Two talking heads
There were some famous faces at the VIP preview of Frieze—including the CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper (above left), who was browsing the aisles, no doubt hoping to add to his burgeoning contemporary art collection. Cooper told us he’d been eyeing works by Lorna Simpson at Hauser & Wirth and was keen on a painting by Inka Essenhigh (Subway, 2005) at Victoria Miro. The popular journalist has loaned a key painting to the current Amy Sherald show at the Whitney Museum (Handsome, 2019). Another silver-haired personality on the fair floor was the musician and cycling enthusiast David Byrne (top), seen admiring a Chitra Ganesh piece at Hales Gallery. Byrne looked chic as ever—we’re loving that blue fedora!
Pop inflation
The balloon artist DJ Morrow critiques inflation’s twisted trajectory
Gareth Harris
Everything is inflated these days, from egg prices to works of art. Indeed, a new show organised by the Locker Room in Tribeca (Inflation, until 1 June) features “a range of balloon-inspired, inflatable and air-filled works that collectively probe themes of value, spectacle, fragility and collapse”, according to Samara Bliss, founder of the Locker Room. We popped along to the blow-up show and chatted to DJ Morrow, a Houston-based balloon artist who was raised in a cult and learned balloon twisting from his parents. “I was a standard balloon twister but lost all my bookings in the pandemic,” he says. “I want to highlight America’s descent into populist fascism in this piece,” he adds, pointing to a trio of falling inflatable cherubs and a foreboding balloon tree sculpture.
The art of love
The artist Lauren Cohen wears her heart on her sleeve as she considers Frieze’s finest bachelors
Steven Molina Contreras
T-shirts and sweatshirts are the fashion statements at Frieze this year, with several jaunty examples on show in the aisles. We spotted a cheeky shirt sporting “Wikipedia editor in chief”, but our prize for top attire goes to the artist Lauren Cohen. She was turning heads while wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with: “I just came here to find a husband.” Cohen says the shirt comes courtesy of the artist Ayana Evans, and she’s sticking to her brief. “There are men over 60 who are interested. My cut-off age is 54, though,” she quipped.
A courtly canine
It’s hardly a ruff life for Sprout, Anna Weyant’s spaniel, pictured in a work by Roe Ethridge
Steven Molina Contreras
Doggy art is always a hit, so it’s no surprise that an adorable photograph of a soppy-eyed King Charles Spaniel is making fairgoers go all ga-ga at Frieze. The image of the prize pooch, Sprout (2023) by Roe Ethridge, “looks like a dog in an Old Master painting”, says the gallerist Andrew Kreps. The picture strikes a chord with The Art Newspaper team, because our office dog—the delightful George—is a dead ringer for Ethridge’s spaniel (in our fantasy world, we’d like to get together and buy the Ethridge pic). Sprout is the artist Anna Weyant’s dog.
R U LOOKING FOR PAINTINGS???
Installation view of R U STILL PAINTING??? at 520 Eighth Avenue Courtesy Falcon Art Collective
Those seeking out a different kind of art experience this week in Manhattan should head to a vast, unused office building on Eighth Avenue that is hosting a sprawling painting survey featuring more than 40 artists, from Austin Lee and Viola Yesiltac to Robert Storr and Elizabeth Neel. R U STILL PAINTING??? (until 1 June) is organised by Falcon Art Collective, which is selling the works at price points ranging from $3,000 to $95,000. The collective’s co-founder, Paololuca Barbieri Marchi, says that “today there are real opportunities opening up in Midtown. In a good way, it’s like a zombie that just won’t die, no matter how many times you shoot at him.”
Museum directors’ mental-health regimens
A bike path on Randalls Island, a preferred de-stressing destination for Metropolitan Museum director Max Hollein Photo by Rhododendrites, via Wikimedia Commons
With all the stresses and strains of the week’s fairs and galas, art-world power players are finding novel ways to wind down and switch off. Max Hollein, the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, posted on Instagram about his preferred way to chill. “Favourite Met Gala prep: cycling on Randall’s Island,” he wrote, showing an idyllic picture of the deserted bike trail under the Railroad Viaduct located on the East River island. Sally Tallant, the executive director of the Queens Museum, says that she likes nothing more than a good “swim every morning, which is my way to stay calm and maintain my mental health”. She needs to keep her stamina up for a fundraising auction in aid of the institution during its annual gala tonight.
