Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Photos: Inside The Gigantic Frieze Art Fair, Happening This Weekend On Randall's Island
By
John Del Signore
Published May 15, 2015
Modified May 15, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 91
By
John Del Signore
Published May 15, 2015
Modified May 15, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Painted massage chairs, free ponchos, Roberta's pizza, and a Fluxus labyrinth: all that and more awaits on Randall's Island this weekend, where the fourth iteration of the sprawling Frieze Art Fair is open for business under the serpentine white tent. Plenty of free parking! You can don a velcro suit and throw yourself against a wall! There's a woman lying under a big jeweled turtle shell for hours on end!
Like The Armory Show, NYC's other major contemporary art fair, Frieze features galleries from all over the world displaying their work in an endless concatenation of booths, like an upscale shopping mall on high power blotter acid. Everything is for sale (even the water, which costs $3 with no water fountains in sight) unless it's been bought already. 190 galleries, a third of them from Frieze's home city of London, are spread throughout, and there's a lot to take in. When you get overwhelmed, just step outside; Randall's Island park is very pretty, and the outdoor cafe by the river is a fine place to sit and convince your wealthy lover to buy you that Nick Cave Soundsuit. Is that Leonardo DiCaprio?
Tickets cost $44 each, and there is roundtrip ferry service for $18 from the 35th Street Pier on the East River. Biking may be a more appealing option; I recommend going up the east side of Manhattan, which has dedicated bike paths most of the way, and then crossing the pedestrians-only 103rd Street footbridge to the island. City buses also run there—all the transportation information is here.
Tagged
art
art fairs
frieze 2015
original
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
Spoiler alert: It's still 26.2 miles.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 2:36 p.m. ET
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .