Frieze New York Diary: “that artist is giving Kesha… oh wait, it is actually Kesha!”

It was unfortunate timing that my editor, Harriet, was on a well-deserved holiday and couldn’t accept Frieze Art Fair’s generous invitation to attend their 12th annual New York edition, which opened at The Shed, Hudson Yard earlier this week. So, I took one for the team and jumped on the JetBlue flight to the Big Apple.

It feels like this year the UK art scene has a real presence in the city. Established artists such as Lubaina Himid, Anderson Borba and Anne Rothenstein are presenting commercial solo shows, major NYC institutions have called in artists Kobby Adi, Veronica Ryan and Carole Gibbons, and at the fair itself, London galleries, Emalin and Carlos/Ishikawa among them, are mounting impressive presentations. UK artists are even breaking into the music scene; Issy Wood performed two sell-out shows in Brooklyn.

An abundance of satellite fairs, gallery shows, biennials, parties, gigs, breakfasts, dinners, tours, performances and cabarets later, here’s what I got up to…

Tuesday
Maurizio Cattelan at Gagosian

My first stop was Gagosian, to check out Maurizio Cattelan’s first solo gallery show in two decades. Inside, the back wall is covered in 64 stainless steel panels that have been luxuriously plated in 24-carat gold, before being violently punctured with bullet holes to “deconstruct the country’s relationship to the accessibility of weapons.” As artist and critic Walter Robinson wrote on X, each is on sale for $375,000, which according to my maths, calculates to a sales potential of $24,000,000. Not bad! Among the hubbub, I then noticed the other work on view: a life-sized solid marble sculpture of a man lying down, urinating. Explaining the concept, curator Francesco Bonami said, “if you’re free to buy an assault rifle in a department store, what’s wrong with pissing in public?” I’m not sure if the logic necessarily works out, but a good line nonetheless? Industry people working the room included artist Jamian Juliano-Villani; Frieze Masters director Nathan Clements Gillespie; curator Andrew Bonacina; Gagosian director and writer Antwaun Sargent; and gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin. At the centre of it all were Leon Black, Larry Gagosian, Anna Weyant and man-of-the-moment, Cattelan, who was laughing and parading through the room ink stamping visitors with the phrase “Beware of yourself”…

Frieze Party

They don’t seem to serve drinks at New York private views, so Ana Viktoria Dzinic and I jumped to The Fifth Avenue Hotel to quench our thirst at the official Frieze soirée, where champagne and cheese soufflés were being proffered. “I’ve got no information for you,” said Matthew McLean, creative director at Frieze Studios, when I asked him for a sitrep of the week. “But come to our party later!” Mingling while exchanging diary plans, I noticed one guest in the most incredible jacket emblazoned with logos of art world institutions: Artforum, Mary Boone Gallery, Sotheby’s… tapping her on the shoulder to ask for a photo, it turned out to be Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of The High Line and curator of the previous Venice Biennale. She obliged a photo and made sure I mentioned the designer, Mackenzie Younger. In search for something to eat and somewhere to sit, Ana and I bopped to the revamped Chelsea Hotel – former guests of the infamous establishment included Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, and William S. Burroughs – to meet Alexi Arario, one third of the iconic fashion podcast Nymphet Alumni. Her tip for the week: “New York’s not like London. There’s no pub culture and you can’t just simply pop into places. You need to book!” (I forgot to mention we were rejected from the venue two hours earlier for precisely that reason).

