Frieze names new COO

Frieze just hired an operations specialist, not a curator, for one of its top jobs. On 7 April 2026, the art fair company said Frank Lasry will become chief operating officer in June and report to chief executive Simon Fox. (frieze.com) That job sits behind the scenes of the art market’s most visible events. Frieze runs fairs in London, Los Angeles, New York and Seoul, plus a viewing room and publishing business, so one executive now has to make the machinery work across four cities and multiple calendars. (frieze.com) Lasry’s background is built for exactly that kind of machinery. Frieze said he brings more than 20 years of experience across auction houses, galleries and fairs, and that mix matters because those businesses all move expensive art, wealthy clients and tight event schedules at the same time. (frieze.com) His résumé starts in auction houses, where timing and logistics are brutal. Christie’s roles took him through Paris, London, Dubai and Hong Kong, giving him experience in the four things fairs live on: shipping, client service, security and event execution across different regions. (fadmagazine.com) He then crossed into rival parts of the same industry. Trade coverage says he later held senior roles at Phillips, spent five years at Art Basel through 2023, and most recently served as chief operating officer at Perrotin, which runs nine gallery locations worldwide. (artnews.com) (artplugged.co.uk) That Art Basel stretch is the part competitors will notice first. Art Basel and Frieze are the two names most people mean when they talk about the top tier of global art fairs, so hiring a former Art Basel managing director looks less like routine recruiting and more like poaching operational know-how from the closest rival. (artnews.com) (ocula.com) The timing is not random. Frieze is heading into Frieze New York on 13–17 May 2026 at The Shed, only weeks after Frieze Los Angeles ran from 26 February to 1 March 2026, which shows how compressed the company’s annual fair cycle has become. (frieze.com 1) (frieze.com 2) There is also a corporate reset happening above the fairs. ARTnews reported in 2025 that Endeavor had sold Frieze to a new company founded by Ari Emanuel, so this hire lands during a period when the business is being reassembled under new ownership. (artnews.com) Simon Fox framed the appointment as an execution move, saying Lasry has “deep understanding of the global art ecosystem” and “operational expertise at the highest level.” That is the language companies use when they want smoother delivery, tighter coordination and fewer expensive mistakes across multiple international events. (frieze.com) So the story is not just that Frieze filled a vacancy in April 2026. It is that one of the biggest art fair groups just picked a veteran of Christie’s, Phillips, Art Basel and Perrotin to run the engine room while the fair business gets more global, more competitive and more operationally unforgiving. (frieze.com) (artnews.com)