Frieze comes to LA

There are many things that are great about the art shows and there is plenty that isn’t. The good is seeing people, seeing new art, getting to know more galleries, seeing gallery after gallery under one roof and tapping into what is happening in the industry. The bad is everything above. The piece above is by Claire Tabouret at Night Gallery.

We were extremely underwhelmed and uninspired at Basel this past year. I was wary about having a big art show in LA but the people behind the Frieze aced it. They invited only 70 galleries to participate and definitely did a solid job of having a bunch of local galleries present that represent up and coming artists priced to collect. It wasn’t overwhelming and every gallery came with their best foot forward. It was really great. I am a sucker for these statutes. Hannah Greely at Parker Gallery.

What makes Miami Basel so unique is that Florida is a porthole to South America where many collectors live. But as one gallerist said to me, people came from everywhere because its fun to spend a few days in LA. Very solid point. Kim Dingle “What’s This” at Vielmetter Gallery.

This is so LA and just amazing in person. Doug Aiken at 303 Gallery.

Outside in the backlot were installations, food and t-shirts. Jennifer Rochlin at the Pit.

After we made our way over to Felix, another art fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. All the galleries rented out rooms on the 11th floor. It reminded me of a hotel we saw years ago at Miami Basel where each gallery had a room and you just walked room to room. It is clever but not that clever. The rooms are small, the hallways are narrow and you have to wait in line (a long line) to get up to the 11th floor. Can’t say I saw anything that wowed me except for one artist who we saw the next day at the Barker Hanger.

The Barker Hanger is an annual art show we have gone to for the past 5 years. This year they changed the date to coincide with Frieze. I wonder how that did for them. Kirsten Everberg at 1301PE.

This is the artist I saw at Felix. Amoako Boafo, an artist from Ghana currently working in Vienna at Roberts Projects.

Richard Troy Strother at Richard Heller Gallery where we have been collecting from for years.

A bit of art, some sunshine, some rain and a lot of relaxing this weekend getting us back into the LA groove.