Dialogues between artists are a key a part of Frieze New York, no extra so than within the honest’s twin displays. In these, a gallery locations the works of two artists in dialog with each other. The artists’ practices, approaches and cultural backgrounds might differ – however their union within the sales space invitations the customer to search out parallels, query variations and typically uncover friendships and formative influences. As artist Donald Moffett says under, ‘We study from each other, not simply by the work we produce however by the areas we create for dialogue… It’s not nearly concord; it’s concerning the friction and complexities when two views collide.’ Listed here are some key double headers at this yr’s Frieze New York.
Jennie C. Jones and Donald Moffett at Alexander Grey Associates
Jennie C. Jones’s work Ensemble is a part of the 2025 Roof Backyard Fee on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork, a spotlight of Frieze Week in New York. Her observe explores how the visible and the aural can intersect, making her twin stand with Donald Moffett at Frieze New York all of the extra intriguing. Moffett’s lengthy profession has seen him power portray to bodily develop past the canvas, a vector that runs parallel to the sense of environmental and political urgency in his work.
Jennie C. Jones, what does it imply to point out alongside Donald Moffett? I’ve recognized Donald’s work for years. We linked in 2015 and have become quick mates – our conversations are filled with humour and critique. Whereas we come from completely different backgrounds and approaches, we’ve got a shared perception within the energy of artwork that comes from an intimate studio observe. Donald’s capability to mix urgency with magnificence, particularly in his explorations of environmental points, resonates deeply with my very own curiosity within the intersection of artwork, sound and social consciousness.
Does being in a twin presentation have an effect on what work you present? Completely. A twin presentation provides an amazing alternative for dialogue. Frieze New York challenges me to consider how my observe intersects with one other artist’s imaginative and prescient.
What’s the function of dialogue between artists? It’s about studying, increasing and difficult one another. That’s how we create, by dialog: this dialogue that may push us out of our siloed areas, spark new concepts and foster development. Exhibiting with one other artist pushes us to interact extra deeply with one another.
Donald Moffett, what does it imply to point out alongside Jennie C. Jones? It’s a particular pleasure. Her strategy to artwork, notably her integration of sound and type, is each cerebral and tactile. Her work prompts the physique, the attention and the thoughts, and I’ve all the time believed within the energy of artwork to stir these senses. Our practices diverge in technique however converge in intention: to make work that resonates with larger political, environmental and emotional points.
Does being in a twin presentation have an effect on the way you strategy an exhibition? Positively. Exhibiting with Jennie is a joyful catalyst for deeper reflection on my work, the way it engages with the area, her work and the viewer. There’s a unique form of duty whenever you’re presenting alongside somebody whose work shares the identical tendencies and pursuits. It encourages me to refine my concepts and to suppose critically about how they contribute to a broader narrative.
What’s the function of dialogue between artists? It’s important. We study from each other, not simply by the work we produce however by the areas we create for dialogue. With Jennie, as an illustration, the best way she pushes the boundaries of sound and visible type challenges me to rethink my very own observe. This change sharpens our understanding of one another’s artwork and its function in society. It’s not nearly concord; it’s concerning the friction and complexities when two views collide.
Judy Ledgerwood and Leon Polk Smith at Grey
Grey gallery is presenting two paths of US abstraction, with Judy Ledgerwood’s modern observe in dialog with historic works by Leon Polk Smith (1906–1996). Ledgerwood’s work, which extends throughout sculptural items in addition to work, is impressed by each canonical artwork historical past and extra parochial and home crafting practices, together with the US custom of quilting. Polk, who had Native American lineage, additionally drew on cultural traditions in his work together with the European geometric abstraction he found in New York as a younger man. He as soon as mentioned, ‘I grew up within the Southwest … the place my Indian neighbors and kin used shade to vibrate and shock.’
