Episode Four: On Studios | Arlene Shechet & Sheena Wagstaff

In 2023, Frieze Masters fair sought to break the artist’s studio open to a new audience with a new section, Studio, curated by Sheena Wagstaff – the former Chairman of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Met and now Met’s Chair Emerita. In On Studios, Wagstaff talks with one of the Studio artists, Arlene Shechet, exploring how central the place and space of making is to her work, as well as its significance in the realm of creativity.

'It’s not a genius move, it’s just hard work. It just means that you know that you want something more, you know that you want something different. You follow the work always in terms of form, you follow the work in terms of idea, and you definitely follow the work in terms of solving any technical problems.' – Arlene Shechet

Arlene Shechet is a sculptor working in New York City and the Hudson Valley. In 2023, Shechet was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2024, the Storm King Art Center will stage a major exhibition of Shechet’s work. Sheena Wagstaff was Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York from 2012-22, and is now vested as Met’s Chair Emerita. Wagstaff was appointed Creative Advisor for Frieze Masters in November 2023.

Find images of the artwork discussed here.

About Frieze Masters Podcast

Series two of the Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These eight conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.

The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.

This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.

About Frieze

Frieze is the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art, dedicated to artists, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘻𝘦, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week; five international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York, Frieze Los Angeles and Frieze Seoul; and No.9 Cork Street, a permanent gallery space in the heart of London. 

www.frieze.com

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