We’re heading to LA for Frieze Week, anchored by Frieze Los Angeles, the leading international contemporary art fair that celebrates the dynamic culture of LA. Across the city, there will be a full program of exhibitions and events at galleries, museums and other artist-driven spaces, showcasing the many communities which make up LA’s rich art landscape. Annual satellite fairs like Felix, SPRING/BREAK, and LA Art Show return once again. Here’s a preview of what to expect:

Frieze Art Fair, was founded by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, and launched in London in 2003. Since then, the fair has expanded to New York, LA, and most recently, Seoul.

For the fourth LA edition, Frieze will feature more than 120 galleries from 22 countries around the world, and move to the new location of Santa Monica Airport. We can expect major world-leading galleries, alongside exciting emerging spaces, and collaborations with non-profits whose missions link art and social impact.

The fair’s aim of presenting diverse cultures and voices extends to the food too, with pop-ups curated by Regarding Her (RE:Her), a non-profit organization driven by women restaurateurs. RE:Her’s aim is to empower and advance women Food & Beverage entrepreneurs – including women of colour, indigenous women and LGBTQ+ identifying women – by way of innovative platforms that uplift the community, support businesses and advocate within the industry. Guests include the women behind some of LA’s favourites, such as Ayara Thai, Bridgetown Roti, Clementine, Uli’s Gelato, Gogo’s Tacos, Hotville Chicken, Monroe Place, and Social Hummus. (The latter is run by Vancouver-born artist and entrepreneur, Talia Shipman, whose work bridges art, food, social gathering, and social justice.)

Frieze Projects is divided into two site-specific parts. A collaboration with Art Production Fund, ‘Now Playing‘ brings together a series of artworks shining a light on the oft-overlooked elements of everyday life in LA. ‘Against the Edge‘ is a series of artist interventions curated by Jay Ezra Nayssan and Del Vaz Projects, installed in key historic sites across the westside of the city.

While no galleries from Canada are participating in Frieze, there are a few artists with Vancouver ties: Lisson Gallery (multiple locations) will have work on view by the late artist, Rodney Graham; Donald Ellis Gallery (New York) presents Fast Ponies: Past and Present, showcasing a new body of work by critically acclaimed Lakota artist and filmmaker, Dana Claxton, in dialogue with early 20th century Plains pictographic drawings; and Sebastian Gladstone (Los Angeles) presents The Earth Not a Globe, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Tristan Unrau (Unrau exhibits locally at Unit 17).

Tickets start at $76, and are available here.

For a preview of participating galleries and programming, peruse the virtual Frieze Viewing Room, open until February 20. To get started, here are filmmaker/writer/artist, Miranda July’s top picks.

SPRING/BREAK ART SHOW

SPRING/BREAK is the curator-driven fair that Roberta Smith, co-chief art critic of The New York Times, declared as ‘the place to find new art’. Founded by Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly in New York circa 2012, the theme of the fourth Los Angeles edition is NAKED LUNCH. Under this theme, the show brings together works that ‘epitomize our very idea of the “Renaissance Person” as it has come to be known — multi-media works employing two or more mediums within themselves, artists with processes that extend beyond established norms in painting, sculpture, video work, et al — and employ these multiplied mediums together for a new direction in idea-making through visual language.” Known for repurposing underused, atypical, and historic buildings, SPRING/BREAK once again takes place at Skylight Culver City, a former 1940s munitions factory. Tickets from $30.

FELIX ART FAIR

Co-founded in 2018 by Dean Valentine, Al Morán, and Mills Morán, Felix is an art fair that fosters intimate experiences prioritizing conversation, collaboration and community. Over 60 galleries will be set up in cabanas surrounding the iconic David Hockney-painted pool and hotel rooms in the Tower at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. This is one ‘cool’ fair you don’t want to miss. Tickets from $40.

LA ART SHOW

Returning for its 28th edition, LA Art Show takes place at the LA Convention Centre, offering 180,000 square feet of exhibition space. The longest-running of the LA art fairs, it presents 120 local and global galleries, museums and non-profits, organized into ‘pavilions’ (European, Japanese, Korean) exhibiting painting, sculpture, works on paper, installation, photography, design, video and performance. The two participating galleries from Canada include Artio Gallery (Toronto) and Galerie Perkins (Danville, QC). LA Art Show’s non-commercial platform, DIVERSEartLA, curated by Marisa Caichiolo, will feature nine interdisciplinary projects examining the climate crisis (focusing on water and drought) with a hope to inspire solutions. Tickets from $30.