Judy Ledgerwood, what does it imply to point out alongside Leon Polk Smith? It’s fantastic to point out my work alongside historic work in such an area. One of many challenges I face as an artist is that I can’t paint innocently; I consider my work in relation to each portray ever made. To take part on this custom supplies me the chance to share the love and problem accepted orthodoxies, together with my very own. Leon Polk Smith and I share inspiration from craft traditions – him Indian blankets, me quilts. We additionally like intercourse. His so-called abstractions trace at butts, dicks and penetration. My work additionally leak, swell and pulse, though I lean in direction of the yonic versus the phallic.
Does being in a twin presentation have an effect on what work you present? I selected work that create synergy with Leon, a dialogue the place each our inventive issues can be extra keenly understood by juxtaposition.
What’s the function of intergenerational dialogue between artists? It’s enjoyable to time journey. I’m saddened that I by no means truly met Leon (I hope he wouldn’t thoughts me utilizing his first identify). I see in his artwork a deep love of portray’s historical past. He needed to work by Mondrian and I needed to work by Matisse. I additionally see an artist who felt alienated from the tradition he cherished. He was homosexual, from Oklahoma, half Cherokee and lived in an earlier period. I’ve decidedly not confronted the identical stage of societal repression that Leon doubtless did in his lifetime, however I’m a girl from Brazil, Indiana, navigating and difficult a historical past largely formed by males, whilst I love it.
Lynda Benglis and Adam Pendleton at Tempo
Tempo’s Frieze New York presentation takes the thought of dialogue between artists a step additional. Its sales space of Lynda Benglis and Adam Pendleton can be curated by the latter, shared themes of course of, replica and the handmade of their respective practices. Both artists translate gesture into bodily type: Pendleton with portray and Benglis sculpture, and each work on the boundaries of abstraction and conceptualism.
Pendleton will present 4 ‘Black Dada’ work from 2024 alongside two new ‘Motion’ work accomplished this yr and proven for the primary time in New York at Frieze. In these works, he meditates on performative gestures and the boundaries of the human physique. The works incorporate portray, printing and images; Pendleton layers paint, spray paint, ink, and watercolour, integrating textual content fragments and geometric types by stencilling. The ensuing works are each expressionistic and conceptually wealthy.
Benglis has been equally innovatory within the discipline of sculpture, utilizing an enormous number of supplies: beeswax, latex, polyurethane foam, plaster, gold, vaporized metallic, glass, ceramics and paper. She can be presenting six works on the sales space, bronze sculptures created between 2021 and 2024, every growing a relationship with an present clay sculpture by the artist. Glistening and sensuous, the works form liquid, buoyant qualities to specific pleasures of gesture and materiality, reminiscence, gravity, and sensation itself.
Francesca Facciola and Peter Wächtler at Lodovico Corsini
One of many extra unpredictable displays at Frieze New York 2025 comes from Belgian gallery Lodovico Corsini, which is exhibiting German artist Peter Wächtler and Brooklyn’s Francesca Facciola collectively. Wächtler’s work roams throughout media: sculptures in bronze, ceramic or paper-mâché, work on celluloid, limestone and wooden, movies and animations, tales and poems. His work’s plurality is integral to its level – questioning worth, concepts of ‘excessive’ and ‘low’ artwork, of cultural significance and theoretical integrity. He treats the commonplace with as a lot respect (ie, little or no) as extra nobly born inventive endeavours, endlessly circling, reluctant to settle. Facciola’s observe is equally bananas, albeit extra modest in materials scope (for now, a minimum of), though her work are typically became tracksuits or 3D tumbling mats supporting cartoonish animal characters. How these two artists will occupy the identical area with out some form of fission response stays to be seen, nevertheless it must be thrilling, no matter.
Additional Info
Frieze New York, The Shed, 7 – 11 Could, 2025. Tickets are on sale – don’t miss out, purchase yours now. Alternatively, develop into a member to take pleasure in premier entry, unique guided excursions and extra.
BUY TICKETS
A devoted on-line Frieze Viewing Room will open the week earlier than the honest, providing audiences a primary have a look at the displays and the chance to interact with the honest remotely.
Frieze New York is supported by world lead associate Deutsche Financial institution, persevering with its legacy of celebrating inventive excellence on a world scale.
