How Frieze New York Is Doubling Down On Engagement and Institutional Reach
There are now more than eight fairs overlapping in New York in May, but Frieze New York remains the undisputed anchor of the city’s art week—the event around which everything orbits. Arguably the most important art fair in the U.S. and one of the leading fairs in the Americas, it returns to The Shed from Wednesday, May 13 to Sunday, May 17 with an expanded citywide program of live performances and site-specific installations that’s part of a debut partnership with the Whitney, Dia Art Foundation and Counterpublic.
Frieze New York’s 15th edition will bring together more than 65 global galleries, with a special focus this year on both established and emerging voices from Latin America, selected after welcoming new gallery committee members from the region—Fátima González of Campeche and Omayra Alvarado of Instituto de Visión. Ahead of this new edition, Observer spoke with Christine Messineo, the fair’s director and head of Frieze Americas, to learn about the vision and priorities that have shaped the 2026 edition.
Frieze’s U.S. portfolio now includes more than one fair, with The Armory Show part of the ecosystem and a second fair operating in the same city. When asked what still differentiates Frieze New York today, Messineo explains that the fair’s unique strength lies in its timing and geography. “The proximity to Chelsea and Manhattan’s galleries is really important to the fair’s success, as much as its scale,” she explains, noting that since its move to The Shed, Frieze New York has deliberately opted for a more boutique format that prioritizes quality over quantity. “It’s very manageable and very connected to what’s happening throughout the city. That happens naturally through geography—you can walk the High Line from The Shed to the Whitney or down into Chelsea—but it also happens in the way we’ve embedded programming this year.”
New York, she says, is such a large, geographically complex city that there is certainly room for other fairs. “We all have different visions, we encounter different audiences, and we have different galleries participating. I think it all supports a larger ecosystem around culture and art in New York.”
Nonetheless, Frieze’s move to The Shed has not been without criticism, with many still lamenting that the venue is not ideally suited to a fair. Its mall-like, multilevel structure, connected by escalators, has drawn complaints about a lack of fluidity, with critics saying it creates a fragmented, dispersed experience. Many visitors still miss the tent on Randall’s Island, which, despite being difficult to reach, created a more intentional journey and a distinct, immersive fair-bubble experience that discouraged quick, distracted consumption.
According to Messineo, the fair has continued to refine the visitor experience, particularly in terms of circulation to ensure engagement across all levels, rather than concentrating attention on the main floor, which is typically dominated by blue-chip galleries. The deliberately contained scale helps. “Because the fair is so manageable, I don’t think people miss parts of it, but we’re always thinking about how the venue shapes the experience,” she says, noting that one strategy has been to engage more deeply with both the venue’s identity and New York’s history while expanding the role of performance within the fair.
This year, a series of collaborations extends the fair well beyond traditional booth presentations. The first is with Counterpublic, a triennial in St. Louis known for focusing on artistic practices that move beyond traditional object-based presentations. From them, Frieze commissioned a new project by Oglála Lakȟóta artist Kite, whose work incorporates symbolic elements that function almost like a musical composition. Titled Wíhaŋyablapi (of St. Louis) (2026), the work offers a preview of the third triennial edition “Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time,” curated by Jordan Carter, Raphael Fonseca, Stefanie Hessler, Nora N. Khan and Wanda Nanibush. During Frieze, musicians will move through the space performing these compositions, introducing an element that departs from conventional expectations and adds a more performative, unexpected dimension.
There is also a collaboration with the Whitney Museum. For Messineo, it was important for the fair to forge a link with the Whitney Biennial, a defining moment in the contemporary art calendar and a key framework through which many audiences understand current artistic developments. This year, the fair is collaborating with Jonathan González, an artist included in the Biennial who works across choreography and photography. Unfolding over three days (May 15-17) during Frieze New York, his magic hour–golden time will consist of three-hour durational performances across the Whitney’s terraces and surrounding urban landscape—spanning platforms, decks and observatories—so that it can be experienced from multiple vantage points throughout the surrounding urban environment, including from the High Line, nearby restaurants, inside the museum itself and from the street.
“There’s a kind of ‘acceptable nosiness’ in New York—when you walk along the High Line and glimpse into apartments, seeing fragments of people’s lives. His work plays with that idea of observation and audience,” Messineo observes, explaining how González’s work will extend inside the fair as well, where he will present Body Configurations (2023-2025), a photographic installation of six C-prints combining three Super 8 transfers and digital images, accompanied by placards prompting viewers to become aware of their bodies in relation to architecture. Performer Alexis De La Rosa will move around the installation, engaging in closed-eye improvisations rooted in Authentic Movement, a practice emphasizing intuition, sensation and internally driven action. The entire intervention aims to test the relationship between figure, architecture and site, and between embodiment and perception.
Artists currently included in the Whitney Biennial will also be present at Frieze New York, with London-based Emalin showcasing new works by Sung Tieu and Alexander Gray Associates featuring Kamrooz Aram, while Mendes Wood DM will present a new suite of drawings by Precious Okoyomon, who is also part of the New Museum reopening show.
