LA Fair Report

The fairs are bursting out all over in February—and I just have time to jot down a few notes before deadline. Photo LA (Jan. 30–Feb. 2) is going strong for its second year back on the westside, in the Barker Hangar. This is LA’s longest running fair, in its 28th year, which is a credit to the vigor of photo collecting in general and to the efforts of the fair’s management in particular. Photo dealer Stephen Cohen started the fair, and a few years ago sold it to Claudia James Bartlett, who had been its manager. After several years at LA Mart, or The Reef, in 2018 she decided to take a one-year hiatus, and then move back to the westside.

Photo LA opening night, photo by Lynda Burdick.

It’s proven to be the right move. On my visit, there seemed a more engaged audience and a better quality of exhibitors overall, with a noticeable number of photographers going towards conceptual work. It was also wonderful to see the classics—some of my favorites include E. O. Hoppé and his Ballets Russes portraits, Irving Penn and his Cuzco Children posed in their ragged finery, Judy Dater and that shot of elderly photographer Imogen Cunningham and model Twinka peering at each other from around a tree in Yosemite National Park. (Full disclosure: Yours Truly writes the didactics for the Point of View section, where collectors make a selection from their own collection.)

Kobe Tribute Mural, live art installation at LA Art Show, by Ray Vargas, photo by Cesar Salazar.

The LA Art Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center came next (Feb. 5–9), carefully skirting the pile-up of art fairs around Frieze LA (Feb. 14–16) at Paramount Studios. The price of admission is going up, up, up. Frieze was up to $175 on preview day (Friday), then $125 on Saturday and Sunday if you wanted to do it all, galleries and programs. Despite the steep entrance fee, the first batch of tickets went in a snap. The galleries tent is relatively small, said Bettina Korek, Frieze LA’s executive director, “so we needed to limit the number of people in there.” Meanwhile, if you just wanted to do programs on the weekend, it was $25.

Felix (Feb. 13–16) was free last year, its inaugural year, and the hallways of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel were jam-packed. This year, general admission is $25, which should keep some people away and maybe the halls flowing—it’s good for all four days, though. To be closer to the action, Art Los Angeles Contemporary (Feb. 13–16) has moved from the Barker Hangar to the Hollywood Athletic Club. And there was also stARTup Art Fair in Venice and Spring/Break in DTLA that same weekend.

Celebrating Diversity, by Chiachio & Giannone, curated by Gabriela Urtiaga, presented by MOLAA, Museum of Latin American Art, photo by Cesar Salazar.

Rain and cold dampened last year’s Frieze LA debut, but right now the sun is out, and rain is NOT in the forecast. The Galleries tent held up to the rain, though, and this year it boasted 70 galleries as before, including about a dozen young ones (Anat Ebgi, Parker) thrown into the mix with heavy hitters such as Hauser & Wirth, L.A. Louver, Lehmann Maupin and Marian Goodman—and two of the heaviest hitters from Seoul, Gallery Hyundai and Kukje. Hope you didn’t miss the Backlot, which was terrific last year. By the way, since these are largely underwritten by outside sources, you basically need a gallery or deep pockets to sponsor these projects. This year it was curated by Rita Gonzalez, LACMA curator, and Pilar Tompkins Rivas, director of the Vincent Price Art Museum.

Santa Fe Saved, Sort of

Santa Fe Art Colony.

Well, here’s some good news—on Jan. 28, LA City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee reviewed the nomination by the LA Conservancy to have the Santa Fe Art Colony declared a Historic-Cultural Monument, and they unanimously voted to forward it to the City Council. On Feb. 4 the City Council affirmed the recommendation for permanent historical status. “Even though we knew… very little about the place’s history, there was consensus that it was special and quietly inspiring,” said Sylvia Tidwell, president of Santa Fe Art Colony Tenants Association, in an email response. “A practical value to the artists could be that HCM status protects the property from further development without City review and permission.”

Unfortunately, this designation doesn’t help with the rent. Ever since the Fifteen Group, a Miami-based developer, purchased the property in 2018, the 72 artist units at the Colony have been threatened with higher rents—some in the first group of rent hikes have already moved out. A second wave of hikes were announced last year, doubling and tripling rents, said Tidwell. Then last September, California passed a rent-cap law (AB 1482), which specified that rental increases could not increase by more than 5% plus adjustment for local inflation per year, with certain exceptions. The City of Los Angeles helped tenants pay the rent increases for November and December through its Emergency Renters Relief Program ordinance. However, says Tidwell, in January when the AB 1482 took effect, the Fifteen Group refused to accept the lower rents specified by the law and is now trying to evict 27 SFAC residents.

Comings and Goings

Michael Zakian.

A fond farewell to Michael Zakian, longtime director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University, who passed away in January after a bout of illness. Whenever you ran into him, Michael had a ready smile and ready conversation about art. He was energetic and affable, and always dapper in his snappy suits and bow tie. On his 20th anniversary at Pepperdine, he said to the university magazine,“At Pepperdine my primary goal is education. I’m not just showing beautiful things to be admired for their own inherent beauty. I always emphasize that this art was made to convey certain ideas or make a particular point.” Zakian is survived by his wife, Lia Skidmore, of Skidmore Contemporary Art at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. Michael, you will be greatly missed in the LA art community.

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

A welcoming hello to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in the former May Company on Wilshire and Fairfax. Construction is largely completed, and an opening date—Dec. 14—was announced by Tom Hanks at the Oscars. Some may recall the project has been plagued by cost overruns and delays, but this looks to be the real deal. Yours Truly had a sneak peek at the theaters—the 1000-seat David Geffen Theater is in the Sphere and gorgeous; the 288-seat Ted Mann will also be state-of-the-art. Can’t wait to sit in one of those chairs!