Wednesday
Frieze Art Fair

Unlike Plaster contributor Joe Bobowicz, who – quite iconically – managed to write a Frieze London diary without actually visiting the fair, I headed straight to The Shed for the VIP opening. Almost bumping into David Zwirner at the ground floor urinals, I met up with artist Nana Wolke to roam the aisles. Highlights included a solo presentation of Sylvie Fleury works by Sprüth Magers and Karma International; paintings and sculptures by Pol Taburet (who is the star of our next Plaster issue) at Mendes Wood DM; cute and colourful pastels by Andrew Sim at both The Modern Institute and Anton Kern; Anderson Borba’s carved wooden sculptures at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel; gorgeously gay photos by Stanley Stellar at Kapp Kapp; a huge Florian Krewer painting at Michael Werner; a wonderful solo presentation of the legend Reverend Joyce McDonald at Gordon Robichaux; Leidy Churchman (“it’s giving tranny represents”) at Matthew Marks; and textile works by new discovery to me Feliciano Centurión at Ortuzar Projects (obsessed). David Zwirner’s presentation of Nate Lowman’s paintings alongside furniture by Franz West was a total vibe and was so busy it looked like a mini living room in the fair. “Turns out all you need to make a good booth is a giant Franz West lamp,” said one interior designer. East London galleries Carlos/Ishikawa and Emalin were adjacent, with works by Issy Wood and Alvaro Barrington from their respective programmes inches apart. “The London power corner!” observed Emalin’s Benedict Winkler, who added that the “direct, pah pah pah attitude” of American clients was a welcome vibe.

Spotted among the crowds were Tate’s director of programme Catherine Wood; co-founder of Frieze Art Fair Amanda Sharp; creative director Jordan Richman; curator Reilly Davidson; design director of Firmdale Hotels Minnie Kemp; advisor Ed Tang; gallerist Meredith Rosen; fashion designer Charlie Casely-Hayford; Lucas Mill of @collectorwalls; Adam Charlap Hyman and Chelsea Mitchell of architecture and design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero; and an artist who was “totally giving Kesha… oh wait, it is actually Kesha!”

Whitney Biennial

Next, I made a beeline to the Whitney Biennial for a tour led by the museum’s fabulous curatorial assistant David Lisbon. Overheard near the fab Lily van der Stokker High Line mural: “Is that something to do with Harry Styles?” “Lol no, but she’d probably LOVE you saying that!” At the biennial, highlights included Maja Ruznic’s paintings “that have been on every Instagram story”; Isaac Julien’s hauntingly beautiful video installation considering legacies of African art; Nikita Gale’s ghost piano playing itself on repeat; P. Staff’s yellow room with an electrified suspended net that would “fry an apple into a crisp if you threw one at it”; and Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s energetic painting of a whale. The wall text quotes the artist describing her interest in these large mammals: “Watching them, I thought, imagine the tons and tons of water they must displace when they’re fucking!” Love!

Swiss Institute

After stopping briefly at the Whitney’s new(ish) Frenchette Bakery – where, I hear, many people visit just for the refreshingly expensive sourdough baked on site – we headed to Swiss Institute (the closest thing New York has to London’s ICA), for the launch of two new exhibitions with Shuang Li and Kobby Adi. Up the stairs, replete with Mary Manning photographs, to the roof, where crowds were chit-chatting in the sunshine, drinking natural wine and flagrantly flouting the no smoking rule. Spotted among the revellers were Swiss Institute director Stefanie Hessler; artist Tai Shani; Frieze London director Eva Langret; curator and founder of Viscose Journal, Jeppe Ugelvig; and artist of the moment, Joan Jonas (currently enjoying a MoMA solo show and the cover of Frieze magazine) casually hanging out with her pooch.

Issy Wood at Public Records

Many thanks to Michael Werner’s Jordan Bosher for notifying me about Issy Wood’s gig at Public Records before it sold out. Apparently it has the best sound system in New York, and also serves the best vegan food? Anticipation was high for Wood’s third ever live show. The crowd went wild for her moody lyrics and dulcet tones which were likened to Lana Del Rey. Those familiar with Wood’s droll and sardonic diaries will be unsurprised to hear that the show was peppered with humorous observations. Mid-set someone in the crowd screamed at Wood, “You’re doing a great job!” Her response, “Are you from the artworld? Someone trying to buy my paintings? I’m very aware of ulterior motifs…” Spotted in the club: Venus Over Manhattan owner Adam Lindemann; The New Yorker’s Naomi Fry; White Cube’s Caspar Jopling; and proud parents Vanessa Carlos and Robert Liddiment from Carlos/Ishikawa. After the show, all the talk was about Wood’s Jermaine Gallacher-designed apartment in Architectural Digest and another hotly anticipated event, Ana Viktoria Dzinic and Zak Klein’s cabaret at Dean Kissick and Christopher Kulendran Thomas’s new venue Earth.

