Frieze New York 2025’s Focus section spotlights 17 debut galleries at The Shed, with breakout turns by Danielle Brathwaithe‑Shirley and Citra Sasmita.
Frieze New York has never shied away from shiny blue chips—Koons Hulks, Baselitz bravado, you name it—but its Focus sector is where the real pulse check happens.
For 2025, curator Lumi Tan turbo‑charges that pulse: 17 first‑time galleries from Seoul to Singapore crash The Shed (May 8–11) with sweat‑fresh video loops, textile epics, and more pronouns than a grammar lesson. Grab a reusable fair tote; we’re diving into the most ambitious Focus yet.
Seventeen debutantes is no small feat when shipping costs are on keto and collectors are counting economic calories.
Tan doubles down on moving image and installation—media historically hard to sell but crucial for expanding Contemporary Art’s vocabulary.
Think Danielle Brathwaithe‑Shirley’s VR portal into Black trans futures, or Citra Sasmita’s batik‑bright textile mythologies rewriting Indonesian epics from a matriarchal gaze.
12 solo booths out of 17—a collector’s dream of clear narratives.
Five continents represented; greetings to Kyiv’s Voloshyn and Singapore’s Yeo Workshop.
Median work price reportedly under US $35 k—oxygen indeed.
Short answer: yes—when context is king. Galleries are packaging editions with bespoke hardware, on‑site support, and QR‑coded certificates stored on Arweave (because blockchain chic never dies).
Early whispers say Brathwaithe‑Shirley’s interactive work is priced at $20 k per edition, and three institutions are already circling. Citra Sasmita’s monumental batik scroll—cotton dyed in turmeric and clove—is tagged at $45 k and rumored on reserve for a Madrid museum.
Because this is where you buy ideas before they migrate to seven‑figure walls. Remember when Igshaan Adams debuted in Focus 2019 for $15 k and now anchors European biennials?
Same playbook here—just swap the yarn for TikTok‑age world‑building. Besides, with tariffs tossing spreadsheets and blue‑chip fatigue setting in, mid‑market experimentation feels positively Zen.
Focus 2025 proves Frieze can still oxygenate a cautious market by funneling collector attention toward risk‑taking forms—video diaries, batik cosmologies, and VR avatars that talk back.
Whether you exit with a shipping invoice or a new favorite pronoun, the section offers a playful, sophisticated, and just‑cheeky‑enough reminder that New York’s Galleries thrive on first chances.
And if Danielle Brathwaithe‑Shirley’s headset line stays wrapped around the booth, you’ll know the future has already queued.
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