APAA's Top Picks Over $250,000 from Frieze Viewing Room
From Tracey Emin to William Kentridge, members of the Association of Professional Art Advisors reveal their favourite artworks from the New York edition of the Frieze Viewing Room
From Tracey Emin to William Kentridge, members of the Association of Professional Art Advisors reveal their favourite artworks from the New York edition of the Frieze Viewing Room
CLAIRE FALKENSTEIN
Untitled (Point as a Set), c.1973
copper and glass
24.76" x 25.98" x 27.24" (62.9 cm x 66 cm x 69.2 cm)
$250-500k
Presented by Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
Claire Falkenstein’s 1973 magnificent copper and glass sculptural formation was assembled the landmark year the U.S. Supreme Court rendered their decision that the Constitution protected a woman’s right to an abortion. The brilliant subtilty of Untitled (Point as a Set) is composed of oxidized copper tubing bent, overlapping and intertwined as if it is a cage utilized to protect the interwoven fragile, blown glass forms within the round structure. The cooper is solid yet pliant while the glass is translucent, reflective and illuminating with cascading sweeps of color, casting light that allows the object to glow. There is a hopefulness to Falkenstein’s sculpture as the orb has pointed edges but remains solid and grounded. – Erica Barrish
OLAFUR ELIASSON
Today leaning into tomorrow, yesterday leaning into today, 2023
Laminated silvered coloured glass (shades of yellow, green, blue, pink, orange), composite board, aluminium
40.55" x 126.38" x 1.38" (103 cm x 321 cm x 3.5 cm)
$250-500k
Presented by Tanya Bonakdar
A prime example of his work, art-giant Olafur Eliasson’s handblown glass piece plays with the visual uncertainty inherent in the ellipse. The shape is unstable; it can appear two-dimensional or as a circular disc viewed in perspective. Here, Eliasson conveys a major sense of motion by progressively rotating the ellipse on its side, as though it is tumbling through space. Ripples and bubbles are scattered across the glass sheets, the reflective surface mirrors the viewer - signs of movement and life. The prismatic array of hues interlink and overlap, demonstrating the artist’s concern with themes of color, transparency, and layering. The work comes full circle, beginning and ending in shades of yellow, hinting at the works’ title, Today leaning into tomorrow, yesterday leaning into today. – Laura Solomon
TRACEY EMIN
I needed you to love me, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
79.92" x 110.24" (203 cm x 280 cm)
$1m or above
Presented by White Cube
There is something about the romantic longing in Tracey Emin’s paintings that take the viewer beyond the erotic to evoke a kind of history of feminine sexuality in art. These works feel quite private, but I see in them the universality of the depiction of the female nude. I love their delicacy, their palette, and the way they speak to the long continuum of the power of women’s bodies in art. – Lisa Austin
SUZAN FRECON
earths and plum, 2023
Oil on linen
107.99" x 87.52" x 1.5" (274.3 cm x 222.3 cm x 3.8 cm)
Price on Application
Presented by David Zwirner
Suzan Frecon’s monumental 2-part painting shows an artist who has honed a distinctive language of abstraction with a minimalist bent for more than five decades. A formal arrangement of color and form in which the pointed ellipses in this painting also appear as arches or a gateway into an immersive world. The deep color in earth and jewel tones is achieved by the artist grinding her own pigments and applying differing techniques to the tactile painting surface in which her forms vary from matte to shiny. The collector who takes this home will have the pleasure of living with such a rich painting that changes in differing light conditions, unfolding as the sunlight moves across the sky. – Lisa Marie Marks
THEASTER GATES
Wings I, 2022
Old growth pine
47-1/2 x 212-15/16 x 2-3/4 in. (120.7 x 540.8 x 7 cm)
Price on Application
Presented by White Cube
Theaster Gate’s work is rooted in community. His myriad forms and delivery modes always feel consistent – community, presence, action, hope -- and the wall sculpture offered here is no different. The wood in Wings I is from New York’s Park Avenue Armory’s original 1880 Drill Hall floor, which Gates helped renovate during his 2018 residency. The old pine carries a symbolic reference when repurposed by the artist. Paying homage to Frank Stella, Gates mimics the repetitive shapes and compositions that occupied so much of his early paintings. This is a major work that was included the artist’s first survey exhibition at the New Museum, Young Lords and Their Traces, which ended earlier in 2023. – Lela Hersh
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE
Drawing for Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot (A Forced Perspective), 2020
Charcoal, pastel and red pencil on paper
50.39" x 59.84" (128 cm x 152 cm)
$600,000
Presented by Goodman Gallery
William Kentridge, (born 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is an artistic polymath, internationally admired for his drawings, theatre, opera productions and films. His work is in the collections of most of the world’s finest museums, and he has lectured at noted universities around the world. I was fortunate to see his recent survey exhibition at the Royal Academy in London this fall, in addition to his huge exhibition at The Broad this past winter in Los Angeles. I’ve admired his work since I first encountered it at the Venice Biennale in 1993. Drawing for Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot is part of his recent series about life in the artist’s studio— a perspective which he challenges the viewer to share. Kentridge is also known for supporting the creative community in Johannesburg through his artistic center, his writings, collaborations and worldwide ambitious projects. His practice is rooted in his drawings, and to own one would be a privilege. – Lorinda Ash
THADDEUS MOSLEY
Tubular State, 2017
Walnut in 4 parts
62.5" x 38.5" x 21" (158.75 cm x 97.79 cm x 53.34 cm)
$250-500k
Presented by Karma
Thaddeus Mosley lives with each locally-sourced piece of wood before carving the organic material to form an improvisational sculpture. “The log and I decide together what it will become,” the artist explained in a 2017 interview. His work Tubular State consists of a single vertical limb supporting two horizontal logs, one resting effortlessly atop the other. Emblematic of the monumental grace that the artist is celebrated for, the work suggests a deep affinity for and remarkable command of the living material. One can only dream of entering a forest and happening upon this sort of gravitational balance, yet Mosley reminds us of the beauty that is possible when we are in collaboration with, instead of opposition to, nature. – Jeremy Johnston/Darling Green
JACK WHITTEN
Black Hands, 2015
Sumi ink, rice paper, acrylic on canvas
97.36" x 39.65" (247.3 cm x 100.7 cm)
$500k-1m
Presented by Hauser & Wirth
The work Black Hands by the legendary artist Jack Whitten (1939-2018) feels extraordinarily personal and immediate. Whitten has created a strong sense of tension and emotion by covering rice paper with black inked prints of his own hands. The painting offers many powerful readings, possibly related to the history of Black Americans, as the handprints reference the exploitation of their labor. Created later in his career in 2015, it reflects Whitten's lifelong exploration of new techniques and ways of expressing his ideas and emotions through his work. ~ Laura Smith Sweeney
With thanks to APAA members Lorinda Ash, Lisa Austin, Erica Barrish, Elizabeth Fiore, Alex Glauber, Lela Hersh, Jeremy Johnston/Darling Green, Lisa Marie Marks, Laura Smith Sweeney and Laura Solomon.
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Main image: Olafur Eliasson, Today leaning into tomorrow, yesterday leaning into today, 2023, Laminated silvered coloured glass (shades of yellow, green, blue, pink, orange), composite board, aluminium, 103 cm x 321 cm x 3.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar