On the evidence of its first few hours, Frieze L.A.’s fifth edition was perhaps the busiest yet. By noon on Thursday’s VIP day, aisles were approaching maximum capacity, with 12 p.m. ticketholders forced to wait as the late 10 a.m. guests continued to pour into the venue.
The fair, which takes place from February 29th to March 3rd at the Santa Monica Airport, hit a bustling peak early on and maintained its lively atmosphere throughout the day. And though the day started out dreary and cold, the sun peeked out by mid-afternoon and helped keep up the good spirits. One factor was undeniable from the offset: Transactions were aplenty. “Today has been our most successful first day at Frieze L.A. since the first year of the fair,” remarked Hauser & Wirth’s president Marc Payot.
With more than 95 exhibitors, the fair is smaller than the previous year’s tally of 120, with the organizers ditching its two-building model for a single tent, which possibly contributed to the jam- packed spaces. A-list celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio,
Robert Downey Jr., Ariel Emanuel, Will Ferrell, Rob Lowe, and Owen Wilson, were spotted among VIP guests.
“Today, Frieze brought immense energy and a global art community to Santa Monica,” Christine Messineo, director of Frieze Americas, told Artsy. “Blue-chip galleries and first-time exhibitors brought exceptional works demonstrating the excitement the fair creates each year. It is an annual moment that brings together Los Angeles’s community of artists, gallerists, curators, and philanthropists rallying around a totally unique and growing arts and culture ecosystem.”
Across the fair, gallerists were in similarly positive spirits. “The first time I did a fair in Los Angeles in 2008, there was really this feeling that L.A. would probably never find its groove, but it feels really clear that L.A. has gone beyond that,” said New York–based gallerist James Fuentes, who opened an L.A. space last year. “It’s mandatory at this point—a mandatory stop. It’s been great to be able to see that evolution, and it makes us even more proud and happy to have a fixed location here.”
Booth F9
With works by Widline Cadet
Widline Cadet, installation view in Nazarian / Curcio’s booth at Frieze Los Angeles, 2024. Courtesy of Nazarian / Curcio.
Nazarian / Curcio founder Seth Curcio first came across Haitian artist Widline Cadet’s work during the artist’s 2020–21 residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Cadet teaches photography at UCLA. As she has moved further from her home country, her work has evolved to include a contemplative element, aiming to forge connections between her past and present. She employs architectural design, archival video, and photography in this solo presentation.
“She’s really looking at memory, storytelling, myth, family archive images to sort of recreate and connect with a land that she doesn’t have access to readily,” said Curcio during VIP day.
Widline Cadet, Sòti nan gran lanmou (From Such Great Love... Nazarian / Curcio. Sold.
Widline Cadet, An Elusive Echo #1 (Green), 2024 Nazarian / Curcio. Price on request.
The central piece, Ant yè ak demen (Between Yesterday and Tomorrow) (2023), features a 3.9-foot-by-5.8-foot print of three
ghostly figures facing away from the camera. A protruding screen is ghostly figures facing away from the camera. A protruding screen is affixed to the top right of the work, where a video of archival family images, many of which are captured on her phone, plays on a loop. Guests can put on headphones to become fully immersed in the piece, which is priced at $45,000.
Two of the booth’s most notable works face each other on the left and right walls of the booth. An Elusive Echo #1 (Green) and An Elusive Echo #2 (Orange) (both 2023) are prints covered by breezeway block patterns—an architectural fence common in both Haiti and Los Angeles. This partially covered print evokes a sensation of longing, where one can see their home, though blocked by these barriers. The works across the booth are priced from $2,800–$45,000. ∎
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