Frieze New York

Joan Semmel, Lorraine O'Grady, Harmony Hammond
Focus Section, Booth A1
Randall’s Island, New York, NY

Alexander Gray Associates participated in Frieze New York 2013 art fair, spotlighting recent work by pioneering figures of the Feminist Art Movement: Joan Semmel, Lorraine O’Grady, and Harmony Hammond. The presentation features new works by each artist—exhibited for the first time at Frieze New York—underscoring the groundbreaking paths of female artists at the forefront of art and activism.

Since the 1970s Semmel, O’Grady, and Hammond have actively participated as cultural and political voices, offering divergent practices and stylistic approaches. Over the course of their careers, the artists have continued their respective evolutions, creating innovative works that explore issues of female identity. In their recent works, Semmel, O’Grady and Hammond experiment with new art-making processes while preserving the voices that have distinguished their practices.

Joan Semmel’s recent self-portraits evoke reflections on the aging process; these works feature the artist’s body, fragmented and in-motion, and explore evolution of the female body. In Looking Out (2012) the artist holds two positions, one thinly veiled by the next, as she navigates the passage of time. Semmel’s exhibition at Alexander Gray Associates is on view through May 25, 2013. Harmony Hammond’s work demonstrates the artist’s interest in modernist abstraction and female craft traditions. Her monochromatic painting, Blanco (2012–13), is an investigation of materiality and topographies of body and space that continues the artist’s commitment to feminist and queer discourse. Lorraine O’Grady’s back-lit works, Landscape Quartets (2013), hybridize the post-colonial body as landscape; these new works extend from her video Landscape (Western Hemisphere) (2012), recently featured in Blues for Smoke, organized by MOCA Los Angeles, on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art, through April 28, 2013.

Also included in the presentation were early works produced during the 1970s and 1980s by each artist, including Semmel’s mixed media collages (1978–80), photographs from O’Grady’s iconic Art Is... series (1983/2009), and a 1975 painting by Hammond. These works provide historical context that, together with recent works, serve as a retrospective view of the artists’ practice and sociopolitical concerns.

About Frieze New York
Frieze New York is an international contemporary art fair that launched in May 2012. In 2013 the fair includes over 180 of the world’s leading galleries, making Frieze New York 2013 the commpany’s largest event to date.. Like Frieze London, Frieze New York is housed in a bespoke temporary structure, suffused with natural light. The fair is located in Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan.