APAA’s Top Picks from Frieze London 2024
On the eve of Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2024, eleven APAA advisors highlighted works on view. Frieze London opens with a VIP Preview Day on Wednesday, October 9th, with opening hours through Sunday, October 13th. Learn more here.
Thank you to our advisors for sharing their top picks from this year’s Frieze London.
Kennedy Yanko, Sowy Thistle, 2024
"For Frieze London 2024, James Cohan will present a two-person booth of new work by Jesse Mockrin and Kennedy Yanko, two artists who engage deeply with the art historical canon to radically transformative ends. Kennedy Yanko is a 35 year old American sculptor, painter and installation artist known for working with "paint skins" and found metal. Yanko sources discarded objects and other material from salvage yards and manipulates or modifies their form, shape, or structure into her vision. Yanko’s work is rooted in the language of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field Painting—work that transforms it materiality by the process of making it. For this Frieze presentation with James Cohan, Yanko who made her mark with large format work, she has reduced her scale, creating “miniatures” in the tradition of Calder or Chamberlain.”
Paint skin, metal
23 x 20 x 22 in, 58.4 x 50.8 x 55.9 cm.
Presented by James Cohan
Barkley Hendricks, Brenda’s Sister, Barbara Jean, 1977
“Barkley Hendricks masterpiece Brenda’s Sister, Barbara Jean depicts a full figure female sitter in profile. Thus, the imagery is considered most covetable and desirable by collectors. The scale of the sitter, exceptional detail to the subject’s garment and shoes as well as contemplative facial expression are each hallmarks of Hendricks tremendously influential works from the 1970s. The tension between of mostly white background against the offset placement of the sitter add tension in the painting. The painting has been exhibited extensively since the year it was first executed. This is the ultimate trophy painting for Hendricks collectors.”
Oil, acrylic and Magna paint on linen canvas
52 3/8 x 52 3/8 x 2 1/8 inches (framed)
Presented by Jack Shainman
Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Buzuta amen na dikklam/We haven’t seen each other for a long time, 2024
“One can easily become immersed in the work of Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, a member of Poland's Bergitka Roma community. Her standout presentation of vibrant narrative textiles in the 2022 Venice Biennale’s Polish Pavilion was a favorite. In this work, Mirga-Tas depicts her everyday family life by skillfully collaging secondhand clothing, sheets, and personal items. Riveting in its patterned simplicity and rich in history and storytelling, her work aims to reshape the narrative surrounding the Romani people.”
Acrylic, mixed media, and found objects on textile over wooden stretcher
157 x 160 cm (61-3/4 x 63 in.)
Presented by Frith Street Gallery
Jesse Mockrin, Outcry, 2024
“Jesse Mockrin’s Frieze London presentation, presented by James Cohan Gallery, investigates classical/biblical narratives. Outcry, 2024 focuses on the story of Judgement of Solomon and inspired Mockrin to explore it because, “these age-old stories are united by an overarching theme: the exploitation of the vulnerabilities of women.” Mockrin’s paintings complicate and radically re-envision her source material. She employs strategies of fragmentation, enlargement, recombination, and concealment to imbue once-familiar compositions with new layers of subversive significance.”
Oil on cotton
36 x 56 inches
Presented by James Cohan
Elena Damiani, Unfolding VI, 2024
“I first encountered the work of Peruvian artist Elena Damiani at the Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh and I was immediately struck by how elegantly she transforms raw, natural materials—it felt like looking at a poem about nature. The way she seamlessly blends elements of geology, cartography and archaeology reflects not only the fragility, beauty and vitality of the world around us but also its history and future. I believe this work shows what a strong storyteller she is.”
Hand carved Rumi travertine and copper plate
27 x 66 x 27 cm
Presented by Galleria Francesca Minini
Mernet Larsen, Bather (after Cézanne), 2022
“Mernet Larsen’s Bather (after Cézanne) is a paragon in her oeuvre, exemplifying her analytical working method that is strongly rooted in art history. It is this facet of her practice that has inspired my sustained interest over the years, and it is this element of her work that provides the central logic behind James Cohan’s booth at Frieze Masters this year, which explores Larsen’s work from the 1990s onwards.
