“It’s hot or cold no matter where you are in this fair,” moaned one Frieze Art Fair attendee yesterday afternoon over a glass of $5 wine. His complaints might have fallen on deaf ears (and his wine might have been twice the price) had he not been seated at the worn wooden bar inside of the lobby at Al’s Grand Hotel, just across from Kasmin Gallery's booth. Behind the bar, a smartly dressed and uncharacteristically attentive barkeep named Erin Mortensen was briefing customers about just what this unconventional installation was: a reincarnation of artist Allen Ruppersberg’s Hollywood pop-up hotel from 1971. Perhaps the reduced alcohol prices were an additional effort to truly embody the days of disco.
After being approached by Cecilia Alemani from the Frieze Projects series to recreate his iconic hotel cum performance art house, Ruppersberg asked friend and collaborator Lauren Mackler from Public Fiction Gallery to help oversee the installation. As Mackler told us, the pair began with a “series of conceptual conversations” and subsequently worked together to source fake ‘70s-style furniture and fixtures to adorn the three rooms: a lobby complete with concierge, the aforementioned bar, and a small seating area, and two fully inhabitable rooms titled “The Jesus Room” and “The Bridal Suite” after the two most expensive of the seven rooms in the original hotel.
Mortensen confirmed that the lobby has been abuzz since the official opening, with guests enjoying drinks, chatting on the green velvet sofa, perusing the ‘70s-era photography postcards, and inspecting the two rooms. In the case of “The Jesus Room,” that meant navigating around a gigantic wooden cross splayed across the floor as if it had been dropped through the ceiling by a freight plane. “The Bridal Suite,” meanwhile, featured a replica wedding cake on top of the working vintage TV and a blanket of flowers covering the double bed. Some guests who managed to snag one of the hard-to-come-by rooms were bringing their own entertainment for their big night at Frieze. Mortensen recalled with a laugh: “We have two European women staying with us, and they said to me, ‘We can get ice at night, right? We are bringing a bottle of vodka with us.’”
Visit Al's Grand Hotel at Frieze New York through May 12
See more of Opening Ceremony's coverage of Frieze New York HERE
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The lobby of Al's Grand Hotel. Photos by Clarke Rudick
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The Bridal Suite
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After being approached by Cecilia Alemani from the Frieze Projects series to recreate his iconic hotel cum performance art house, Ruppersberg asked friend and collaborator Lauren Mackler from Public Fiction Gallery to help oversee the installation. As Mackler told us, the pair began with a “series of conceptual conversations” and subsequently worked together to source fake ‘70s-style furniture and fixtures to adorn the three rooms: a lobby complete with concierge, the aforementioned bar, and a small seating area, and two fully inhabitable rooms titled “The Jesus Room” and “The Bridal Suite” after the two most expensive of the seven rooms in the original hotel.
Mortensen confirmed that the lobby has been abuzz since the official opening, with guests enjoying drinks, chatting on the green velvet sofa, perusing the ‘70s-era photography postcards, and inspecting the two rooms. In the case of “The Jesus Room,” that meant navigating around a gigantic wooden cross splayed across the floor as if it had been dropped through the ceiling by a freight plane. “The Bridal Suite,” meanwhile, featured a replica wedding cake on top of the working vintage TV and a blanket of flowers covering the double bed. Some guests who managed to snag one of the hard-to-come-by rooms were bringing their own entertainment for their big night at Frieze. Mortensen recalled with a laugh: “We have two European women staying with us, and they said to me, ‘We can get ice at night, right? We are bringing a bottle of vodka with us.’”
Visit Al's Grand Hotel at Frieze New York through May 12
See more of Opening Ceremony's coverage of Frieze New York HERE
The lobby of Al's Grand Hotel. Photos by Clarke Rudick
The Bridal Suite