Meanwhile, Dia Foundation will present a focused selection of moving-image works by Conceptual Argentine artist David Lamelas at The Shed, coinciding with his first comprehensive New York survey at Dia Chelsea. The presentation at Frieze New York is anchored by To Pour Milk into a Glass (1972), a 16mm film made in London that perfectly reflects Lamelas’s interest in framing, language and the circulation of information, using the simple act of pouring milk as a conceptual structure and a category-subversive pretext for thinking about “container” and “contents.” Also on view will be his ongoing “Time as Activity” (1969-) series, comprising videos set in cities where he has lived or exhibited, treating time as both subject and material, with the camera functioning as a recording device for lived duration.
This inside-out relationship, which opens the fair into public space and activates the entire district, feels central to Messineo’s more curatorial, institutionally focused vision for Frieze New York going forward. “Institutions are always active during fair week, but we wanted to think about what deeper alignment could look like,” she explains, emphasizing that strengthening relationships with institutions has been a key priority. “That level of cross-programming is something we haven’t really seen before in a fair context.”
These initiatives bring institutions into the fair as active participants through their presence and programming, and vice versa. Both González’s and Kite’s works are new commissions supported by Frieze. “We’ve been increasingly investing in new bodies of work—supporting artists directly. We’ve done that in L.A., Chicago and New York,” Messineo explains, noting that while Frieze operates within the marketplace, it is also aware of its role in amplifying visibility for artists, curators and galleries who may not yet have a large public profile. “I’ve learned at Frieze is that we’re often supporting artists, curators and galleries at critical moments—maybe it’s their first time at a fair or moving from Focus into the main section. We’re very invested in sustaining those relationships.”
Messineo cites Campeche Gallery, a young Mexican gallery that opened shortly before the pandemic and is participating in Frieze New York for the first time. “I first encountered them through one of their artist I kept seeing in major collections during one of my visits to Mexico City. That relationship developed very organically.” The gallery is debuting at the fair with a spotlight on the practice of Abraham González Pacheco, presenting a series of large-scale graphite drawings and concrete works that draw on tequitqui art, archaeology and historiography to reframe overlooked histories of his community.
Campeche is far from the only Latin American gallery at Frieze this year. Also in Focus, Buenos Aires-based Isla Flotante will present Rosario Zorráquin’s series “Infiernos,” fragile cheesecloth paintings in which pigment filters through the fabric, while W-galería will present Seba Calfuqueo’s works using hair, ceramics, photography and video to explore the body as memory and resistance through Mapuche and queer perspectives.
In the main section, leading Mexico City gallery OMR will present a group presentation exploring the boundaries between body, nature and form, anchored by Pia Camil’s new painting series “Into the Wild,” while Mendes Wood DM will bring together a group booth with Kishio Suga, Lygia Pape, Sonia Gomes, Pol Taburet, Antonio Obá and Precious Okoyomon, exploring material, perception and cultural memory across generations.
Several galleries from Brazil are also participating, including Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, A Gentil Carioca and Vermelho, as well as São Paulo-based Mitre Galeria, which, after winning the Focus award last year, returns to Frieze New York promoted to the main section. Also in the main section for the past few years is Colombian gallery Instituto de Visión, which will bring a range of Latin American artists, including Gloria Sebastián, Carolina Caycedo, Ana María Hernando and Aycoobo, exploring nature, territory and ecological knowledge.
Messineo describes Frieze New York as an international fair where galleries participate specifically to enter the American market and engage with New York collectors. “We have galleries from Korea, South America, Central America, Mexico, Canada and Europe. Collectors in New York are knowledgeable, they travel and they’re already engaged with the global art world. The fair is a snapshot of what’s happening globally.” Yet she acknowledges that finding the right balance between local and global is vital, as New York City’s art galleries—especially blue-chip names—serve as the bedrock of the fair.
Despite rising travel costs, particularly to New York, Messineo has not seen significant changes in the number of collectors or museum groups attending. “We’ve expanded our VIP team over the past year and a half, strengthening relationships with institutions and trustee groups. We also travel frequently and host events with museums in different cities to cultivate those relationships.” At the same time, she’s aware of the potential of New York’s young, high-earning professionals and the importance of engaging them not only as weekend fairgoers—something Frieze already achieves as a major social event—but also as future collectors. “That’s definitely a priority. We’ve been hosting events in different cities, and it’s about creating access points—through books, podcasts and studio visits. It extends beyond the fair itself.” Particularly effective in this regard have been initiatives such as Frieze Connect, which offer year-round entry points into the art world.
Messineo also acknowledges the growing financial challenges for emerging galleries participating in a fair like Frieze, particularly in New York, one of the most expensive cities to exhibit in. For this reason, the fair continues to support participation through the Focus section, which is subsidized through a combination of Frieze’s own resources and partners such as Stone Island. Beyond that, the fair has focused on ensuring galleries meet the right collectors and institutions. “We’ve expanded our VIP team and are hosting networking events with collectors and institutions, particularly from regions like Brazil and Mexico, to support those galleries more directly.”
One of the most notable additions this year is a new award in collaboration with the Sherman Family Foundation, which has committed to a five-year acquisition initiative from the Focus section. Providing $50,000 annually, the fund will acquire two works at $20,000 each, along with a $5,000 award to each selected artist. This year, the acquisitions benefit the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Art Museum. Crucially, the other portion of the funding is directed directly toward production and studio support for the artists. “What’s important is that part of the funding goes directly to the artist—not just the acquisition but also production or studio support. It’s about investing in future careers.”
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