Art Fair Insider: One More Day until Frieze New York

By Ted Loos

Following up on my previous post, here are the rest of the not-to-be missed elements of Frieze New York week 2013.

1. Satellite fairs. Another parallel with the rise and rise of Art Basel Miami Beach is the fact that Frieze New York has quickly attracted many good satellite fairs—they know an opportunity when they see it. At least seven are occurring all over town: Pulse, Cutlog (an experimental new French fair that merits checking out), Red Dot, Verge, NADA, PooL, and Seven. 

2. Roasted pig. The most singular and anticipated part of the fair this year is the reboot of/homage to Food, the legendary collective restaurant founded by Gordon Matta-Clark and Carole Gooden in 1971. The original spawned many a tale, and now some of the founders are coming back to cook, including Gooden and Tina Girouard; they will be joined by contemporary artists Matthew Day Jackson and Jonathan Horowitz. Louisiana native Girouard told me she is roasting a pig Cajun-style, and said with perfect confidence: “It will be done right.” That’s all I need to hear to strap on a bib in anticipation. 

3. Frieze Sounds. In one of the world’s noisiest cities, it’s a treat to put on a pair of headphones and listen to a sound-based artwork. Curator Cecilia Alemani has chosen a few top artists—keep your ears peeled for Trisha Baga in particular—whose work can be heard at special listening platforms. And they will also be streamed online. 

4. Talks on Collecting. Talk isn’t cheap, at least not at these very promising chats about the art and science of acquiring artworks. On Friday at 2pm, top Canadian collector Bob Rennie discusses his contemporary art interests; Saturday at 2pm it’s Jarl Mohn on his passion for new Los Angeles-based work and old-school Minimalism. 

5. New York’s galleries have chosen this week to mount some of their best shows all year, expecting increased traffic and attention—which they are likely to get. A partial list of top destinations would have to include: Tracey Emin at Lehmann Maupin (both branches); Ryan McGinley at Team Gallery (both locations); Richard Avedon at Gagosian; Julie Mehretu at Marian Goodman; and Dana Schutz at Friedrich Petzel.

Ted Loos writes on wine, art and architecture for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, Vogue and Epicurious.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @LoosLips.