Frieze Cancels New York Art Fair Amid Coronavirus Concerns

The move follows other art fair changes, like the cancellation of Art Basel Hong Kong and the early closing of Tefaf Maastricht. Frieze New York has been canceled “in light of global health concerns regarding COVID-19,” Frieze said on Wednesday. The art fair was to take place May 7-10 at Randalls Island Park, with 200 participating galleries and a special focus on artists of Latin descent and the Chicago artist community. The decision follows the cancellations and postponements of various international art fairs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Art Basel Hong Kong was canceled, and has an online viewing room; Tefaf Maastricht in the Netherlands closed early; and Art Cologne has been moved to November. In a joint statement, Victoria Siddall, the global director of Frieze Fairs, and Loring Randolph, Frieze New York’s director, cited advice and restrictions from the health authorities as the reason for the cancellation. International galleries were also set to participate in the fair. In a phone interview, Ms.

Randolph added that evolving travel restrictions had caused “uncertainty as to how people were going to be able to travel from overseas and even from neighboring countries, and how obviously people were going to be able travel from within the U. S. ” “We had to take all of those things into consideration,” she said. Frieze said it was also developing a virtual viewing room, and that its first phase will be tied to Frieze New York.

Frieze Sculpture, which was to open at Rockefeller Center on April 22, will be postponed until the summer.