The art world is coming to L.A. this week
An art bonanza will unfurl across the city this week as Frieze Los Angeles and four other key fairs lure art makers, sellers, collectors and spectators from around the globe.
The occasion also has sparked a slew of talks, screenings, performances and parties, turning “Frieze” into “Frieze Week.”
Here’s our primer on the biggest events:
Frieze Los Angeles
The weekend fair drew 30,000 visitors over four days to its premiere at Paramount Studios last year. Expect more than 70 galleries and a finer-point focus this year. The Frieze Projects series, sitespecific artworks on the Paramount backlot, was curated by Rita Gonzalez and Pilar Tompkins Rivas and will center on issues of representation, identity and myth. Gonzales also is organizing a section of the main exhibition tent called “Focus L.A.,” devoted to local galleries that opened within the last 15 years.
Paramount Studios, 5515 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Feb. 13-16. frieze.com
Felix L.A.
This is a more intimate and unconventional fair that aims to keep exhibitor fees low. For the second year it takes over the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, with 60 galleries showing in guest rooms and poolside cabanas instead of booths. Its Special Projects series will highlight issues around gender, queerness and feminism. On Feb. 13, performance artist Dynasty Handbag will present her “Weirdo Night,” an evening of comedy, song and dance, around the hotel pool where a David Hockney mural shimmers underwater. Special guests include comedic writerperformer Morgan Bassichis, folk artist Smiling Beth, actress Cricket Arrison and “Hula Hoop master” Marawa.
Hollywood Roosevelt, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. Feb. 13-16. felixfair.com
Art Los Angeles Contemporary
The 11th edition of ALAC will take place at the Hollywood Athletic Club instead of Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar. The move east signals a desire to be closer to the art fair nexus. ALAC will host 45 international galleries in the historic space, which was founded by Charlie Chaplin in 1924.
Hollywood Athletic Club, 6525 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Feb. 13-16. artlosangelesfair.com
Spring/Break Art Show
This event, which has run in unusual or historic New York spaces the last eight years, debuted in L.A. last year with a lively, newkid-on-campus pop and sparkle. More than 45 projects by mostly L.A. artists and curators featured a unifying theme: fact and fiction. In its sophomore year, Spring/ Break will have 65 projects centered on “in excess.” Opening day Feb. 14 is VIP-only, but that evening the VIP Valentines Day Party is open to the public for $25 per person, with art tours, food trucks and a cash bar.
Skylight, ROW DTLA, 757 S. Alameda St., downtown L.A. Feb. 14–16. springbreakartshow.com
Start Up Art Fair
In its fifth year here, this event is devoted to emerging contemporary artists who aren’t represented by galleries. It will again take over the charming Kinney hotel in Venice, with more than 80 artists turning guest rooms into galleries. Artist Lili Bernard, who was one of Bill Cosby’s sexualharassment accusers, will host a talk about art and the #MeToo movement at 2 p.m. Feb.16.
The Kinney, 737 W. Washington Blvd., Venice. Feb. 14-16. startupartfair.com
Also
All of those Frieze Week events come on the heels of the L.A. Art Show, which celebrates its 25th anniversary a week earlier. L.A.’s longest-running art fair, it’s showing 127 international galleries and, for the first time, a European Pavilion with 12 galleries from France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Germany and Denmark. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Broad, the Japanese American National Museum, the Museum of Latin American Art and others have staged installations and are involved in the programming. The five-day event ends Feb. 9 at the Los Angeles Convention
Center’s South Hall in downtown L.A. For more details: laartshow.com