archive UbuWeb will deliver the fair’s keynote lecture. Named MoMA’s inaugural poet laureate in 2013, Goldsmith has authored 11 books of poetry and is currently working to print out the entire contents of the Internet.
This piece was written by Anna Kats with additional reporting by Ashton Cooper and Scott Indrisek.
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