On The Scene At Frieze LA 2024

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, Courtesy of FriezeFrieze Los Angeles 2024 closed on Sunday evening to reports from galleries of strong sales throughout the week and praise from both local and international fair-goers, attracting 32,000 visitors from 48 countries across the four days of the fair. The fair hosted over 95 galleries spanning 21 countries in a bespoke structure designed by Kulapat Yantrasast’s architectural studio WHY, alongside some of the city’s renowned non-profits, local restaurants and partner activations.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy Casey Kelbaugh and Frieze

Kicking off with an invitation-only preview on Thursday, February 29, Frieze Los Angeles continued through Sunday, March 3 and brought together galleries, institutions, artists and patrons to celebrate the city’s vibrant and expanding cultural landscape. Opening its doors to a lively atmosphere on Thursday morning, each day of the fair saw considerable market activity as well as close attention from collectors, museum groups and leading figures across the arts, entertainment, fashion, tech and sports industries.

Photo Credit: BFA

This year, Frieze Los Angeles partnered with the California African American Museum (CAAM) to acquire a work from Focus in honor of Essence Harden, the section’s curator who will co-curate the 2025 Made in L.A. biennial at the Hammer Museum. Presented by Dominique Gallery, Mustafa Ali Clayton’s ceramic sculpture Natural (2024) was selected for acquisition by CAAM.

Photo Credit: BFA

The opening preview day on Thursday, February 29 saw swift sales to private collections as well as significant museum acquisitions in the first hours of the fair, setting the pace for the fair weekend.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy Casey Kelbaugh and Frieze

Sold out presentations included Victoria Miro who placed all works from their solo booth by Hernan Bas; Gallery Hyundai sold out their presentation of paintings by Kim Sung Yoon; kaufmann repetto was another to find success, placing all works in their group presentation featuring Andrea Bowers, Katherine Bradford and Pae White; David Kordansky Gallery placed all works in their solo presentation of Sam McKinniss and Pilar Corrias sold all paintings and works on paper by Sabine Moritz from their booth. In addition, multiple galleries reported sales in the seven-figures including Gladstone Gallery who sold the 2009 drawing Pamuk by Richard Serra for $2 million as well as a painting by Alex Katz for $650,000, a photograph by Carrie Mae Weems for $125,000 and a painting by Aaron Gilbert for $125,000; Thaddeus Ropac sold multiple works including a charcoal drawing by Robert Longo for $1.6 million and a work by Anselm Kiefer for €1.3 million; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery placed paintings by Beauford Delaney and Norman Lewis each between $1 and $2 million and Marc Selwyn Fine Art sold numerous works from their group presentation including Frank Bowling, Richard Misrach and Lee Bontecou with sales reaching into the seven-figure range.

Photo Credit: BFA

Gagosian placed numerous works, including a sculpture by Lauren Halsey titled watts happening with a notable L.A. institution; Hauser & Wirth sold works including a painting by Ed Clark for $950,000, Frank Bowling’s 2016 painting Fishes, Wishes in Summertime Blue for $800,000, a three-panel photograph by Charles Gaines for $795,000, a stainless steel sculpture by John Chamberlain for $625,000, a recent painting by Rita Ackermann titled Sandman’s Dust 3 for $425,000, a painting by Firelei Báez for $415,000 and numerous other works between $22,000 and $175,000; Pace made significant sales, including Loie Hollowell’s 2023 painting Split Orbs in yellow-orange, purple, red and blue for $450,000, an oil painting by Tony Smith for $250,000, a painting by Li Songsong for $138,000, a sculpture by Alicija Kwade for €65,000 and an acrylic painting by Torkwase Dyson for $65,000; Xavier Hufkens made significant sales, including a work on paper by Louise Bourgeois for $350,000, a painting by Cecilia Vicuña for $325,000, a ceramic sculpture by Ken Price for $275,000 and numerous others ranging from $50,000 to $150,000; David Zwirner sold primary market works including a Huma Bhabha sculpture for $650,000, two John McCracken sculptures for between $450,000 and $500,000 each and a painting by Steven Shearer for $480,000.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, Courtesy of Frieze

