Bette Midler ↑
Actor, Manhattan
Do you have anything that you think is highbrow or despicable this week?
I’m going to be very disciplined and keep my big mouth shut. There’s hardly any brilliant, there’s not a lot of highbrow, but I tell you there’s a lot of despicable that has overwhelmed the world.
What would you tell someone who’s never come to Frieze before?
They should keep their eyes and their minds open because it’s very different. Some of it is very hard to take, and a lot of it reflects what we’re living. And if you’re not used to that, if you’re not prepared for that, it can stun you.
Michael Stipe
Singer, songwriter, and artist, Clinton Hill
Tell me about your hat and pin.
The hat is not ironic. The Claire Valdez pin is even less so. I’m a big fan of hers. She’s amazing, please vote. The only thing my friends talk about is how to help save the world because we’re really at a kind of pretty awful place right now. But I think we can do it. I think we can do it.
Is there a piece that has affected you recently?
I fly through La Guardia a lot, and every time I come down the escalator, I see the Rashid Johnson. I think it’s the biggest piece he ever made, and it’s so inspiring to see it there in the airport. It makes me proud to be a New Yorker.
Ajani Russell
Artist, Fort Greene
What kind of art do you make?
I’m a visual artist, ceramist, painter, and professor. Shooting tintypes is my favorite medium, but I can’t afford to do that right now. I’m trying to get a paper residency to make these creatures … I’ve made puppets of them, and I have dreams about them.
What kind of creatures are they?
Imagine if plants were the highest form of human evolution. They’re like mutated people.
Yera Park
Director of partnerships, Chelsea
Do you collect art?
I’ve started. I love post–Cultural Revolution Chinese artists. I’m from Korea and China; my family has a collection in China. We can’t get it out right now. That’s a whole other story.
Laetitia Ky
Artist, Chelsea
When do you do your best work?
I work better at night, but I’m trying to fix that. My sleeping schedule is really messed up. A lot of artists function the same way. Is it the quiet; is it because it’s a spiritual thing? No one knows, but for some reason during the night, there is this urge to create.
Kristen Bateman (left)
Writer and designer, Bay Ridge
Karen Resta (right)
Writer, Bay Ridge
Kristen, tell me about your green necklace.
It’s a locket inspired by antique dolls. I feel like this has been creeping people out at Art Week. To me, that’s a success, because the Art Week people are the final barrier.
Paul and Judith Fried
Super and retiree, Brooklyn Heights
Yvonne Force Villareal
Curatorial consultant, West Village
Lee Mary Manning
Photographer, Lower East Side
Do you have a favorite part of the city you like to shoot in?
Central Park, but really anywhere. Any dirty little street is fine.
Evelyn Aimis
Art dealer, Miami, Florida, and Toronto, Canada
What’s the best piece you’ve sold?
A Picasso painting.
Alex Mor
Gallerist, Paris, France
What’s in the air in Paris right now?
The nightlife has really changed. Now you can go into neighborhoods outside of Paris that have massive parties in warehouses close to the airport — not just downtown.
April Zhang-Autio
Gallery owner, Murray Hill
Kyle O’Donnell
TV producer and podcaster, Carroll Gardens
Why are you here today?
I’m a big people watcher, and this has the best people watching in the world. I’m also trying to find a rich husband here, let’s be honest. The guy working the front door was really cute. Maybe I’ll ask for his number on the way out.
Eloise Crist
Museum development officer, Lower East Side
Joyce Leveston
CEO, Hell’s Kitchen
Christy Ferer
Collector, Upper East Side
What’s the most recent piece of art you bought?
A Carol Bove. She’s also a good friend and currently has a show at the Guggenheim that is a blockbuster. So I’m very happy for her.
Terri Holoman
Museum board member, Los Angeles, California
Dee Kerrison
Wealth manager, Newport Beach, California
How did you become a collector?
I was born and raised in Harlem. My dad was a Baptist minister, and he collected antique furniture. He always wore custom clothes. My aunt was a world-class opera singer. Big cities, art, music — it’s all in my DNA.
Mackenzie Maisel
Artist, Upper East Side
Mayra Hernández
Entrepreneur, Upper West Side
Benjamin Godsill
Art adviser, Harlem
Thomas Hallissey
Vice-president of marketing, Nassau
What’s the last work of art you bought?
A piece by David Welker. It was blotter art, which is on blotter paper, like LSD — but not the drug, just that size. He’s an artist for Phish, who I’ve seen 150 times.
Jing Yang
Membership-club director, Nolita
Glori Cohen
Art adviser, Midtown
Allen Robinson
Architect, Financial District
Maynard Monrow
Curator and artist, Long Island City
Elizabeth Fiore
Art adviser, Gramercy
Jeff Magid
Cultural theorist, Lower East Side
Do collectors get competitive?
There’s a lot of competition for the best artworks, but the most in-demand works will have sold weeks or months ago. The people you see at all the dinners or flying to every art fair are not the real insiders.
Adam Okrasinski
Creative director, Chinatown
Do you have any tips on how to start collecting?
Buy your friends’ art.
Scott Ziegler
Attorney, Upper East Side
Any specific artists whose work you’re excited about seeing?
I can’t give those names. Then I wouldn’t be able to afford them.
Photographs by Frankie Alduino
