At Frieze New York 2025, Ceramics Moved Quietly but Powerfully—Animating Space with Whimsy, Symbolism, and Social Charge.
By: MoCA/NY
May 12, 2025
The Shed 545 W 30th Street New York, NY
Frieze returned to The Shed in New York with more than sixty-five of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries, representing over twenty-five countries.
Among the most compelling was Maria Nepomuceno’s abstract constructions, presented by A Gentil Carioca, composed in vivid interplay with beads, rope, gourds, and ceramic elements. Her forms radiate an intuitive sensuality, honoring craft traditions while asserting their place within the language of contemporary sculpture. At Anton Kern Gallery, a playful installation featuring works by David Shrigley and Yuli Yamagata embodied a spirit of bold irreverence—whimsical and eccentric.
Satire and symbolism found form in clay. Grayson Perry’s coil-built vessels, presented by Victoria Miro, continued the artist’s long-standing interrogation of identity, class, and politics. At Mitre Galeria, Luana Vitra’s raw, earthen sculptures struck a more elemental chord, grounded in geometry and attuned to universal symbols—forms that felt both ancient and insistently of the present.
Frieze also hosted the fourth edition of the Artist Plate Project, a collaboration with the Coalition for the Homeless. Fifty artists—including some of the art world’s most celebrated figures—created limited-edition ceramic plates, sold to benefit the Coalition’s ongoing work providing essential services to homeless and low-income New Yorkers.
Here, we spotlight fifteen galleries presenting standout ceramic works at Frieze New York 2025.
A Gentil Carioca Installation at Frieze 2025 | Photo Courtesy: A Gentil Carioca
Maria Nepomuceno | Planta faminta | 2025 | Braided straw, beads, wood, ceramics, resin, and shells | 78 x 74.75 x 19.75 in
Maria Nepomuceno | Planta faminta | 2025 | Braided straw, beads, wood, ceramics, resin, and shells | 78 x 74.75 x 19.75 in | Photo Courtesy: A Gentil Carioca
Maria Nepomuceno | Mulher serpente | 2025 | Beads, ceramics, wood, woven straw and gourds | 41.375 x 47.25 x 29.5 in
Maria Nepomuceno | Mulher serpente | 2025 | Beads, ceramics, wood, woven straw and gourds | 41.375 x 47.25 x 29.5 in | Photo Courtesy: A Gentil Carioca
Maria Nepomuceno | Untitled | 2025 | Beads, ceramics, wood, gourds and rope | 37.375 x 55.125 x 12.625 in | Photo Courtesy: A Gentil Carioca
Maria Nepomuceno | Untitled | 2025 | Beads, ceramics, wood, gourds and rope | 37.375 x 55.125 x 12.625 in | Photo Courtesy: A Gentil Carioca