White Cube sold multiple works including a sculpture by Antony Gormley for £500,000, a painting by Lynne Drexler for $150,000, a neon by Tracey Emin for £100,000, and a painting by Sara Flores for $80,000; Lisson Gallery made significant sales, including the 2023 sculpture Mipa 5 Light to Prussian Blue Satin by Anish Kapoor for £675,000, two works by Olga de Amaral for $250,000 each, a painting by Rodney Graham for $120,000, a gouache work by Hélio Oiticica for $120,000 and the 2024 sculpture Cousins by Hugh Hayden for $110,000; Rachel Uffner sold two assemblages by Sheree Hovsepian priced at $28,000 and $35,000 and two sculptures by Curtis Talwst Santiago priced at $25,000 and $32,000; Casey Kaplan reported sales ranging from $300,000 to $450,000 in their solo presentation of new oil paintings by Jordan Casteel; Vielmetter placed a significant nine-panel painting by Whitney Bedford for $300,000 amongst other sales and Ortuzar Projects made a number of sales up to $250,000 from their booth of works by Carlos Almaraz, Joey Terrill and Roberto Gil de Montes.

Photo Credit: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

Roberts Projects sold a painting by Amoako Boafo in the range of $300,000 and $400,000 and a work by Suchitra Mattai for $60,000; Kasmin sold seventeen works by vanessa german priced between $25,000 and $65,000; Anat Ebgi sold hand-embroidered works by Jordan Nassar priced at $20,000 and $50,000, a large painting by Meeson Pae at $38,000 and a painting by Gloria Klein for $30,000; Tina Kim Gallery sold a trapunto by Pacita Abad in the range of $250,000 and $300,000 and a piece by Suki Seokyeong Kang in the range of $75,000 and $100,000; James Fuentes was another gallery that saw success with sales including a painting by Kikuo Saito for $120,000 and a painting by Geoffrey Holder for over $100,000; Kukje Gallery sold the 2021 painting Conjunction 21-107 by Ha Chong-Hyun in the range of $206,000 and $247,000 and numerous works in their group presentation in the range of €35,000 to €618,000 and Sean Kelly had major institutional sales in their solo presentation of Awol Erizku, including selling out all three editions of the lightbox work Figi for $55,000 each.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy Casey Kelbaugh and Frieze

Focus, the section of the fair that provides a platform for emerging US-based galleries under 12 years of operation, was curated by Essence Harden (Visual Arts Curator of the California African American Museum) and many participants reported huge successes and sold out presentations. Dominique Gallery placed all works in their solo presentation by Mustafa Ali Clayton, including sculptures ranging from $12,000 to $100,000; Matthew Brown sold out their solo presentation of works by Kent O’Connor, including paintings for $40,000 and $55,000; Nazarian / Curcio sold multiple works from their solo presentation of Widline Cadet, including one photograph for $45,000 and several others in the range of $3,000 to $24,000; Ochi placed all works in their solo presentation of Lilian Martinez and pt.2 Gallery sold out of their mixed media on canvas works by Muzae Sesay in the range of $16,000 and $30,000.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, Courtesy of Frieze

Attendees included Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock, California State Senator Ben Allen and local museum or institutional representatives Johanna Burton (MOCA L.A.), Anne Ellegood (ICA L.A.), Katherine E. Fleming (Getty), Rita Gonzalez (LACMA), Michael Govan (LACMA), Joanne Heyler (The Broad), Laura Hyatt (LAND), Sandra Jackson-Dumont (Lucas Museum of Narrative Art), Naima Keith (LACMA), Ann Philbin (Hammer Museum), Hamza Walker (LAXART) and Heidi Zuckerman (Orange County Museum of Art). National and international museum or institutional representatives included Nicholas Baume (Public Art Fund), Christopher Bedford (SFMOMA), Connie Butler (MoMA PS1), Simon Castets (LUMA Arles), Stuart Comer (MoMA), Silvia Karman Cubiñá (Bass Museum of Art), Margaret Ewing (Yale University Art Gallery), Thelma Golden (Studio Museum), Eungie Joo (SFMOMA), Christine Y. Kim (Tate Modern), Nicola Lees (Aspen Art Museum), Catharina Manchanda (Seattle Art Museum), Brooke A. Minto (Columbus Museum of Art), Sohrab Mohebbi (SculptureCenter), Jessica Morgan (Dia Art Foundation) Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Galleries), Jane Panetta (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Jeremy Strick (Nasher Sculpture Center) and Monetta White (Museum of the African Diaspora).

