Last year it was held in a tent across from the Beverly Hilton with Covid protocols. This year Frieze LA took wing at Santa Monica Airport for four glorious art-filled chilly but sunny days.
Taking over the airport’s Barker Hangar and erecting a massive tent nearby on the airport property, designed by Kulapat Yantrasast, the fair reeled in an estimated 35,000 visitors during its run including a large international contingent of buyers and collectors.
More than 120 galleries from 22 countries displayed works of art from artists both well-known (Matisse, Jeff Koons, Ed Kienholz, Victor Vasarely, Robert Irwin) and emerging.
Also included were outdoor, site-specific installations and sculptures including, naturally, an airplane displayed on the runway.
This being LA, there was also a sizable celebrity contingent in attendance including Larry David, Owen Wilson, Jared Leto, Margo Robbie, Catherine Keener, Heidi Klum, Gwyneth Paltrow and Lionel Richie.
Black Lives Matter protesters used the event to bring attention to the deaths of Black people in the aftermath of traffic stops.
It was fourth edition of Frieze in LA, with many local galleries represented, including Regen Projects, Blum & Poe, LA Louver, Jeffrey Deitch and Hauser & Wirth.
Major collectors like Edythe Broad, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Fai Khadra, Jill and Peter Kraus, Lynda Resnick, Don and Mera Rubell and Lauren Taschen were also spotted perusing the offerings, as was LACMA director Michael Govan.
Attendees were able to take golf carts from the hangar, which was filled with younger galleries (less than 12 years old) called the Focus section, to the larger tent up a hill.
Included among the galleries there were lounges sponsored by Deutsche Bank, Ruinart, Brequet and skincare brand Dr. Barbara Sturm, whose tote bags were seen on the arms of just about every attendee. A lucky few were able to snag mini-facials in their booth and samples were handed out to other guests.
Prices at Frieze were not for the feint of heart or light of wallet. Although some were priced in the $2-$5 thousand range, many were asking half a million dollars and up. A piece by Los Angeles artist Mark Bradford sold for $3.5 million, the fair’s top sale.
A glass of Ruinart champagne cost $34 and parking was $35. Most of the people we talked to took rideshare, being dropped off and picked up right outside Barker Hangar, where they were greeted warmly by Frieze staff.
