What to Watch: What to Know About Frieze Los Angeles 2025
The art world will unite again in Los Angeles in February for the return of Frieze.
“What we’ve seen continually grow since the inception of Frieze Los Angeles is the global eyes and visitors on Los Angeles,” said Christine Messineo, Frieze’s director of Americas, who spoke to WWD before the devastating wildfires hit Southern California. She emphasized the increasing recognition of L.A. as a cultural art hub. “It’s become a not-to-be-missed international event in the art world calendar.”
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The 2025 edition will be back at Santa Monica Airport, with global lead partner Deutsche Bank, marking its sixth edition from Feb. 20 to 23. There are 97 galleries participating from 20 countries, showcasing contemporary art and attracting a mix of art enthusiasts and seasoned collectors — including some Hollywood faces. The fair is expected to draw celebrities during its VIP hours; in the past, it’s brought out Gwyneth Paltrow, Leonardo DiCaprio, Owen Wilson, Kendall Jenner, Benny Blanco, Rita Ora, Chris Rock, Usher, Kim Gordon and Amy Poehler.
“It’s a wonderful space for it,” Messineo said of the location, allowing for the creation of a “campus” with both indoor and outdoor areas for galleries, community activations and food vendors. Inside, the exhibits are housed in a custom-built structure created by the architectural studio Why, led by Kulapat Yantrasast.
Launched in 2003 in London, Frieze expanded to New York in 2012 before heading west to L.A. in 2019, followed by Seoul. Rooted in a magazine of the same name — started in 1991 by Amanda Sharp, Matthew Slotover and artist Tom Gidley — Sharp and Slotover established the fair, kicking off with reportedly 124 galleries and 27,700 visitors in London’s Regent’s Park. Frieze has since also acquired The Armory Show in New York and Expo Chicago, showing a commitment to the U.S. market.
In L.A., the fair brings together established and emerging galleries, artists and cultural initiatives. Over the years, it’s attracted an increasing number of international visitors, said Messineo, who notes that this year they’re expecting a greater presence from Asia and Latin America.
“We have some international galleries who are joining us for the first time with more concise or focused presentations,” she said.
Among the international newcomers for 2025 are Southern Guild from South Africa, which recently opened a space in L.A., London’s Timothy Taylor and Rome’s Galleria Lorcan O’Neill, with solo presentations from Kiki Smith and Rachel Whiteread.
“But there’s also some great L.A. moments that are happening,” Messineo went on, mentioning a Noah Purifoy exhibition at Tilton Gallery at the fair. It will be the late Purifoy’s first exhibition in L.A. since his 2015 retrospective at LACMA, showcasing his later sculptural assemblages and collages made in Joshua Tree between 1989 and 2004.
Many established galleries have been opening secondary spaces in L.A. in recent years, but long before this wave, L.A. has had a unique ability to nurture artists, particularly young voices, Messineo said, reflecting on how the art scene has evolved in the city.
“There’s always been an incredibly strong artist community that’s generative from all of the universities and MFA programs and art schools in the area,” she said. “And there’s always been a younger generation that has been cultivated in Los Angeles. Someone can open a space that takes over their garage or their apartment or is somehow connected to their home, or it’s a little bit more transitory. They can take on one space for two months and then move to another one. And I think that is particularly unique to Los Angeles. It’s some of those voices that we want to cultivate, and we see Essence Harden doing that as part of the Focus section of the fair.”
Harden, co-curator of Made in LA at The Hammer Museum, oversees the section, which is dedicated to U.S. galleries that have been in operation for 12 years or less. Supported by Italian apparel company Stone Island, participants this year will include Bel Ami, Dominique Gallery, Make Room, Sow & Tailor and Superposition Gallery.
Harden’s experience “driving all over Los Angeles, seeing spaces and artist studios” gives her a unique perspective on the city’s art scene, said Messineo. Focus is “about cultivating the next generation of gallery leaders as much as it is about emerging artistic voices,” she added.
Frieze Projects, a public program curated by the nonprofit Art Production Fund, also returns with site-specific works by Lita Albuquerque, Jackie Amézquita, Claire Chambless, Joel Gaitan, Madeline Hollander, Greg Ito, Ozzie Juarez and Dominique Moody. Titled “Inside Out,” the program will feature each artist exploring the theme of perspective and how personal history shapes understanding of L.A. and its landscape. The works will be displayed in public spaces around Frieze.
“Core to their organization is creating art that’s accessible to a larger public,” Messineo said of Art Production Fund. Many of the artists involved are based in L.A, with some unveiling their first public art project. “It has a real Los Angeles focus.”
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