AO Breaking News: London's Frieze Art Fair coming to Randall's Island in 2012
May 20th, 2011
Aerial short of Randall’s Island, via The Art Newspaper
Frieze, the hallmark London contemporary art fair which has steadily built itself up since 2003, today announced its expansion to New York where it will host a fair in Randall’s Island Park. Frieze Art Fair will open on May 2nd for VIPs, with the public gaining access between May 3rd and 6th.
The fair will coincide with the city’s 2012 contemporary art auctions and will be around the same size as its London counterpart, with roughly170 galleries from 33 countries participating. Notably, the fair fall outside of the traditional art fair week in March, anchored by the Armory Show. This may prompt some galleries to re-evaluate which fairs they will participate in. Similarly, the timing of Frieze’s New York fair may affect galleries who may have opted for Art Basel in June.
more story after the jump…
According to a Frieze press release, “The New York fair will take a similar approach to that which has made Frieze Art Fair one of the world’s most influential contemporary art fairs, housed in a bespoke structure and located in a unique setting.” SO-IL, a Brooklyn-based architecture firm, will design a tent structure for the fair, which will also afford views of the East River and Manhattan. SO-IL is well known for its work on the outdoor courtyard for PS1′s ”Warm Up” event series in 2010.
Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, co-founders of Frieze, decided to host it in Randall’s Island Park due to its size and convenient access to Manhattan and Connecticut, where many wealthy art collectors reside. “When we happened on Randall’s Island Park, that was when we got very excited,” Ms Sharp said, because it meant they could “do it on a scale that makes sense.” Frieze is also getting strong support from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who in a statement said: ”Frieze has a reputation for hosting world-class arts shows, and with Randall’s Island Park as the location, and New York city’s waterfront as the backdrop, this new event should be extraordinary.” The London fair regularly sells out its 60,000 tickets available to the public.
Frieze Press Release [Frieze]
Frieze confirms New York fair for 2012 [The Art Newspaper]
Co-Founders of Frieze Announce Two New Fairs for 2012 to Complement Existing Fair [ArtDaily]
London Contemporary Art Fair Expanding to New York [Arts Beat- NYT]
Frieze art fair founders aim to heat up New York scene [Guardian]
The Frieze Art Fair Is Indeed Coming to New York, With Mayor Bloomberg’s Blessing [ArtInfo]
