As the epicenter of the global art market and a hub for an incredibly diverse community of creatives diverse, New York offered a full spectrum of artistic energy during Frieze Week followed by DESIGNxNYC festival — an experience I had the privilege of covering as an arts and culture contributing writer for The UB Post, an international publication based in Mongolia.
The UB Post was first founded in 1996 and has since become Mongolia’s leading English-language news outlet. As part of the broader Mongol News Group, The UB Post published online and in print, provides a comprehensive coverage of the social, economic, cultural and political developments in Mongolia and international news from a Mongolian perspective.
Here is a general overview of the fairs I saw and some standout artists I came across. Some concurrent themes emerged across both fairs ranging from large scale artworks with bold color palettes, artists pushing the boundaries of traditional formats and techniques in fresh, inventive ways. There was a clear appetite for risk in form, concept, materials and a strong embrace of shape, context and utility. Installation and intentional displays prevailed alongside a vibrant celebration of 3D work, especially in sculpture and ceramics. There was a surge of tech driven art from interactive pieces to mixed reality experiences confirming a new wave of digital experimentations.
For the first time I got to see the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair 2025 New York Edition on preview day May 8th, the fair took place at Halo in the Fidi district. There was a vibrant roster of artists considering I was particularly interested in 1-54 considering the noticeable surge of institutional interest in Black portraiture as of recent years. The fair was one floor and much smaller than I expected, I sat in one panel discussion but felt there was a lack of programming throughout the days.
Held annually across three continents in London, New York and Marrakech, 1-54 is known as the first and only fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. This year’s fair spotlighted a total of 30 galleries and over 70 artists spanning across Europe, Africa and the United States. The fair represented a diverse selection of galleries from Tokyo, Japan to Lagos, Nigeria to Geneva, Switzerland, encompassing 5 continents and 17 countries. Among these galleries, fifteen 1-54 participants made their debut at the fair and 18 exhibitors showed in New York for the first time.
Most notable booth for me was TERN Gallery, the first exhibitor based in The Bahamas to present at the fair in 1-54’s history. I was immediately draw to Leasho Johnson‘s energetic paintings, I didnt realize he was the artist but was all the more proud to see him represented. Leasho and I shared artist residency at Fountainhead Miami few years back.
Esther II housed at the historic New York Estonia House is considered an alternative art fair, spearheaded by Margot Samel of the eponymous New York gallery and Olga Temnikova of Temnikova & Kasela in Tallinn, Estonia. The fair is in its second edition this year that ran from May 6th to 10th. The fair was unorthodox with artworks hung tattered inside a victorian house.
In its fifth year, Future Fair took place from May 7th to May 10th at Chelsea Industrial, assembled 67 local, national and international exhibitors. The fair is co-founded by Rebeca Laliberte and Rachel Mijares Fick and known for its prevailing support for women artists being a women owned and operated function. This year’s organizing team consisted of PPOW Director Eden Deering, independent curator and historian Margarita Rosa, and Public Art Fund Associate Curator Jenée-Daria Strand. I sat on informative panel by Less Than Half about women collectors and gender equity in the art world at their Matrons of the Arts lounge.
I was drawn to the bold colorful mixed media paintings of artist Thai Mainhard with Shazar Gallery and Saki Sonoda with The Ritual Division, whose neon graphic paintings mimicked effervescent water like brushstrokes that depicted the lives of the performers from Brooklyn’s underground venue House of Yes.
This year was the third time I got to see Frieze New York and compared to the previous years, somehow it felt underwhelming and predictable. The 2025 edition presented established and emerging galleries from more than 20 countries all four mega-galleries (Hauser & Wirth, Pace, Gagosian, David Zwirner) as well as internationally recognized galleries from across the globe. The Focus section curated by Lumi Tan, offered an opportunity for galleries 12 years and younger to showcase solo presentations by emerging artists. This year, there were galleries from Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Singapore and Ukraine.
Major New York galleries such as Casey Kaplan, James Cohan, and Tina Kim Gallery was also exhibiting with a significant contingent of Brazilian names including A Gentil Carioca, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Galería Vermelho, Nara Roesler, and Central Galeria.
Notably, Gagosian had a solo presentation of three sculptures by Jeff Koons. The trio “Hulk” works—Hulk (Organ), Hulk (Tubas), and Hulk (Dragon and Turtle) came from Koons’s personal collection and were installed in front of a custom vinyl backdrop derived from his 2007 painting Triple Hulk Elvis III.
Other favorites included Citra Sasmita’s spiritual installation paintings Vortex in the Land of Liberation presented by Singaporian gallery Yeo Workshop and artist Yehwan Song’s prolific detail oriented cardboard slat video projection installation called Internet Barnacles at Seoul’s G Gallery booth.
In its 11th edition, The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA New York) exhibited a diverse and expanded selection from 111 galleries, art spaces, and non-profit organizations spanning 19 countries and 50 cities such as Brussels, Shanghai, Berlin, Mexico City, Wroclaw, Belgrade, New York, and Philadelphia held May 7–11, 2025 at The Starrett-Lehigh Building.
The fair featured a robust series of programming in between conversations, performances and events, as well as the return of TD Bank Curated Spotlight with special focus on galleries and artists from Texas and Mexico. In addition to its New York fair, NADA announced the return of the collaborative exhibition NADA Villa Warsaw in May, and the organization’s new art fair, NADA Paris in October, as well as NADA Miami in December. This was my first time seeing NADA which I heard a lot about before but frankly speaking, I wasn’t too impressed with the overall quality of art in lieu of the expansive venue they had. However few days later, I got to see the underrated INDEPENDENT fair which blew me away – more on Independent on part II.
On of my favorite booths at NADA was self taught artist Simone Mantellassi’s mixed media tragicomedy encased sculptures and drawings presented by KIPNZ gallery.
Then came TEFAF New York fair which took place from May 9–13, 2025 at the Park Avenue Armory. Read further in upcoming post “NYC Art & Design Fairs 2025 Part II”.
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