Frieze Los Angeles 2023 - Review

 Frieze Los Angeles 2023

If Frieze Los Angeles 2023 can be summed up in any way, it’s “better than before but hard to get.” Situated in a new location at the Santa Monica Airport in the Barker Hanger, Frieze Los Angeles 2023 expanded and grew into 4 separate tents with over 120 galleries participating at the art fair. The galleries and the artworks were quite exquisite with each gallery bringing their best to the LA art fair. What made Frieze “hard to get” was the location itself making traffic and accessibility problematic. There was a confusing method of trying to get parking. The only way to truly get into the location was either by ride share or by shuttle that drove back and forth between the offsite parking lots and the fair. The traffic was the most frustrating aspect of this year’s fair. Hopefully next year, the organizers of the fair will do a better job at planning accessibility to the fair.

Within Frieze there was Barker Hanger and the main tent. The main tent had three sections each containing the gallery booths, the art fair provided the viewer with visual Easter eggs. The galleries brought their best and the public benefited from the visual delights. In the Barker Hanger, LALouver had a two-person exhibition of Ed and Nancy Kienholz and focused its attention to Kienholz’s examination of Native America and American history. GarthGreenan Gallery of New York City brought an installation of works by the late James Luna, whose work explores the plight the Luiseno Indians in California. Luna places himself as both subject and model as he explores notions of identity and memory into a personal testimony. Marianne Boesky showed works by the late artist Jennifer Bartlett, who passed away late last year. The selection of works by Bartlett was an intelligent display demonstrating her skill in both abstraction and figurative. Barker Hanger also hosted LA Focus area which had booths from Los Angeles based galleries such as Sow & Tailor, OchiProjects among others. Barker Hanger section of Frieze was strong and added a local feel that made Frieze unique.

The main section of Frieze, which was located 800 feet from Barker Hanger, was presented as the heart of the art fair. The best booths were by some of the biggest and most influential galleries in the art world. JeffreyDeitch had a wonderful solo show of ceramics by Los Angeles legend Billy Shire. Gagosian Gallery presented abstract paintings by Rick Lowe, who explores the concepts of Black abstraction. Marian Goodman Gallery had a terrific display of William Kentridge, which complemented the current show at The Broad Museum. It was so easy walking around the fair to find great artwork. It was very much like an Easter egg hunt for the art world. If there was a best of Frieze Los Angeles, it would have to be Dastan Gallery from Tehran, Iran. Featuring work by Mamali Shafahi, and Peybak, the Iranian gallery brought compelling and thought-provoking works that were visually interesting. Shafahi’s work is an intersection of technology, fear and the natural world. Peybak’s landscapes combine myth and politics. Dastan’s return to Frieze was a welcome presence to a growing and ever evolving Frieze Los Angeles.     

Frieze Los Angeles was a large and sprawling visual party with gems and treasures in almost every booth. While the fair’s layout was a logistical nightmare that made accessibility difficult, Frieze is definitely here to stay in LA. The work at the fair was probably the best since Frieze made its appearance. What this means for the Los Angeles art scene is hard to say. Since Frieze came to LA in 2019, major galleries have also set up locations within Los Angeles. The LA art scene is growing in both influence and prestige. The concern is for the artists who are starting their careers. Will an artist have the kind of freedom, which has defined the LA art scene, when New York galleries are moving in? Will the growing LA art market crowd out the cutting edge? There are questions that will be answered sooner rather than later. Frieze was an enjoyable visual experience.