Issue 246
October 2024

Who wants to be remembered as just a YBA artist?’ Tracey Emin

In the October issue of frieze, Emily LaBarge profiles Tracey Emin in anticipation of her major solo exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey, London. Plus, Malik Gaines, Alastair Macaulay and Constance Stamatiou among others contribute to a Festschrift that traces the enduring legacy of choreographer Alvin Ailey.



Profile: Tracey Emin

‘I don’t have a practice. That’s for the kids. I’m an artist. I make art.’ Known for her delicate brushstrokes and sinuous prose, Tracey Emin reflects on a life and career that challenges conventions and celebrates raw vulnerability.

Festschrift: Alvin Ailey

‘We think dance is the putting on of things – really, it’s the revealing.’ As Alvin Ailey’s retrospective opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, artists, critics and members of the choreographer’s company reflect on how his astonishing vision changed American dance.

Also featuring  

Curator Edward Gillman speaks with artist Jack O’Brien about his innovative sculptural practice ahead of his forthcoming show at Camden Art Centre, London. In ‘1,500 Words,’ Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux shares an excerpt from the upcoming reissue of The Use of Photography, translated into English for the first time. Plus, contributing writer McKenzie Wark explores trans-feminine aesthetics and the revolutionary potential of prettiness.

Columns: Dance

Charles Aubin writes on Yvonne Rainer’s return to dance after a two-decade hiatus, Damien Jalet speaks to associate editor Marko Gluhaich about choreographing Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez (2024), associate editor Vanessa Peterson examines Rebecca Horn’s use of performance as a form of exploring our subconscious desires and Travis Alabanza pens a tribute to Marikiscrycrycry’s choreographic horror ‘Goner’ (2024–25). Plus, Joseph Sissens and Joseph Toonga discuss The Royal Ballet’s Rhythm in Resilience, a new festival celebrating Black excellence within the Company.

Finally, ahead of Tacita Dean’s first major museum survey in the United States at The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, Daisy Lafarge responds to her 2006 work Crowhurst. Plus, Jack O’Brien contributes to our series of artists’ ‘to-do’ lists and associate editor Angel Lambo pens a postcard from London.

From this issue

Ahead of his first institutional show at Camden Art Centre, the artist discusses how London’s architecture shapes the eroticism in his assemblages

BY Jack O’Brien AND Edward Gillman |

The Nobel Prize-winning writer and the journalist chronicle their affair through shared photography. We revisit their story ahead of its reissue

Joseph Sissens and Joseph Toonga discuss curating festivals that celebrate Black achievements in dance

BY Joseph Toonga AND Joseph Sissens |

A tribute to the dancer’s acclaimed return to choreography following years of ground-breaking artistic innovation

BY Charles Aubin |

As a retrospective opens at the Whitney Museum, New York, writers, curators and those close to the choreographer explore his vision to transform American dance

An image from the artist’s ‘Painted Trees’ series evokes vivid visions of home for a renowned writer

BY Daisy Lafarge |

McKenzie Wark on trans-feminine aesthetics and the revolutionary potential of prettiness

BY McKenzie Wark |

Choreographer Damien Jalet discusses the impact of movement in film, Emilia Pérez and earning accolades at the Cannes Film Festival

BY Damien Jalet AND Marko Gluhaich |

The choreographer’s latest work, Goner, powerfully blends movement and vulnerability, reflecting the viewer’s gaze back onto themselves

BY Travis Alabanza |

A visit to the celebrated artist in Margate, ahead of a major exhibition at White Cube, London, reveals a painter in her prime, creating strikingly raw canvases

BY Emily LaBarge |

The late artist surrealistically changed the way we visualize the body in space

BY Vanessa Peterson |

Major surveys at the Serpentine Galleries, London, and the LUMA Foundation, Arles, celebrate the artist's enduring dedication to feminist practice and social justice

BY Chloe Stead |

At Cukrarna, Ljubljana, the mirrored, looped and spinning works speak to the ways in which history repeats itself

BY Hana Ostan-Ožbolt-Haas |

The artist’s recent exhibition at WIELS and CINEMATEK features nuanced architectural and filmic works that explore themes of obstruction and theatricality

BY Emile Rubino |

At Aspen Art Museum, the artist-curator arranged private collection works to reflect the layout of an ancient Roman townhouse

BY Cat Kron |

A sprawling exhibition at SITE Santa Fe pairs Robert Smithson’s installations, photographs and early drawings with Teresita Fernández’s medium-defying works

BY Brian Karl |

At Brunette Coleman in London, the artist explores the materialization of invisible events through photography, reflections and altered states

BY Alexander Harding |

A show at Francis Gallery, Los Angeles, features decades of drawings by the celebrated novelist, playwright, essayist and poet

BY Tina Barouti |

At Tanya Leighton, Berlin, the painter’s geometric abstractions suggest a dispersed staging of the natural

BY Ari Níelsson |

Featuring diverse work by 27 emerging or underrepresented artists, the inaugural edition of Auckland Art Gallery’s triennial explores thresholds and transitions

BY Victoria Wynne-Jones |

Displayed in a labyrinth at Pace Gallery, New York, the artist's latest ‘Black Dada’ paintings fail to generate productive friction

BY Zoë Hopkins |

At Ordet, Milan, an exhibition dedicated to the artist’s work in metal reflects on the opaque nature of capitalist production

BY Simone Molinari |

At Belvedere, Vienna, works by the German dadaist are placed in dialogue with avant-garde film of the era

BY Louisa Elderton |

The artists’ solo exhibitions in a 1950s port building draw inspiration from James Joyce, shedding new light on forgotten relics

BY Tom Lordan |

In a two-venue show at Karma, New York, the artist's hallucinogenic compositions see her staring into the heart of trauma

BY Jesse Dorris |

The artist’s intricate paintings and multimedia installations at Sadie Coles HQ in London explore themes of artistic labour and concealed influences

BY Ivana Cholakova |

At Cemeti – Institute for Art and Society and ROH Projects, the artist’s exploration of extraction in Indonesia asks: ‘How to reverse the tide?’

BY Harry Burke |

At Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, a posthumous exhibition dedicated to the artist and musician is charged with unfettered creativity

BY Krzysztof Kościuczuk |

Curated by artist and lecturer Peter Davies, this intimate exhibition at The Approach highlights a vibrant moment in London's art scene

BY Tom Morton |

At Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, a selection of the artist’s works from the 1980s examines how images of power and brutality operate in mass media

BY Brandon Sward |

At Carbon 12, Dubai, a group exhibition of sculptures, textiles and painting uses the spinal cord as a metaphor for the ties that bind us

BY Rahel Aima |

The artist’s Turner Prize-nominated exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is a lyrical meditation on cultural loss

BY Crystal Bennes |

At the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM), Candiani evokes the city’s geography to understand how humans might live better together

BY Jennifer Burris |

In a fabric-forward show at Bridget Donahue, New York, the artist presents clothing and tapestries marked by conviction and grace

BY Paige K. Bradley |

At Kate MacGarry, London, the artist’s accomplished ceramic fragrance vessels reference East-West trade, exoticism and narratives about place

BY Salena Barry |

At Moderna Museet, Stockholm, the artist’s sprawling retrospective celebrates self-proclaimed ‘sexual repulsives and freaks’

BY Matthew Rana |