Arrival: Santa Monica Airport, FRIEZE LA

Is there such a thing as too much art? My eyeballs think so, as they began to glaze over Saturday afternoon while browsing the art fare at the Felix art fair at the Roosevelt Hotel. It was Day Four of my marathon. 

In February we had quite a week of art, including the opening of at least four art fairs, and many many art exhibitions and art events.  First, I’ll address the Big One. Frieze LA (Feb. 16–19) has migrated to the Santa Monica Airport, after starting at the Paramount lot for two years, then moving to Beverly Hills last year. A section with younger galleries and galleries showing “historic work” was in the Barker Hangar; the larger, more glam, part was in a white tent on a hill running along Centinela. It was something of a walk—I did it on my first visit—but fortunately by Thursday they had frequent shuttles running between, which gave you a chance to see some of the special art projects. Still, it was nothing like what the Paramount backlot offered in terms of unusual spaces—there were some wonderful installations and performances then. Now there’s less of that while everyone hurries to see the galleries. After all, there were over 120 of them, more than ever before—some major New York and European dealers like Paula Cooper, Lisson, Thaddaeus Ropac and David Zwirner among them;  35,000 visitors passed through Frieze’s gates. 

Major sales were reported, I’ll just mention a few here but the sums are rather staggering. Hauser & Wirth did especially well, selling  Mark Bradford’s painting Shall Rest in Honor There (2023) for $3.5 million, Henry Taylor’s painting Untitled (2022) for $450,000, and a Luchita Hurtado painting for $225,000.  Several galleries with booths featuring single artists sold out completely—David Kordansky Gallery sold out of paintings by Chase Hall, Gagosian sold out of paintings and works on paper by Rick Lowe, Victoria Miro sold all 18 paintings by Doron Langberg.  Prices still tend to be secretive, though, as in the announcement that Pace sold “a significant Agnes Martin painting for an undisclosed sum.”

The Santa Monica Airport has been the site of many a previous art fair, so it was surprising how jammed up parking was into and out of the fair, partly because a huge former parking lot was carved out for ride share. We do need ride share, but the space could have been allocated better. And yes, they charged $35 for parking, which quickly sold out. Frieze hasn’t committed to another year at the airport, so let’s see where it lands next year.

Felix, Number Two

On Saturday afternoon our homegrown art fair Felix (Feb. 15–19) was thronged with visitors. I made my way through those located around poolside, and the sound of people laughing and splashing in the pool was soundtrack. The first things striking my tired eyes—a pile of aliens with long snaky bodies by Sylvie Fleury and Esben Weile Kjær, blown-up floaties lying in the patio assigned to Andersen’s of Copenhagen. “They were meant for the swimming pool,” explained gallery Director Lene Renner. “Here, let me show you the photos.” They were delightful shots of these creatures swimming around in her cell phone. Hotel management insisted they be removed, alas.

Another standout was the hallway gallery of Adam Cohen, “A Hug from the Art World,” which featured miniature sculpted figures by Jeffrey Dalessandro. The artist repurposed them from toy action figures. These weren’t just anybody, of course, they were of art-world luminaries—gallerists, collectors and even a few artists. Included were Tim Blum and Jeff Poe, Jeffrey Deitch, Beth Rudin DeWoody and Yayoi Kusama. The work was priced at $3000 per, $5500 for paired figures, and a bit extra for those with props—the Damien Hirst stood beside a shark in a tank. A number had already been sold by the time I arrived—many to the subjects themselves. Sadly, I did not find myself among them. (Not that I would have purchased it, mind you.)

There were other fairs around town, including the long-running L.A. Art Show at the Convention Center and Spring Break at Skylight in Culver City. Bergamot Station joined in with a day-long celebration on Saturday, Feb.18, and art friends said it was so jammed that they couldn’t get into the lot. There were openings, drinks and a special emphasis on photography at several galleries.

Kehinde Wiley, Portrait of Prince Anthony Hall, 2020, oil on linen, 96 x 72 in., courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA, photo by Robert Wedemeyer.

Roberts Projects Revisited

Between fairs I visited the impressive new location of Roberts Projects on La Brea—just a few blocks above Wilshire. Completely renovated, this building has lofty ceilings and roomy gallery spaces, the largest currently filled with an inaugural show by Kehinde Wiley, “Colorful Realm” (through April 8). Each large oval painting in this show features a Black man or woman in a classical pose from European painting, except they are wearing contemporary street clothing and sneakers. The subjects are set against backgrounds of meticulously painted flowers, leaves and vines that echo Edo-period paintings—Edo being the period in Japan when the mercantile class and its tastes flourished. The painting is exquisite, and the cultural interweaving inspired, making this one of LA’s best current shows. While going through Frieze, I couldn’t help but notice the number of works which, similarly, feature quite consciously posed Black men, held in like dignity and grace.

Nao Bustamante @Grave Gallery, photo by Scarlet Cheng.

Grave Gallery

Nao Bustamante is one our art treasures. Her work in video and performance is often exaggerated and campy, but comments on serious issues of violence, gender and even life and death.  When I read about the opening of her Grave Gallery, on the site of her own cemetery plot, I knew I had to go, despite being bleary-eyed. It’s located at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery off Melrose, where many other great and good (and not so good) celebrities have found their way, including director Cecil B. DeMille, actress Judy Garland, singer Yma Sumac. 

 Bustamante has long been fascinated—even obsessed—with death since she was eight, when her godmother and two daughters died in a car accident. In January she bought a plot at Hollywood Forever. “I finally decided that the only way I was going to handle it was to make it an art project,” she explained. For the performance she donned a huge black cloak topped with a metal pail, and spoke through a vintage metal megaphone that mediums of the past would have used. She called out, banged the pail with a stick, spoke to the dead, and eventually made her way to her own plot—followed by about 60 attendees. Bustamante got quite emotional thinking about those who have passed on. “There’s been so much death, there’s been so much life,” she said, before shouting, “Where’s the damn champagne?!” And then toasted us all.