The spotlights in Frieze New York are usually in the paintings, sculptures and other works of art that are shown around the city. Artists, the gallery owners who represent them and the glittering parties related to the stock market, also get their attention.
But Frieze would not happen without the quota of people who work in the background to bring it about.
Christine Messineo, the director of Frieze New York and Los Angeles, said that the stock market employs more than 130 temporary and full -time employees, in a dozen departments. They include production staff, handlers who install the artworks, electricians, guards and members of the guest relationships.
“Nobody thinks about them, but they are essential for the appearance and implementation of the stock market,” said Messineo. “I see a lot of them year after year and are highly dependent on them.”
Below are profiles of four people who stay under the radar, but are an integral part of Frieze.
Peter Pimentel, 34
He is a dockmaster for the barn and supervises all deliveries of the stock market and loading dock and freight lift operations.
There is no work of art that comes in and out of Frieze New York without the supervision of Frieze New York. “It’s just about a 24/7 job when the fair is underway, and I start working on logistics two months in advance,” he said. “I have to make sure that the art leaves and comes to the stock exchange in one go.” He has the role since 2022 and was always “very stressed,” he said, but not anymore.
Pimentel ensures that the delivery companies have up-to-date insurance certificates; Generates security codes; And enters data for all deliveries. He also knew the dock and cargo lift to make room for incoming shipments, manages the software for planning the delivery and is the wearer of bad news about delays.
“I am stuck in the dock for 14 hours and don’t see the light, except when I have lunch,” said Pimentel.
Drama occasionally comes in his day that two trucks arrive at the same time. “The drivers can come in a honking war and shout the game about who can go in first,” he said. “A delivery takes about 45 minutes, so the other truck has to wait. I’m going outside to repair the situation and try to keep everyone calm.”
Q Sulayman Ansari, 57
He is the security leader for the stock exchange and an executive director at Citadel Security Agency, a company that offers guards for events in New York.
Ansari has been the head of New York’s security since the debut in 2012. “It used to be in a huge tent on the island of Randall that was covered with an area that was larger than three football fields, which a team of more than 40 First and 60 guards and 60 guards needed,” he said. “Our footprint on the shed is now a lot smaller.”
The team now includes 30 firstuards and 60 guards, almost half of whom are women.
Ansari starts planning four months in advance as soon as he receives the production schedule of the organizers of the stock exchange. “I work with the Frieze staff to make a very complicated plan with blueprints and cards from the exhibition site,” he said.
The responsibilities of his team include controlling access to the shed, scanning cards, surveillance surveillance cameras and security areas where art is stored.
“We must ensure that millions of dollars are protected against theft and damage,” Ansari said. “You can’t imagine how many people try to touch the pieces, and it is our job to politely tell them that they can’t.”
Keeping all visitors safe and offering a personal guard for some celebrities who come by is also part of his role. Over the years, he said, he has monitored stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Leonardo DiCaprio and LeBron James.
Unlike some of his other assignments, the security personnel has never had to deal with a violent incident or theft at Frieze New York, he said. “I have monitored events where people present come into fist battles or disassemble knives and guns or steal portfolios and other items,” he said. “Frieze New York is tame. The atmosphere is peaceful.”
After having worked at the fair for 13 years, he said he feels that he spends time with family, instead of colleagues. “I know everyone based on the first name,” Ansari said. “We all bump and hug when we start the day and then get started.”
Ferran Mendoza Soler, 42
He is a video producer for the stock exchange and the co-founder and co-owner of the New York production company Tokyo/Vermont.
Mendoza Soler picks up at least eight miles a day when he photographs video for the stock exchange, while wearing his eight-pound Canon 200. “I am up and down in the barn for three days at high speed, run through the high line and visit off-site locations to catch the most artistically compelling moments on Frieze,” he said.
Mendoza Soler and co-founder and co-owner of Tokyo/Vermont, Christian Balmer, have been the video producers of the stock market since 2021. They have since added two video editors and another videographer, hired by Mendoza Soler and Balmer for the event.
“At first we only photographed the highlights of the fair and short interviews with artists,” said Mendoza Soler. “Now we have curators from museums in the city that take us on tours about their favorite pieces in the stock exchange, produce videos about the art of implementation and get in -depth profiles of artists.”
The clips are used to promote the stock market on its social media channels and its website.
Working at Frieze is high pressure but exciting, said Mendoza Soler. He remembered that he 2024 Performance of the Brooklyn artist Matty Davis on the High Line, Including running, diving on the ground and other physical movements. “I had to imitate his movements to take the best photos and I felt like an artist,” said Mendoza Soler. “I was out of breath and sweat towards the end.”
Contemporary art can be graphic and provocative, he said, and it is a challenge to prevent the shooting of content that is probably censored on social media.
The video producer also photographs Fairgoers, although many want to avoid the spotlights, he said. “They get intimidated when they see a large camera and turn the other way,” he said.
But he added: “Frieze New York is Buzzy, and it is my job to make it look like the glamorous event it is, so I always hunt the best scenes.”
She is in the accreditation team of the stock exchange. Located in Los Angeles, she is one multimedia artist.
As part of the accreditation staff of Frieze New York, Harris’s task is to publish the identification baths and wristbands for exhibitors, artificial handlers and artists needed to get to the stock market. “What is nice is that I get the chance to put a smile on some of the biggest names in art before we get started,” she said.
Harris has been working in Frieze Los Angeles since 2023. This is her first year in New York. She rubbed elbows on the west coast with people such as the gallerist Jeffrey Deencch, the artist Takashi Murakami and the actor Will Ferrell, she said. But she said: “For me, New York is the epicenter of the art world and a city where I want to live and work. That is precisely why I work on the fair.”
Harris started her temporary position a week before the fair, to create badges for the participants. Before the opening, she said, she expected that she should spend time to ensure that collectors do not come in during the setup. “From my experience in LA I have seen some galleries trying to sneak in collectors to buy the artwork before it is officially allowed,” said Harris. “They don’t play according to the rules.”
Post-Fair collects the accreditation staff the plastic badges and wristbands for recycling. But this year Harris kept 450 wit wristbands from Frieze Los Angeles and uses them to create a sculpture. “I want to do the same in New York,” she said. “Upcycling is important to me, and what is a better way to do that than to transform these discarded items from an art fair into my art?”
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