As Oscar weekend comes to a close in Los Angeles, Frieze Week begins. Like last year, the celebrity-drawing fair is setting up shop at Paramount Pictures Studios, joined by satellite fairs and a bevy of shows, parties, and sundry other events all over town. Below is a concise guide to the action—a summary of what Surface’s editors will be doing all week.
For on-the-ground updates throughout the coming days, follow us on Instagram—and watch this space.
FAIRS
Frieze Los Angeles
Feb. 14–16 (private preview Feb. 13)
What began as a humble art magazine in 1991 is today an international giant, running fairs in London, New York, and Los Angeles. For its second outing in Hollywood, Frieze unites 70 exhibitors (primarily established, along with a few upstarts) in a space designed by Kulapat Yantrasast of wHY Architecture at Paramount Pictures Studios. In an inventive twist, unlike most fairs, some tickets are sold just for access to public programs, which include a robust exhibition on the backlot, talks, and screenings. Admission charges range widely.
Felix
Feb. 13–16
Some 60 exhibitors—largely small to mid-sized, with a few big guns—take up residence in rooms and cabanas at the Hotel Roosevelt for the sequel to this much-loved fair, started by collector Dean Valentine and the art-dealing Morán brothers. Here’s hoping that organizers find a way to manage the big lines for the elevator this year. Curator William J. Simmons is helming a feminist-focused section. Another bonus: there’s a swimming pool! Standard tickets are $25.
Art Los Angeles Contemporary
Feb. 13–16
After a decade in business, the Tim Fleming–founded Art Los Angeles Contemporary has been besieged by new competitors, but it’s still mustered a list of 80 exhibitors, mostly smaller and emerging in scale, and decamped from the Barker Hangar, way out in Santa Monica, to the more centrally located Hollywood Athletic Club. The typical ticket is $25.
Spring/Break Art Show
Feb. 14–16
Those seeking an antidote to the immaculate white booths of Chelsea can visit the Skylight ROW DTLA event space, where Spring/Break will host around 45 projects put on by curators, artist-run spaces, and artists themselves. (No jet-setting dealers here.) Tickets are $25.
GALLERY/ALTERNATIVE SPACE SHOWS
“Martine Syms: Ugly Plymouths” at Bridget Donahue & Sadie Coles HQ, opening Feb. 12
Out-of-town dealers stage a one-week show for a new video by the closely watched artist.
Lauren Halsey at David Kordansky Gallery, through March 14
A rising star, Halsey offers a panegyric of an installation to South Central L.A.
Katharina Fritsch at Matthew Marks, opening Feb. 12
The master of monochromatic perfection displays two enigmatic men—and more.
Left to right: Installation view of Lauren Halsey’s exhibition at David Kordansky; Katharina Fritsch’s “Zwei Männer/Two Men,” 2019. Courtesy David Kordansky; Matthew Marks Gallery.
“Richard Prince: New Portraits” at Gagosian, through March 21
The lightning-rod artist offers a fresh batch of his Instagram-lifted portraits. Brace for impact.
“Nicolas Party: Sottobosco” at Hauser & Wirth, opening Feb. 13
The Swiss star of efflorescent cartoon wonder makes his ultra-blue-chip debut.
“New Images of Man” at Blum & Poe, through March 14
Curator Alison Gingeras revisits a classic MoMA show on figuration in high style.
Michael Krebber at Gaga & Reena Spaulings, opening Feb. 11
What trick will the veteran German painter-provocateur pull out of his hat this time?
“All of Them Witches” at Jeffrey Deitch, through April 11
Artist Laurie Simmons and curator Dan Nadel invite dozens of witchy artists for a coven.
“Jasper Marsalis: A Star Like Any Other” at Kristina Kite, opening Feb. 9
The inventive young painter, a Cooper Union grad, mounts his first Los Angeles show.
“Eric N. Mack: Face It” at Móran Móran, through March 7
A 2019 Whitney Biennial star, the artist proffers delicate, inventive fabric constructions.
“Cyprien Gaillard: Reefs to Rigs” at Sprüth Magers, opening Feb. 11
His 2019 Venice Biennale video screens with characteristically mysterious wall pieces.
“Rodney McMillian: Brown: videos from The Black Show” at the Underground Museum, through Feb. 16
Ahead of a late-February Petzel show in New York, the L.A. artist screens videos shot in the South.
MUSEUM SHOWS
“Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval and Renaissance Art” at the Getty Center, through Feb. 16
A deep dive into the Black African king who visited Christ, as shown in centuries of art.
“Luchita Hurtado: I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, opening Feb. 16
One hundred this year, the under-sung painter finally gets the retrospective treatment.
Left to right: Luchita Hurtado, “Self Portrait” (1971) and “Untitled” (1970). Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth/© Luchita Hurtado, photograph by Jeff McLane.
“Hammer Projects: Ja’Tovia Gary” at the Hammer Museum, through May 17
A new video suite from the inventive artist, curated by recent Surface subject Erin Christovale.
“Ree Morton: The Plant That Heals May Also Poison” at Institute of Contemporary Art, opening Feb. 16
Dead at 40, the trailblazing maker of emotional Post-Minimalism is surveyed.
“With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in American Art 1972–1985” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, through May 18
P&D fell from favor since its 1970s heyday; here’s a chance to appraise its powers.