Favorite Art from Frieze 2015

Stacked Blue Cookies
All Photos By Gail

When you set out to peruse large volumes of Contemporary Art, it is always a good idea to have an open-minded partner in crime along for the ride. Geoffrey was in LA last weekend, so I attended Frieze 2015 with a new friend, Scott, who, back in the mid-to-late-90s played guitar in one of the most notorious American Rock bands to find commercial success since the seventies, when the band called Alice Cooper staged mock-executions as part of its live show. But that story is, perhaps, for another time, because today I want to share photos with you of select pieces of art that Scott and I enjoyed at the Frieze Art Fair, which took place on Randall’s Island from May 14th to 17th.

Paola PIVI It's Not Fair
Paola PIVI’s It’s Not Fair: Bear Covered with Blue Feathers

Hannah Starkey Untitled
Hannah Starkey, Untitled

While we traveled from booth to booth, one of the topics Scott and I discussed is how much we dislike it when an artist labels a work “Untitled” instead of giving it a proper name. WTF is up with that? It makes it seem like you don’t care. It’s lazy. It’s like not naming one of your children. And it needs to stop.

Red Draped Coat 2

We both really liked the above sculpture, the title of which I could not locate, but I am pretty sure it is not called Untitled. It reminds me of a Jawa, the hooded characters in Star Wars, but if you look closely you can see it is a sculpture of a Red Coat as it would hang if draped on a hook, but without the hook. Clever and compelling.

Loredana Sperini
Pink Neon Raindrop Sculpture by Loredana Sperini

Art By Tomas Saraceno
BR2237-0607/M+1 By Tomas Saraceno

A few years ago, Geoffrey and I saw a crazy great sculpture called Cloud City by Argentinian-born artist Tomás Saraceno, which was on the roof of The Met in the summer of 2012. The piece above echoes the modular shapes that are a signature characteristic of Saraceno’s work.

Satoshi Ohno Prism Dark Night
Satoshi Ohno, Prism Dark Night.

I remember gasping audibly when I saw these two works by Japanese artist Satoshi Ohno, which are unbelievably gorgeous. Ohno is also a Japanese Idol, actor, radio host, and singer — being the lead vocalist and leader of Japanese boy band Arashi. Talk about a Renaissance man!

Satoshi Ohno Prism Sunset
Satoshi Ohno, Prism Sunset

Josiah McElheney Blue Prism Painting III
Josiah McElheney, Blue Prism Painting III

Even though the above piece by Josiah McElheny is called a painting, it is really a sculpture.

Berta Fischer

Neon Lucite Sculpture by Berta Fischer. I love her work.

John Giorno It's Not What Happens It's How You Handle It
John Giorno, It’s Not What Happens It’s How You Handle It

We love the text-based paintings of artist and poet John Giorno. It is always cool and fun to see one of his new pieces.

Matthew Darbyshire CAPTCHA No. 31 Sitting Lion
Matthew Darbyshire, CAPTCHA No. 31 – Sitting Lion

This Lion is made from stacked hollow tubes.

John McCracken Rythym
John McCracken Rythym

There was a fantastic selection of plank works by the late John McCracken in the David Zwirner booth.

It's The Buzz Cock By Linder
It’s The Buzz, Cock By Linder

Buzzcocks fans might recognize the above work by artist and radical feminist icon Linder (AKA Linder Sterling) from the picture sleeve of that band’s 1977 single “Orgasm Addict.” It certainly was impossible to miss, even from across the room.

Daniel Rich
Art By Daniel Rich

Carlos Garaicoa Dudas Sober el Paraiso Terrenal
Carlos Garaicoa, Dudas Sobre el Paraiso Terrenal

The above title translates to “Doubts about the earthly paradise.” See a detail shot of this work just below.

Dudas Sobre el Paraiso Terrenal

He Won't Hurt You
He Won’t Hurt You

Monir Farmanfarmaian

Above, you see selected Mirror Mosaic works by legendary Iranian artist Monir Farmanfarmaian. We just saw her exhibit, Infinite Possibility at the Guggenheim, and it was beyond amazing!

Lips That Look Like a Flame

Lips That Look Like a Flame? We love it.

Andy Coolquitt Found Deodorant Bottles
Andy Coolquitt, Neo-Deo: Found Deodorant Bottles Displayed in a Glass Vitrine

Marie Angeletti Catwoman
Marie Angeletti, Catwoman: Digital Print on Polished Steel

I hope you enjoyed your free peek at this year’s Frieze Art Fair! See you next year!

3 thoughts on “Favorite Art from Frieze 2015”

  1. Some cool pieces. Hopefully one year it will work out that I can go to Frieze. But we’ll always have your blog recaps if not 🙂

  2. The Satoshi Ohno works in the Frieze Art Fair 2015 certainly are amazing, but they are NOT by the Arashi J-Pop idol of the same name. The Satoshi Ohno who painted them is a professional fine artist who was born in Gifu, and received his M.A. from Tokyo Zokei University in 2006. He lives and works in Yamanashi, based in the foot of Mt Fuji.

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