The works in Cohan’s booth draw inspiration from varied sources – where one references 13th century Japanese scrolls, another works in conversation with El Lissitzky. Although each piece is worth seeing, Bather stood out to me as the highlight of the booth. Those who have frequented MoMA will quickly realize that Larsen’s Bather is inspired by Cézanne’s The Bather (c.1885). Larsen takes Cézanne’s flat, subdued composition and reinterprets the geometry of the scene, creating an uncanny rendering of the French landscape fit for the digital age. Larsen expertly contrasts the harsh geometry of this human body with the delicate color gradations of the looming sky, creating a beautiful work with a striking sense of modern malaise.”
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
68 x 23 inches
Presented by James Cohan
Rose Wylie, Pineapple, 2021
“I love the unexpectedness of this piece—finding sculpture that isn’t just banal abstraction is always a challenge!”
Painted Bronze
62 7/8 x 29 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches, Edition of 6, 2 AP
Presented by David Zwirner
Rosemarie Trockel, Untitled (Homage to Bridget Riley), 1988
"My choice from Frieze Masters is this work by Rosemarie Trockel. An insider joke on the place of women of her generation in the arts; as she stated: ‘In the ‘70s there were a lot of questionable women’s exhibitions, mostly on the theme of house and home. I tried to take wool, which was viewed as a woman’s material, out of this context and to rework it in a neutral process of production.’
There are many conceptual layers in this work: Trockel chose to honour one of the few successful women artists of her generation, reworking her imagery in ‘feminine’ wool material but outsourced to a neutral, third party computerized machine to complete the production of the final work. The final work is visually striking and typical of Trockel’s deeply conceptual practice."
Knitted wool, relined with canvas and mounted onto stretcher
62.99" x 157.48" (160 cm x 400 cm)
Edition Edition 1 of 2, with 1 AP
Presented by Skarstedt Gallery
Tidawhitney Lek, First Home, 2024
"I’ve been captivated by Tidawhitney Lek’s dream-like scenes since I saw her large-scale paintings in the Hammer Museum’s 2023 “Made in L.A.” exhibition. Lek is a Cambodian-American painter who brilliantly weaves together Southern California landscapes with elements of Southeast-Asian culture, while simultaneously juxtaposing conventional acrylic and oil paint with shimmering glitter. The paintings speak to the experiences of first-generation Americans born to immigrant parents. First Home is a domestic scene that blurs the boundaries between the interior and exterior, and depicts the warmth, joy, and positivity encompassing a family’s first home.”
Glitter, acrylic and oil on canvas
84" x 108"
Presented by Night Gallery
Leiko Ikemura, Usagi Kannon Pray (168), 2022
"This evocative bronze figure combines Eastern and Western references, representing both Kannon, the Japanese Buddhist goddess of mercy and Madonna, the mother of Christ. This hybrid creature, which is a symbol of mourning for the fragile state of our environment, is a secular sculpture that offers comfort to the viewer.”
Patinated bronze
168x60x50 cm
Presented by Lisson Gallery
Isabella Ducrot, Almost divine I, 2022
"The work will be shown in the Studio section at Frieze Masters as part of Isabella Ducrot's solo presentation organized by Sadie Coles HQ, Galerie Gisela Capitain, and STANDARD (OSLO), curated by Sheena Wagstaff. Ducort, who is 93 years old and works daily in her Rome studio, has an extensive collection of fabrics gathered over many years and travels around the world. She incorporates pieces of these fabrics into her paintings, reflecting her philosophical and theological interests.”
Collage, pigments, pencil and wood on Japanese paper, framed
293 x 208 cm / 115 ⅜ x 81 ⅞ in
Presented by Sadie Coles HQ, Galerie Gisela Capitain and STANDARD (OSLO)
