WME-IMG, has bought a major stake in Frieze Art Fair, which will launch its fifth New York edition early next.
Ari Emanuel, who runs WME-IMG with co-CEO Patrick Whitesell, are the first outside investors in Frieze, though the size of the investment stake was not disclosed. Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, who founded Frieze in 1991, will still manage the fair.
WME-IMG will “expand the resources and expertise available to Frieze’s clients through events, media, and technology,” a press release states. The agency will also help to support the Frieze Tate Fund, which provides $200,000 to acquire art for the Tate Museum from Frieze’s London edition.
Sharp told the Financial Times that WME will help advise on how “digital can support live events,” and said the investment would allow them to “start realising innovations we have been developing over the last year.” via artnet
