Art fair weekend. Yes, PhotoLA and the LA Art Show took place a few weekends back, but we took in five art fairs this Presidents Day weekend, each with its own flavor. First off, Frieze.
In its sophomore year on the Paramount lot, Frieze Los Angeles featured a vast and beautiful collection of works in the gallery tent. From sculptures by Alison Saar to stunning light works from James Turrell and the reflective beauty of Anish Kapour, just about every contemporary art celebrity you can think of was on exhibit here.
A massive Cindy Sherman towered over NYC-based Metro Pictures booth, while Ugo Rondinone’s ten mountains + one sun recalled the artist’s massive outdoor installation Seven Magic Mountains located in Jean, Nev.
Kaufman Repetto Gallery’s Pae White installation “Half Magic” dazzled nearby. The art hits kept coming inside. The clean white space of the tent kept things from becoming overwhelming; the well-curated works ranged across all mediums.
Moving outdoors, the effect was not close to as cumulatively grand as in the gallery tent, but included some lovely works.
Installations on the backlot included terrific textile art from Channing Hansen inside a false-front brownstone; in a larger indoor space was Barbara Kasten’s massive colored plexiglass and steel-frame sculpture “Intervention.” There was a faux disguised-cell-tower from Sayre Gomez, the sculpture “Tocayo 2020;” and a Mario Garcia Torres film exploring coincidence, “Falling Together in Time.”
Below, Lorna Simpson’s wonderful video installation, “Momentum,” presented in conjunction with Hauser & Wirth.
All in all, a dizzying array of art with the vast richness of the gallery tent overshadowing the curation on the lot.
Outside spaces focused on sculptural works and moving images; many of the former had a humous bent.
Inside the tent, textiles, sculptures, and large scale paintings were the standouts; gallery after gallery offered stellar works, many of museum-quality. As an over-riding theme, texture was key, from crystals to fabric to the fabricated. Rocks and metals were a thing; as was a mix of figurative paintings with the abstract. Here’s a more inclusive
- Genie Davis; photos Jack Burke; additional images, Genie Davis