Thursday
Around the city

I started the day with a breakfast press tour of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation led by curatorial director Juliet Blaut. The foundation, not usually open to the public, occupies a former chapel that the artist himself bought in the 1960s and used as studio and social space. “Robert was a gregarious person and there were lots of parties that took place here,” said senior curator David White. “Previously known as Milton, he’d often take in people to stay who needed a room – the building became known as Milton’s Hilton.”

Next, the opening of NADA, NYC’s fair for younger galleries. This year, taking place in Chelsea, right next to Hauser & Wirth. During the sweltering VIP opening I overheard someone complain, “is this the only building in NYC with no AC?” Thankfully the humid heat didn’t stop White Columns’ Matthew Higgs, Vanity Fair’s Nate Freeman, collector Marcelle Joseph and proprietor of Morán Morán, and founder of Felix LA, Mills Morán from mooching around the fair. Ema O’Donovan from Xxijra Hii, first-time exhibitors usually based in London, said, “NADA is an interesting fair because the project booths are on every floor so experimental work is alongside the bigger players”. Xxijra Hii were showing sculptures of cheekbones and violins by Manchester-based artist Richard Dean Hughes. Other highlights included vibey photos by Quil Lemons at Hannah Traore; works by Lotus Laurie Kang and Jennifer Carvalho at Franz Kaka; Anna Ruth at IRL Gallery (one of the most IG’d booths at the fair); and Emma Safir at Blade Study. Most iconic work at the fair? Sven Loren’s ghostly painting of edgelord downtown critic Dean Kissick. I wonder who might have bought such a statement piece…

Nearby at Marianne Boesky, Mary Lovelace O’Neal was showing incredible paintings; at Gladstone gallery, Arthur Jafa’s new film retelling Martin Scorsese’s 1976 New York classic Taxi Driver was pulling crowds; at Hales, London-based painter Haroun Hayward was showing gorgeous new paintings bridging rave culture with British landscapes and his mother’s textile collection; at Luhring Augustine, I saw the incredible work of the young photographer Shaun Pierson; while White Columns mounted chic solos of Vince Aletti, Veronica Ryan and Carole Gibbons.

After spending the rest of the afternoon writing this up, it was time for a private visit to the collection of Michael and Susan Hort in Tribeca. Collecting for 30 years, they’re 5,000 piece collection resides in their 10,000 square foot apartment and the walls are filled with incredible works. “They collect pretty much every day,” said their registrar when I arrived, and the walls were accordingly like an eye spy for art nerds like myself. I spotted works by Cindy Sherman, Elizabeth Peyton, John Currin, Karen Kilimnik and Raymond Pettibon. Afterwards, on to Greene Naftali for Lubaina Himid’s solo show. The gallery is one of my favourites, and not just because it quite iconically played host to Mr Big’s funeral in Sex and the City’s sequel, And Just Like That. After congratulating Haroun Hayward on his gorgeous show round the corner at Hales, it was time for dinner with Barbican assistant curator Diego Chocano and PR firm Sam Talbot’s Kitty Malton. We concluded the night at Bemelmans Bar, where White Cube was hosting a celebration of Antony Gormley. The band played and the martinis flowed…

Final stop of the week is Ana Viktoria Dzinic’s cabaret event at Dean Kissick and Christopher Kulendran Thomas’s new social venue Earth. Organised in collaboration with Interview magazine art director Richard Turley’s new magazine Nuts (yes, like the former UK lad mag) the event asked six cultural influencers to share five of their favourite TikTok videos. Artist Amalia Ulman mused on why it is cool to vibe with animals; Frieze editor Andrew Durbin spoke about the perils of being in back-to-back “situationships”; Alexei Arario revealed her lust for John F. Kennedy’s grandson and her predicted rise of a “global south-core” fashion trend; and curator and art advisor K.O. Nnamdie gushed about his love of cheerleading.

After it finishes, I look at my watch and it’s midnight – the working week is over. And just like that, time to go home.