East Village veterans and Feminist Pop: Frieze Stand Prize winners

The Frieze Stand Prizes 2017 — one awarded to a gallery aged 12 years or younger, and one to a gallery taking part in any section of the fair — have been awarded to P.P.O.W and Simone Subal. The two galleries are both based in New York, and both offered perspectives on the city’s recent art history in their presentations this year.

P.P.O.W (New York, main) was awarded a prize for their presentation bringing together contemporary and historical works by New York-based artists Charlie Ahearn, Daze, Anton Van Dalen, David Wojnarowicz and Martin Wong. The jury observed the gallery’s deep investment in their artists over a long period of time, admiring in particular the undertaking to recreate Anton Van Dalen’s The Pigeon Car (1987) especially for the short period of the fair. They said that as well as displaying works of singular quality by the likes of Wojnarowicz, the conception and curation of the presentation – tracing relationships between these figures – felt as much like a part of the city’s history as it did a gallery booth.

Simone Subal Gallery (New York, Focus) received a prize in the category for galleries aged 12 years or younger, for their presentation of the Austrian-American pioneer of feminist Pop Art, Kiki Kogelnik (1935-1997). The jury described Simone Subal’s solo career survey of the late Kogelnik as refreshing and radical. As well as praising the decision to include a range of work from different decades and across different media, noting that they felt a robust sense of the gallery’s commitment to this marginalized historical figure.

The awards resonate with currents that run through this year’s Frieze New York, including an enhanced present of historical work, an emphasis on female and feminist artists, and a number of activist positions.

The jury was formed of Rita Gonzalez, Curator and Acting Department Head, Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Stefan Kalmár, Director, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; and Eva Respini, Barbara Lee Chief Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston.

Tickets for Frieze New York 2017 are available here.