Jessica Vaughn Awarded the Frieze Artadia Prize at Frieze New York 2023
The Brooklyn-based artist will debut a major commission looking at 'how American life is pictured, felt, and structured’ as part of a new initiative launched in partnership with the national non-profit Artadia
The Brooklyn-based artist will debut a major commission looking at 'how American life is pictured, felt, and structured’ as part of a new initiative launched in partnership with the national non-profit Artadia
The Frieze Artadia Prize is a new initiative launched in partnership with the celebrated national non-profit Artadia, that will provide a New York-based artist with the opportunity to realize a major new work at Frieze New York. Jessica Vaughn has been named as the recipient of the prize and will debut her selected commission at this year’s fair, which runs May 17–21, 2023 at The Shed.
In a special video collaboration with the artist, find out more about the ideas and processes between Vaughn's new Frieze Artadia Prize commission, 'exploring the complex relationships between labor, commerce, race and space in our contemporary landscape.'
About the Frieze Artadia Prize
The new Prize recognizes the work of a New York-based artist who has previously benefited from the Artadia Awards program, enabling them to realize a new site-specific commission at Frieze New York. Vaughn’s proposal was selected by jurors: Sohrab Mohebbi (Director of New York’s SculptureCenter) and Franklin Sirmans (Director of Miami’s Perez Art Museum).
Titled The Internet of Things, Vaughn’s Frieze Artadia Prize commission draws on the US postal system as a means to spotlight the organizational structures that underlie late-stage capitalism. In a process that began during the pandemic and lasted until earlier this year, Vaughn mailed letters via the US Postal Service to a series of locations, each marking a site of leisure, commerce, or an act of public violence. These include Disney World, Prospect Park, Silicon Valley offices, malls, and the gated community where Trayvon Martin was murdered in 2021.
By intentionally mislabelling the letters, Vaughn was able to ensure their return, and each now bears the marks, digital and handwritten, of passing through the various stages of the postal system. Images of both the interior and exterior of these envelopes, printed onto strips of canvas and linen, will be on view at The Shed throughout the fair’s run, in what the artist describes as a ‘revisioning of the traditions of landscape painting.’ She adds, ‘I was interested in all of these sites, which when considered together, constitute a conceptual landscape that reorients how American life is pictured, felt, and structured.’
Watch our video with Jessica Vaughn above and visit the artist's commission at Frieze New York, May 17–21, 2023.
About Jessica Vaughn
Jessica Vaughn is an artist who lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her work in sculpture, video, and 2D work interrogates questions of labor, race, and architecture. Her solo exhibition, ‘I 🖤 CUSTOMERS’ is on view through May 21, 2023, at the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf. Other solo exhibitions have included the ICA Philadelphia and Dallas Contemporary and group exhibitions at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, DE, Museum Bellpark, CH. Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, DE, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Swiss Institute, The Kitchen, Pace Gallery, SculptureCenter and Studio Museum in Harlem among others.
About Artadia
Artadia was founded in 1999, it has since awarded over $6 million in unrestricted funds to nearly 400 artists nationally. Artadia was built on the belief that visual artists play a foundational role in shaping society and the arts economy as storytellers and civic leaders. In dialogue with the artists’ communities they intended to support, Artadia launched an awards program encompassing seven major U.S. cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Find out more.
Further Information
Frieze New York returns to The Shed in Manhattan from May 17 to 21, 2023 and promises to be an unmissable event. With an unparalleled selection of galleries and artists, alongside a critically acclaimed curated program the fair is a highlight of the global art calendar.
Limited full price tickets are now on sale, buy yours now!
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