Frieze Returns to Los Angeles
Frieze Los Angeles is back — open Thursday to Sunday.
Started in London in 2003 by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, the art fair’s first L.A. stop was at Paramount Pictures in 2019 before returning in Beverly Hills last year. Moving west, it’s been relocated to the Santa Monica Airport.
More from WWD
It’s the largest iteration of Frieze L.A. to date, with more than 120 galleries from 22 countries exhibiting. Led by Christine Messineo, Frieze’s director of Americas, the floor will feature a wider selection showcasing 20th-century art. “Focus,” too, has expanded; the section dedicated to younger galleries — open for 12 years or less — offers solo presentations by artists Greg Breda, Kyoko Idetsu, Edgar Ramirez, Sophie Wahlquist and Hana Ward, among others.
Also to note is a new partnership with The Museum of Contemporary Art; in connection with the museum’s Simone Forti show, there will be performances of the 87-year-old’s Huddle (1961). It’s been a momentous year for the Italian-born, L.A.-based performer and choreographer, who’s been awarded the 2023 Golden Lion for lifetime achievement for dance by the Venice Biennale.
There’s seemingly an endless amount to see and do at Frieze, which has a number of nonprofit partnerships, pop-up installations and collaborations this year, including in food with Regarding Her curating the assortment of women-owned restaurants on-site, and in beauty with Dr. Barbara Sturm bringing a mini-spa experience.
At the center, of course, are the exhibits — from gallery giant Gagosian’s presentation of recent paintings by Rick Lowe to Venice-based L.A. Louver’s “American Exceptionalism” show of rarely seen works by Edward and Nancy Kienholz.
There’s an entire world happening around Frieze. A certain buzz fills L.A. this time of year; for two weeks straight starting on Feb. 13, all sorts of openings and events are hosted throughout the city in celebration of art — with many unveiling collaborations. Here are the highlights:
LOEWE FOUNDATION, the brand’s private cultural organization, kicked things off with Getty Villa at a cocktail party in the Pacific Palisades. The host committee included Rosetta and Balthazar Getty, and Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk.
FELIX brings the cool kids to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; viewers stroll the halls and rooms of the hotel — which are converted into gallery spaces — before lounging poolside with cocktails in hand. Showing 60 exhibitors, the contemporary art fair (started in 2018 by Dean Valentine, Al Morán and Mills Morán) is back, taking place from Wednesday through Sunday. Also happening those days is L.A. ART SHOW, hosted downtown at the L.A. Convention Center with over 100 galleries.
The Isabel Yellin x Lunya silk robe.
ARTIST ISABEL YELLIN was tapped to reimagine “the art of sleep” with Lunya. The one-of-a-kind silk robe will be revealed at an in-store bash before being auctioned off on Feb. 23 on AirAuctioneer, with all proceeds going to Inner-City Arts. “My soft sculptures use fabric to create volume, form, to reinforce the suggestion of the body in an object,” Yellin said of the work. “I hope people feel enveloped in a web, in a cozy soft pattern that adds a new angle to your day.”
IN THE WORLD OF GASTRONOMY, chef Enrique Olvera’s downtown restaurant Damian is collaborating with Ballroom Marfa, the contemporary arts community in Texas created by Virginia Lebermann and Fairfax Dorn. The partnership, kicking off with a dinner, will bring a collection of art to the restaurant that will be on display until mid-March (artists include Beatriz Cortez and Solange Pessoa).
WE ARE ONA is making its U.S. debut, bringing together food and design. The pop-up will be in Silver Lake, open from Feb. 12 to Monday. Hosted by Luca Pronzato, it showcases furnishings by creative director and designer Willo Perron. Parisian chef Thomas Coupeau is behind the menu.
Meanwhile, HOUSE OF TODAY — a nonprofit created by Cherine Magrabi Tayeb that helps nurture Lebanese artists — presents “Salt,” a collection by Nathalie Khayat. The artist’s sculptural and functional objects — bowls, vases and candelabras available for purchase — were interpreted in creations by chef Sandy Ho of Sandita’s for a private event. “I was completely free, and the chef is going to be completely free to react to those objects,” the ceramic artist explained prior to the evening. “When I started, I didn’t necessarily know where I was going. But the total result, when I saw the work at the end when it was finished, it was like a landscape, an undersea landscape.”
TAPPAN COLLECTIVE, launched online to connect young artists with art collectors, opened its first physical gallery on 8200 Melrose Avenue on Wednesday. Founder Chelsea Neman Nassib hosted a dinner to inaugurate the space. “We spent 10 years in the digital space, and when an opportunity came to open the physical location, it felt like such a great evolution from where we were,” explained Nassib. “I’ve always been super interested in figuring out how to make engaging with art more approachable. And so, I was so excited to explore what that could mean in a physical sense.”
Best of WWD
