In Photos: See Scenes From the Opening Day of Frieze New York, Marking the Bleary-Eyed Return of the IRL Art World

Maria Vogel May 5, 2021 ShareShare This Article

After a bummer year of no in-person art events (plus a lot of other things that you already know all about), Frieze New York opened its doors on Wednesday, inaugurating the tentative return of the IRL art market almost 14 months after the world went into lockdown last March.

Welcoming masked (and recently tested or vaccinated) VIPs to the Shed at Manhattan’s Hudson Yards with the efficiency of a military operation, the fair, which runs through May 9, brings together 66 exhibitors—a major downsize from the 200-exhibitor lineup of years’ past at Frieze’s longtime Randall’s Island tent.

Still, 66 galleries in one space after a year of self-isolation and lockdown seems pretty wild, no?

To see what the first day of the fair looked and felt like, we sent Artnet News contributor Maria Vogel to capture the art world slowly but surely coming back to life. Here’s what she saw…