Frieze art fair gets infusion from WME-IMG

Hedgies and financiers are among celebrity art fans gearing up for Frieze New York’s art fair on Randall’s Island from May 5 to 8.

WME-IMG, the Hollywood agency, announced recently it was investing in Frieze, which runs art fairs in New York and London.

Insiders say this might just prove Frieze is a different animal from the other megaparty fairs, like Art Basel, the brand that runs fairs in Basel, Switzerland, Miami Beach and Hong Kong.

Frieze has not disclosed terms of the deal. WME-IMG’s Ari Emanuel, a former Hollywood talent agent, approached Frieze and has said the art fair has “an incredible offering for the global art community.”

Frieze — launched in New York in 2012 — attracts an A-list crowd of investors and collectors, including Daniel Och, Ken Griffin, Steve Cohen, John Paulson and Francois Pinault.

In recent years, Nicky and Paris Hilton, Uma Thurman, Eva Longoria, Gwyneth Paltrow and Leonardo DiCaprio have turned out for Frieze parties.

Natasha Schlesinger, founder of ArtMuse and a curator of the Frieze pop-up “ArtSpeak” at The Surrey, says this year’s show will be bigger than ever.

The art fair will have more than 200 galleries and feature names including Erwin Wurm and Ashley Bickerton (Lehmann Maupin), Cory Arcangel and Anish Kapoor (Lisson Gallery) and Doug Aitken (303 Gallery).

Schlesinger says there’s also buzz around Damien Hirst’s return to Gagosian, and they will present him at their booth.

She says Frieze is a more low-key affair than Basel.

“Last year many of the galleries saw multiple sales in the six- and seven-figure range.” Acquavella sold a painting by pop artist Wayne Thiebaud for $2 million on the first day, while Skarstedt Gallery sold a Cady Noland sculpture Untiled (Walker) for $1.5 million.