Following fires that claimed artwork, archives, and studios, the international art fair is a reconnection point
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Artist Doug Aitken has called culture in Los Angeles “our oxygen,” noting that artists’ visions and voices have taken on a new urgency after the conflagrations in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. He and Kelly Akashi, along with many of the region’s gallerists, museum directors, curators, and members of the creative community, are welcoming the return of Frieze Los Angeles, the annual art fair and accompanying exhibitions and happenings — now in its sixth year — to the Santa Monica Airport from February 20 to 23. “The fair continues our deep commitment to supporting the city’s cultural fabric,” says Christine Messineo, Frieze’s director of Americas. “In the past month we have witnessed both tragedy and an extraordinary display of solidarity within this community. This year’s fair stands as a tribute to that spirit.”
Frieze itself, held inside its trademark tent designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast’s WHY studio, includes works from more 97 galleries located across the city and abroad, including David Zwirner, Gagosian, Blum, Regen Projects, David Kordansky, Marian Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, White Cube, Maureen Paley, Victoria Miro, Bank, Galerie Max Hetzler, and The Box. Not-to-be-missed presentations include Gagosian’s installation of Chris Burden’s textile-rich tent, Nomadic Folly, Tilton Gallery’s exhibition of Noah Purifoy’s Joshua Tree assemblages, new paintings by Tracey Emin at Xavier Hufkens, abstract geometric canvases by Cherokee painter Kay WalkingStick at Hales, and Betye Saar’s mixed media works recreating elements of Zora Neale Hurston’s childhood home that feel more relevant than ever at Roberts Projects. Catherine Wagner’s 1995 photographs inside Disney park interiors are part of Jessica Silverman’s group show, and work by Aitken, Wolfgang Tillmans, Liz Larner, Gillian Wearing, and more are on view at Regen Projects.
“In times such as these, culture is our oxygen and there is urgency to our voices and visions”
—artist Doug Aitken
Fifteen galleries are debuting at the fair this year, and Essence Harden, co-curator of the Hammer Museum’s upcoming Made In L.A. 2025 show, has returned to Frieze to curate the Focus section of presentations from emerging galleries including Superposition Gallery, Sow & Tailor Gallery, Tyler Park Presents, and a number of others. Harden points out the local flavor of this year’s selections: “Every single gallery is either based in Los Angeles or has artists based here in the city.” She also says the shared threads between the galleries include themes of reverie and memory, particularly poignant given the fire’s impact on treasured possessions, family heirlooms, and keepsakes. “There are a lot of artifacts here, exploring the sensibility of time. A lot of these are personal histories and public histories that are being reshaped and retold,” she says.
Art Production Fund’s public program also returns this year with Inside Out, site-specific art and sculptures by eight artists exhibited around the airport. Themes of perspective and personal histories run through the varying projects, including Greg Ito’s inflatable sculpture, A Time to Blossom and Ozzie Juarez’s Pásale! Pásale! Todo Barato! installation evoking a swap meet to explore rapid urban change. Claire Chambless’ Player, Non-Player interactive egg hunt includes golden containers housing miniature sculptures meant to challenge traditional modes of art acquisition — a new one is hidden somewhere on the ground during each day of the fair. “Finders keepers,” says Casey Fremont, Art Production Fund’s executive director. Land arts pioneer Lita Albuquerque, who lost her Malibu home in the 2018 fires, is also here with her Turbulence sculpture, which includes a coating of her trademark ultramarine pigment atop decomposed granite.
The natural world is also the focus of San Diego–born artist Sam Falls, who is debuting new work through Ruinart’s Conversations with Nature series. Falls incorporates organic materials exploring our symbiotic relationship with the environment into his botanical portraits, and allows the elements to interact with his canvases. For the fair, Falls also created limited-edition collectibles including hats and books to aid the L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. 3027 Airport Ave., Santa Monica; frieze.com.
Feature image: Soleé Darrell Reality rest, 2024. PHOTO: Courtesy of the artist and pt. 2 Gallery.
February 14, 2025
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