Frieze New York 2025: The Perfect Balance

Frieze New York 2025 strikes the perfect balance this year—not overwhelmingly vast, yet substantial enough to showcase truly exceptional works. The fair's thoughtfully scaled footprint allows visitors to fully engage with each presentation without the fatigue that often accompanies larger art events. The curation is impeccable, with high-quality art at virtually every booth, creating an environment where discovery feels both exciting and manageable. The fair is already proving fruitful for participating galleries, with at least two museum acquisitions confirmed during Wednesday's VIP opening—a strong indicator of institutional confidence in the works on display and the overall quality of this year's presentations.

Mendes Wood DM: Kishio Suga's Materiality

Mendes Wood DM presents a captivating display featuring Japanese artist Kishio Suga, a key figure in post-industrial art movements from the 1970s through the 1990s who continues to create today. Suga's "Sliced Stones" sculptures demonstrate his masterful approach to site-specific installations and his philosophical writing practice. The works feature concentric circles of stones with deliberate empty spaces, creating a dialogue between materials and absence. This thoughtful arrangement explores the relationship between different materials meeting one another, a theme consistent throughout his practice. Sliced Stones was swiftly acquired by a museum during Wednesday's VIP opening on May 7th—a testament to the enduring relevance of Suga's work.

James Cohan Gallery: Tuan Andrew Nguyen's Healing Mobiles

At Booth B4, James Cohan Gallery dedicates their space to Vietnamese American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen with a powerful solo presentation. The centerpiece, "Outburst" (2025), features mobile sculptures crafted from repurposed artillery shells collected by NGOs in Vietnam. These shells, once instruments of destruction, have been transformed through complex treatments that give them an almost reptilian texture reminiscent of dragon skin—symbols of good luck, rejuvenation, and resilience in Asian cultures. Beyond their visual impact, the sculptures incorporate sound elements calibrated to specific frequencies believed to promote healing. Nguyen's work impressively transmutes materials of war into objects of restoration and renewal.

Casey Kaplan Gallery: Hannah Levy's Material Tensions

Hannah Levy's untitled 2025 work at Casey Kaplan Gallery exemplifies her ongoing exploration of the relationship between contrasting materials. This striking piece combines stainless steel with blown glass in forms reminiscent of talons or claws. The process allows for a fascinating surrender of control, as the blown glass takes shape partially determined by the stainless steel "talons" that contain it, making each piece unique. Levy, who stands six feet tall and has often found herself the only female sculptor in the room, infuses her work with themes of body anxiety and our relationship with space. The rich purple coloration of the glass creates a compelling contrast with the neutral silver of the stainless steel, further emphasizing the tension between materials that runs throughout her practice.

G Gallery: Yehwan Song's Technological Contrasts

Seoul-based G Gallery presents Yehwan Song's innovative installation that juxtaposes high technology with low-cost materials. Song's work, The Barnacles, features projection mapping of a website onto a cardboard structure that took over two months to construct. The precision of this architectural arrangement, resembling a miniature cityscape, creates a thought-provoking commentary on "fake high technology" and contemporary internet culture. By using cardboard—cheap, disposable, and readily available—as the foundation for digital projection, Song challenges our perceptions of technological value and permanence. This compelling piece has been acquired by a Korean museum, recognizing its significance in the conversation about digital materiality.

Yeo Workshop: Citra Sasmita's Bodily Rituals

Singapore's Yeo Workshop presents Bali-based artist Citra Sasmita's immersive installation, The Barnacles, centered on the concept of the body as temple. The presentation features fragments of the human form arranged in an omega shape, constructed from ceremonial clothes and cowhide collected from antique shops in Bali. The centerpiece displays a split body adorned with beads that respond to the natural stretch marks in the cowhide, suggesting the body's spatial memory. Sasmita's work incorporates Balinese spiritual beliefs about sacrifice and regeneration, particularly focusing on the cultural significance of cows as sacrificial animals believed to attain better lives in their next incarnation. The installation invites viewers to become active participants rather than passive observers, creating an experience that is both ritualistic and contemplative.

Sultana: Contrasting Approaches to Intimacy

Paris-based Sultana Gallery presents a compelling pairing of artists with distinctly different approaches. Benoit Pieron's adorable bat sculpture "Peluche Psychopompe XIII" transforms hospital bed sheets into soft, comforting forms—a personal response to his childhood experiences with illness and hospitalization in France. This transformation of materials associated with pain into objects of joy creates a poignant commentary on healing and resilience. Alongside Pieron's work, Jean Claracq's meticulous oil painting depicting a young man in green swimwear showcases his characteristic attention to detail and vibrant color palette. Currently in residence at the International Center of Photography in Brooklyn, Claracq's work demonstrates a contemporary approach to figurative painting that feels both intimate and expansive. The juxtaposition of these two artists creates a fascinating dialogue about vulnerability, the body, and transformation.

Final Thoughts

Frieze New York 2025 demonstrates that an art fair need not be overwhelming to be impactful. This year's edition showcases deeply considered presentations from galleries around the world, with artists addressing themes ranging from materiality and technological critique to bodily experience and transformation. The manageable scale allows for genuine engagement with the works on display, making for a satisfying and thought-provoking experience that honors both established artists and emerging voices. As this year's presentations demonstrate, quality consistently triumphs over quantity.

Author

Abigail MacFadden

View all posts

Tagged Frieze, Frieze New York 2025

Frieze New York 2025: The Perfect Balance

Highlights from the Fair

Links

Read More

Read More

Author

Useful Links

Subscribe Now