Frieze New York 2022 | Fairs | Fairs & Collecting

Gagosian is participating in Frieze New York 2022, with a solo presentation of work by Albert Oehlen that shines a light on the commercial nature of life in general and art fairs in particular.

The booth features a vending machine offering Kafftee/Cofftea, a hybrid coffee/tea beverage developed by Oehlen in collaboration with Aqua Monaco. A limited number of bottles of the unique caffeinated drink (which, according to the artist, “won’t let you sleep ever again”) are available to the public free of charge. Kafftee/Cofftea was last distributed in Oehlen’s exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries, London, in 2019–20, and previously in exhibitions at Lokremise Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (2019); Aïshti Foundation, Beirut (2018–19); and Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2018–19).

The booth also features four paintings from 2014 that reinforce the presentation’s commercial theme. These canvases combine a graphic Pop art aesthetic with abstract painterly marks made using hands, rags, and spray cans, as well as with conventional brushes. The connection with Oehlen’s Fingermalerei (Finger Painting) series (2008–) is clear; in works from both series, printed matter provides a readymade surface that both supports and facilitates unexpected visual and tonal juxtapositions. Here, collage functions as both a formal and a conceptual apparatus.

For more information on the works, please contact the gallery at inquire@gagosian.com. To attend the fair, purchase tickets at frieze.com.

From the Quarterly

Albert Oehlen: Terrifying Sunset

The artist speaks with Mark Godfrey about his new paintings, touching on the works’ relationship to John Graham, the Rothko Chapel, and Leigh Bowery.

In Conversation
Albert Oehlen and Mark Godfrey

Albert Oehlen speaks to Mark Godfrey about a recent group of abstract paintings, “academic” art, reversing habits, and questioning rules.

Albert Oehlen: In the Studio

This film by Albert Oehlen, with music by Tim Berresheim, takes us inside the artist’s studio in Switzerland as he works on a new painting.

In Conversation
Albert Oehlen and Hans Ulrich Obrist

Hans Ulrich Obrist interviews the artist on the occasion of his recent exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries, London.

Albert Oehlen: Maximum Chance Maximum Control

The artist met with art historian Christian Malycha to discuss his newest paintings.

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Summer 2021

The Summer 2021 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Carrie Mae Weems’s The Louvre (2006) on its cover.

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Fall 2019

The Fall 2019 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring a detail from Sinking (2019) by Nathaniel Mary Quinn on its cover.

Cows by the Water

At the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, a career-spanning exhibition of paintings by Albert Oehlen, entitled Cows by the Water, went on view in the spring of 2018. Caroline Bourgeois, the curator of the exhibition, discusses how the show was organized around the artist’s relationship to music.