After all that has been so eloquently said about the wildfires that occurred in Los Angeles in January, I’m not even going to try to adequately reflect on a tragedy so devastating, especially in a place that’s not really my home. But I would be remiss not to address the relatively somber mood it cast over this year’s Frieze week here, an event that typically traffics in the commerce (and celebration) of extreme wealth while, for the rest of us, turbo-charging the sleepy LA social calendar to a welcome, if exhausting, degree. There were still sales to be made and parties to attend, to be sure, but everything felt a little quieter, a little more contemplative, such as the Future Perfect opening that’s been a lively launch of new work in the past, but changed this year into a more modest fundraising auction for two local wildfire non-profits (with bids ending today online if you want to race over to the site and do some good). This is all to say that it felt important to everyone to somehow acknowledge the context in which the fair was happening, whether in content or conversation.
Strictly in terms of content, though, inside the Frieze fairgrounds, to outside observers like myself, the show seemed as normal, with plenty of new names to discover and an enjoyable number of galleries employing colorful walls or carpeting to create a more immersive experience. Among the galleries that stood out to me in general were Tina Kim from New York, which pulled together a beautiful curation of paintings and craft-heavy pieces from a majority-female roster, and Superposition, with a solo show of portraits by February James that contrast aggressively cheerful candy colors with weathered, solemn expressions. The Felix fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel was also as bustling as ever — with the addition of an amazing fundraiser of small artworks led by Epoch Gallery for the LA Ayuda Network — with my top pick being a very well-rounded presentation by Volume Gallery with new works by Ross Hansen, Christie Matson, and Jonathan Muecke, among others.
—Monica Khemsurov