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy Casey Kelbaugh and Frieze

Artists in attendance included JOJO ABOT, Doug Aitken, Kelly Akashi, Lita Albuquerque, Terry Allen, Katherine Bernhardt, Andrea Bowers, Diedrick Brackens, Widline Cadet, Jordan Casteel, Studio Drift, Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Sidney Felsen, Delfin Finley, Koshin Finley, Genevieve Gaignard, Charles Gaines, Todd Gray, Jennifer Guidi, Nikolai Haas, Chase Hall, Jammie Holmes, Elliott Hundley, Alex Israel, Arthur Jafa, Titus Kaphar, Shio Kusaka, Mire Lee, Tala Madani, Yeni Mao, Ruben Ochoa, Catherine Opie, Eamon Ore-Giron, Christina Quarles, Edgar Ramirez, Umar Rashid, Calida Rawles, Allen Ruppersberg, Alison Saar, Betye Saar, Analia Saban, Max Hooper Schneider, Mindy Shapero, Zhou Tiehai, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Gary Tyler, Mary Weatherford, and Jonas Wood.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy Casey Kelbaugh and Frieze

Prominent art collectors at Frieze Los Angeles included Maria Bell and Bill Bell, Alison Berg, Eric Diefenbach and James Keith (JK) Brown, Eleanor Cayre, Michael Chow, Evan Chow, J. Patrick Collins, Cliff Einstein, Max Eisenberg, Ariel Emanuel, Robert and Elizabeth Fisher, Bob Gersh, Lisa Goodman, Maja Hoffmann, Terri Holoman, Franz von Holzhausen, Maria Hummer-Tuttle, Nancy Josephson, Pamela Joyner, Karyn Kohl, Jill and Peter Kraus, Joel Lubin, Jarl Mohn, Dominic and Ellen Ng, Susan Bay Nimoy, Corinne and Laurent Opman, Sybil Robson Orr, Michael Ovitz, Mike de Paola, Carolyn Clark Powers, Jodi and Michael Price, Lynda Resnick, Amnon and Katie Rodan, Allison and Bennett Rosenthal, Jason and Michelle Rubell, Ronnie Sassoon and James Crump, Pete Scantland, Andrew Schwartzberg, Shanit Schwartz, Komal Shah, V. Joy Simmons, Domenico and Eleanore De Sole, Gary Steele, Lauren Taschen, Steve and Jamie Tisch, Ric Whitney and Tina Perry-Whitney and Sonya Yu.

Photo Credit: Kyle Goldberg, BFA

The fair further saw notable individuals from the literary world and the entertainment, technology and sports industries including Jessica Alba, Mahershala Ali, Omar Apollo, Jessica Biel, Benny Blanco, Josh Brolin, Tim Cook, Angela Davis, Fran Drescher, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., The Edge, Lisa Edelstein, Ginevra Elkann, Will Ferrell, Jane Fonda, Roxane Gay, Sara Gilbert, Gunna, Alana Haim, Alexandra Hedison, LeBron James, Diane Keaton, Anthony Kiedis, Michael Patrick King, Rob Lowe, Tobey Maguire, Mike D, Ryan Murphy, Jeremy Pope, Zachary Quinto, John C. Reilly, Chris Rock, Aryna Sabalenka, Milo Ventimiglia, Christopher Williams, Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson.

Photo Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, Courtesy of Frieze

Frieze Los Angeles welcomed over 140 local and international museum and institutional groups, including Aspen Art Museum, Bass Museum of Art, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, The Broad, Carnegie Museum of Art, Centre Pompidou, Dallas Museum of Art, Dia Art Foundation, El Museo del Barrio, Hammer Museum, Hanwha Foundation of Culture, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Huntington, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, (ICA Boston), Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA L.A.), J.Paul Getty Museum, Judd Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, LUMA Foundation, MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Museo Jumex, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, (MCA), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA L.A.), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), National Portrait Gallery, Palais de Tokyo, Philadelphia Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Sculpture Center, Seattle Art Museum (SAM), Seoul Museum of Art, Serpentine Galleries, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Tank Shanghai, Tate Modern, Studio Museum, Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum of American Art and Yale University Art Gallery.

Photo Credit: BFA

This year, Frieze Projects included outdoor artworks installed on-site, curated by Art Production Fund and titled Set Seen. The special section included artists Sharif Farrag, Ryan Flores, Derek Fordjour, Pippa Garner, Matt Johnson and Cynthia Talmadge. Farrag held ten Rat Races throughout the course of the fair, and winners received a unique ceramic trophy created by the artist in the shape of a bright orange traffic cone. In the Maestro Dobel Tequila lounge, over 200 handmade ceramic copitas by Flores were given out for free to fair guests. Along the walkways leading into the fair were 33 site-specific banners by Derek Fordjour, each uniquely designed with separate front and reverse sides. Titled PROCESSIONAL (2024), the series of portraits explore themes of history, aspiration and autonomy.