Reflecting director Victoria Siddall’s aim that Frieze, true to its editorial roots, should be “a place where art is made, discussed and debated”, there will be protest in the air when the fair unfurls its serpentine white tent for its sixth edition in New York.
Some galleries are using Frieze as a platform to respond to current events. A multimedia presentation by Thomson & Craighead at the Carroll/Fletcher gallery includes an “end times” perfume, while gallery artists from Ghada Amer to Lynda Benglis inspired by the colour pink (signature of the Women’s March on Washington) will be shown by Cheim & Read.
The curatorial scouting ground known as Spotlight will have 32 solo stands devoted to 20th-century artists. Notable rediscoveries include 1970s curvilinear paintings by Virginia Jaramillo (Hales Gallery) and works by Dom Sylvester Houédard, a Benedictine monk turned Conceptual artist in 1960s London (Richard Saltoun Gallery).
Meanwhile, special projects commissioned by Cecilia Alemani from Dora Budor, Elaine Cameron-Weir and Jon Rafman will blur the boundary between viewer and participant, turning the “see and be seen” impulse of an art fair inside out.
• Frieze New York, Randall’s Island, 5-7 May
