Frieze New York Has Been Cancelled Due to the Coronavirus Crisis, Becoming the City’s First Major Market Event to Be Called Off

Frieze announced in a letter to exhibitors that the ninth
edition of the Frieze New York art fair will be cancelled due to
safety concerns regarding the spread of the coronavirus and
statewide restrictions on gatherings of more than 50 people.

The fair was set to take place on Randall’s Island and open to
VIPs on Wednesday, May 6.

“In light of global health concerns and following advice and
restrictions from local, national, international health
authorities, it is with great regret that we have to cancel Frieze
New York 2020,” says the letter to dealers, which was signed by
global director Victoria Siddall, Frieze New York director Loring
Randolph, and Frieze Fairs deputy director Kristell Chadé.

“We appreciate that you, and all the other participants in the
fair, were planning extraordinary presentations and we are
disappointed that the strength of the 2020 program could not come
to fruition, but the health and safety of everyone involved in the
event remains our top priority, and we appreciate all the measures
being put in place to keep the community safe.”

The Frieze directors added that exhibitors would be refunded,
with details to be relayed within the next week.

The move comes after nearly all museums, galleries, and cultural
centers closed in New York over the weekend. And it’s another blow
to a fair calendar that’s been upended by the spread of the virus,
which has infected more than 200,000 people globally and accounted
for more than 8,000 deaths.

In February, Art Basel Hong Kong was cancelled, though an online
version of the fair, in which many exhibitors are participating,
will go live this week.

Some fairs, such as the Dallas Art Fair, Art Cologne, and Art
Brussels, were postponed rather than cancelled, and a statement
sent last week indicated that Art Basel in Switzerland is seriously
considering moving the event to the fall. The letter to exhibitors
did not discuss whether a postponement was considered, but it
mentioned that Frieze Sculpture at Rockefeller Center will proceed,
but this summer, rather than in May.

The cancellation came nearly a week after Mayor Bill de Blasio
banned all gatherings of more than 500 people, which surely would
have included Frieze New York. When asked last Thursday, after the
ban was announced, whether an event that sees 30,000 people pass
through its tent over the course of five days would be held under
the 500-person policy, a spokesperson for the fair said that the
event was proceeding as planned.

Frieze London and Frieze Masters are still scheduled to open in
the first week of October, and the tents on Regent’s Park will open
during a newly packed fall fair season in the US and Europe.
Joining the season’s lineup will be Berlin Gallery Weekend in early
September, the Dallas Art Fair in early October, and Art Cologne in
November.

The post Frieze New York Has Been Cancelled Due to the
Coronavirus Crisis, Becoming the City’s First Major Market Event to
Be Called Off appeared first on artnet News.