Frieze New York 2016: Maurizio Cattelan’s Donkey, and More Animal Friends

With 200-plus galleries setting up shop on Randall’s Island, Frieze New York is always a bit of a menagerie, though it’s even more so this year thanks to a 15-year-old named Gabe. The donkey, recruited by the artist Maurizio Cattelan, is spending the weekend beneath a baroque chandelier for a recreation of the artist’s 1994 show at Daniel Newburg Gallery, which, unsurprisingly, was only on display for a day. Meanwhile, things are slightly more sedated at the Gagosian booth, where Damien Hirst is letting a ram and a pair of his famous sharks lie petrified in tanks of (potentially leaky) formaldehyde. They have company, too: Heather Phillipson’s pack of disembodied dogs, complete with mechanical wagging tails, aren’t far away, set up with a few pounds of loose Purina. See those and more of the art world’s cutest creatures, here.
Maurizio Cattelan, “Enter at Your Own Risk—Do Not Touch, Do Not Feed, No Smoking, No Photographs, No Dogs, Thank You,” 1994/2016. Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.
Heather Phillipson, “100% Other Fibres” for Frieze Projects. Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.
Damien Hirst at Gagosian Gallery. Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.
Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, “The Reiterative Grimace,” 2016. The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd. Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.
Damien Hirst at Gagosian Gallery. Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.
Carsten Höller at Massimo De Carlo Gallery. Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.