Haitian Artist Myrlande Constant's Drapo Textiles Head to Frieze London at $90,000–$450,000

Five monumental textiles by Haitian artist Myrlande Constant, priced between $90,000 and $450,000, go on view this week at Frieze London in a solo booth from New York gallery Fort Gansevoort.

Dealer Adam Shopkorn, who cofounded Fort Gansevoort in 2015 with his wife, Carolyn Tate Angel, has taken an unorthodox route to the fair. Frieze London marks his third fair this year after last showing at one in January 2020, following an appearance at Frieze Los Angeles this past February.

"It's important for us to be in these places now," Shopkorn told ARTnews on a Zoom call before heading to London. He noted that demand for Constant's work has soared in the past few years after appearances at the 2022 Venice Biennale, Prospect.6 in 2024, and the 2025 São Paulo Bienal.

Constant makes drapo — elaborately beaded textiles rooted in Haitian Vodou spiritual practices with African origins. Each of the five Frieze works measures more than 10 feet by 9 feet. Amwan Agwe… (2026) depicts green hills and blue waves alongside skulls, candles and fish that reference Fèt Gede, Haiti's annual festival honoring the spirits of the dead.

What changed in the artist's studio?

Everything, in practical terms. Constant no longer maintains an atelier in Port-au-Prince, where she once worked with a team of women to produce the detailed flags she has become known for. Because of ongoing violence in Haiti, she now moves between cities for safety and crafts her works on the go.

Since late 2023, Shopkorn might go months without hearing from her — not knowing whether she is safe or how the next body of work is progressing. Then a finished piece, larger than life-size, arrives in New York from Haiti via the Dominican Republic.

"There's no white-glove fine-art service truck that's going into Port-au-Prince to collect artwork for an art fair in London," Shopkorn said. The works did arrive in time to go on view.

How does the dealer keep production going?

Shopkorn uses an old-school model: he sends Constant money as a stipend rather than waiting for a sale and splitting proceeds 50-50, the current norm. "If we did that, she would be waiting forever," he said, adding that proceeds are often "sliced and diced in many different ways" to accommodate the structure.

What does this change for the work itself? Constant may lack reliable phone and internet access, but her textiles carry what she has to say. Lasirène Diamant (2025) depicts the feminine Vodou spirit Lasirène, who rules the sea. On one side, the mermaid spirit wears a diamond necklace symbolizing prosperity; on the other, she sits on a raft filled with fruit, cake and sweets, surrounded by mermaids, a dolphin, a seahorse and an octopus.

"Myrlande is [trying to] survive in Haiti and take care of her family," Shopkorn said. "The moment an artwork leaves her hands, she's not terribly interested in what happens after that. When one of her pieces enters a permanent collection, it's not relevant to her because she's worried about the safety of her family."

The booth's commercial test comes as Frieze London opens, with five works whose journey out of Haiti proved as precarious as the market interest they have attracted.