Two important art fairs have opened their doors in these days with two different main focuses: from African contemporary art to the US art collector’s scene.

If we had already talked about the first aspect describing Investec Cape Town Art Fair in a previous article, the time has come to focus on the stars and stripes outpost of the London giant art player Frieze, or rather Frieze LA. Born in 2019, the market exhibition was the penultimate to complete the series of events dedicated to contemporary art, respectively in London, New York and Seoul.
As for the 2023 edition (February 16/19), the location change immediately catches the eye: from the Paramount Pictures Studio in Hollywood to the Santa Monica spectacular airport. Reading the statements of Christine Messineo, Frieze's Director of Americas, thanks to the new location it is possible to dedicate more space to galleries and even to non-profit cultural activities, ensuring a higher level of food and similar services.







There are 120 galleries participating in Frieze LA from 22 countries, 30% more than the previous year, with the presence of Italian operators including Massimo De Carlo, Kaufmann Repetto, Mazzoleni, Victoria Miro and Tornabuoni.
The space is divided into two sectors: Main Section and Focus, the palce for galleries that have been active for less than 12 years.
In these opening days visitors have already highlighted the quality of the artistic offer at Frieze LA 2023, speaking about the "golden age" of the Californian art scene. In fact, since 2019, the year of the market exhibition first edition, many international galleries have opened spaces in the city, creating a very rich institutional scenario.
Undoubtedly some of the most appreciated stands so far are: the one of the local gallery Anat Ebgi, which exhibits work by Filipino-American sculptor Jane Margarette; Patron’s booth (works by the self-taught artist Greg Breda); Marianne Boesky Gallery with pieces by Jennifer Bartlett; Stephen Friedman Gallery, showing Andreas Eriksson and Jeffrey Deitch thanks to works by Peter Shire.







However what is most surprising is the panorama of city events connected to the fair. Frieze Projects, the non-commercial part of the fair, takes art outside of the booths with two programs: “Now Playing” and “Against the Edge”, which takes place in the entire Westside.
Furthermore, like any famous market exhibition, Frieze LA has its spin-offs.
Felix Art Fair, founded in 2018, is displaying artworks in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel: a more intimately place compared to the major's one. It hosts more than 60 galleries.







Instead the LA Art Show is the city’s oldest art fair, founded more than 20 years ago. This year it takes over the LA Convention Center with over 120 galleries. Fun fact: many of the 2023 participants are South Korean galleries.
Not to be missed is especially LA Art Show public program, (DIVERSEartLA) with artworks on the theme of climate change.
The third spin-off is the fourth edition of Spring Break Art Show, setting up in a single warehouse, Skylight Culver City, about a 15-minute drive from Frieze.
There is also an appointment dedicated exclusively to photography: the Photo Forward Los Angeles.







An last but not the least the special exhibitions in museums and city institutions are also interesting. They include: “William Kentridge: In Praise of Shadows” at The Broad contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles; “Uta Barth: Peripheral Vision” at The Getty Center; “Bridget Riley Drawings: from the Artist's Studio” at The Hammer Museum; “Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency” at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art); “Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952–1982” and “New Abstracts: Recent Acquisitions” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); “Henry Taylor: B Side” and “Simone Forti” at MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art LA.