What Not to Miss During Frieze New York Week 2022

This weekend, Frieze New York will mark its 10th anniversary by doing things a bit differently. This year’s edition, held at the Shed in Hudson Yards, is anchored by a curated program spotlighting A.I.R. Gallery, Electronic Arts Intermix, Artists Space, and Printed Matter—all also staples of the city’s art scene that recently celebrated major anniversaries. Of course, Frieze’s sprawling showcase of 65 dealers is hardly the only thing to see in the city’s newly rejuvenated art scene—nor the only art fair. Here, a guide to all the goings-on not to miss throughout the rest of May and early June.

A.I.R. Gallery at Frieze New York

The historic A.I.R. Gallery, which has been spotlighting women artists since 1972, is keeping the leaked Roe v. Wade Supreme Court draft top of mind by showcasing the collective How to Perform an Abortion. Taking the form of a garden installation, Trigger Planting aims to demystify misconceptions about fertility management in a manner that is both educational and artistic. In addition to commissioning the collective, A.I.R. has compiled an extensive list of abortion-related resources that you can find here.

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

The first and only international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and diaspora, 1-54 is returning with a showcase of 25 galleries across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as spaces in the vicinity of its site at the Harlem Parish. It’s set to be worth the trek uptown (especially if you take some of their suggestions of where else to stop while in the neighborhood). Like Frieze, the fair runs from May 19 to 22.

FreelingWaters at The Future Perfect

Perhaps best known as the artists that Dries Van Noten enlisted to paint a 200-foot mural in real time during his fall 2012 runway show, Gijs Frieling and Job Wouters (also known as Letman) are entering a new era of their decade-long collaboration by adopting the moniker FreelingWaters. Their solo exhibition, which is comprised of brightly colored 18th- and 19th-century pine cabinets, will be on view (by appointment only) at The Future Perfect in the Greenwich Village through June 17.

The Photography Show and Photobook Fest

From May 20 to 22 at Center415 in Midtown, the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) is highlighting 49 of the galleries among its members. Spanning the 19th century to the present, the photography on view will be accompanied by a Photobook Fest in partnership with the International Center of Photography, as well as programming such as zine-making workshops. The undisputed highlight: Yancey Richardson’s booth showcasing Zanele Muholi, a Cape Town-based photographer known for her black-and-white self portraiture and documentation of the LGBTI community in South Africa.

Carmen Herrera at Lisson Gallery

It took decades and decades for Carmen Herrera, who died earlier this year at age 106, to receive the recognition she deserved. But until Lisson Gallery’s exhibition of her work in the 1970s, a period of the Cuban painter’s career has just barely been explored. Herrera was at the peak of establishing her practice, and her signature geometric abstractions, which are on view through June 11, showcase just how criminal it is that she was so long overlooked.

“Industrialism” at the Urban Zen Center

Last year, the curator Alexander May put his art platform, Sized, on the map by asking more than three dozen artists and designers—Michèle Lamy, Sterling Ruby, and Pierre Davis and Autumn Randolph of No Sesso among them—to respond to a one-word prompt: “design.” Now, he’s taking the concept from L.A. to New York, this time focusing on industrialism. Those featured in the exhibition, which will be on view from May 19 to 28 at Donna Karan’s cavernous Urban Zen Center in Greenwich Village, run the gamut from Robert Mapplethorpe and Le Corbusier to Casey Cadwallader of Mugler and Rich Aybar (formerly of Hood By Air).

Eamon Ore-Giron at Frieze New York

As a former curator at the Whitney and current chief artistic director of Outland, Christopher Y. Lew is a pro at finding gems in sprawling settings like Frieze. Take it from him: The booth that James Cohan gallery has devoted to the L.A.-based painter Eamon Ore-Giron’s Infinite Regress series is a must-see. “These gold-hued geometric abstractions incorporate such a range of influences, from Meso-American jewelry to the Brazilian avant-garde and Russian Suprematism,” Lew says. “It’s going to be a feast for the eyes to see so many new paintings from the series brought together.” Over in Tribeca, James Cohan has another must-see: an exhibition of new work by Naudline Pierre, a New York-based artist whose practice centers the figures that populate her ethereal, fluorescent universe, on view through June 18.