Frieze New York Will Present Adam Pendleton–Designed Black Lives Matter Flag, Hank Willis Thomas Works on Gun Violence -ARTnews

Adam Pendleton, Black Dada Flag (Black Lives Matter), 2015–2018, digital print on polyester.

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Past performances at the Frieze New York fair have included fake Leonardo DiCaprios, courtesy of Dora Budor, and a live donkey in a makeshift pen, courtesy of Maurizio Cattelan. This year, the offerings in the fair’s “Live” section, Frieze’s annual showcase for performances and installations, seem to have a distinctly political bent, ranging from the display of a Black Lives Matter flag to a feminist procession, all curated by Adrienne Edwards of the Whitney Museum.

Many of the works in the section, which will this year be titled “Assembly,” are activist-minded, Edwards said in a statement, adding: “I hope that together these projects will serve as a platform to help us imagine what is possible today through the poetics of protest by breaking down boundaries between galleries and the street, the artist and their audience and making new propositions that open up conversations about the role of art in today’s society.”

Below, a list of the artists participating in the “Live” section, as well as brief descriptions of the works they’ll bring to Frieze.

• Adam Pendleton will plant his Black Dada Flag (Black Lives Matter) on Randalls Island, near Scylla Point (which was once called “Negro Point” on maps). It will remain on view through November 1.
• Lara Schnitger will stage a feminist protest called Suffragette City, which will include a new quilted banner and textile installation, and will also make use of a “whisper network” that tips off visitors to the performance. (The artist is currently looking for volunteers.)
• Raúl de Nieves and Erik Zajaceskowski will march around the fair wearing costumes that double as sound pieces for a work called THANK YOU/THANK YOU.
• Dave McKenzie will pose as a magician for the performance Furtive Gestures, which deals with surveillance and blackness.
• Alfredo Jaar will broadcast recorded messages by artist colleagues throughout the fair.
• Renée Green will show 28 wall banners that constitute the installation Space Poem #5 (Years & Afters), as well as a new sound piece.
• Hank Willis Thomas will present two new fabric works—13,471 and 15,589—that depict the American flag, with stars standing for victims of gun violence.