Frieze confirmed on Friday that the 2025 edition of Frieze Los Angeles will proceed as scheduled on February 20–23, in the wake of the city’s devastating wildfires. Concurrent L.A. fairs Felix Art Fair and newcomer Santa Monica Post Office confirmed earlier this week that their events will take place.
“After careful consideration and extensive conversations with galleries, partners, and city-wide stakeholders, we can confirm that the sixth edition of Frieze Los Angeles will go ahead,” read a statement from Frieze. “Our hearts are with everyone affected by the devastating fires in Los Angeles. Since the fair’s founding six years ago, Frieze has been proud to support and be part of this vibrant community. The challenges the city is currently facing only strengthen our commitment to work alongside the community to rebuild and recover together.”
The fair noted that the decision was made in order to best support “the local economy and the arts community.” Frieze also stated that it is committed to developing initiatives to aid recovery efforts and has already signed on as a founding contributor to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, “which supports recovery efforts and provides aid to those most affected. We invite everyone to join us in supporting these efforts by visiting Getty.edu.”
As Artnet reported on Thursday, the decision comes in the wake of a debate over whether the fair should take place, with local gallerists eager for the fair to move forward as planned, while some out-of-town participants hoped it would be postponed.
Alongside the announcement of Frieze Los Angeles proceeding, fair organizers also shared statements of support from over a dozen artists, gallerists, curators, museum directors—including Doug Aitken, Kelly Akashi, Tim Blum, Jeffrey Deitch, Michael Govan, Essence Harden, David Kordansky, and Zoe Ryan—and Santa Monica mayor Lana Negrete.
“I don’t want the economic impact of this to spread further and affect other artists,” said artist Kelly Akashi, who lost her home and studio to the fires. “I am here to celebrate other artists’ accomplishments and am personally not insulted by the promotion of their work. I want my community to be healthy, and need them to be supported so that they can extend that care to me and other people impacted by the fires.”
Essence Harden, who is curating Frieze Los Angeles’s Focus section for the second time this year, and is also a co-curator of the Hammer Museum’s 2025 Made in L.A. biennial, shared, “I love L.A.; it’s my home, and my life has been made possible because of the generosity, care, and people of this city. Frieze is an ecosystem of contractors, fabricators, artists, gallerists, collectors, institutions, non-profits, art handlers, small businesses, and a world of people who find financial and social support within it. There is a need and will here for art to still happen, for possibility to emerge amongst immense loss and grief.”
Tim Blum, of BLUM Gallery, said “As someone who opened a gallery in Los Angeles 30 years ago, I’m grateful to Frieze for showing leadership at this trying moment in moving forward with the fair—it’s the right decision for the city, for the local artists, and for the efforts to rebuild. The best thing for Los Angeles is for the art world to show up right now.”
Felix Art Fair organizers reinforced their commitment on Friday afternoon, sending out invitations to its VIPs and asking them to consider donating to the Felix Wildfire Fund, which will benefit the art world mutual aid effort Grief and Hope. “As Southern California begins to rebuild after last week’s wildfires, we are deeply committed to making this year’s edition of Felix Art Fair a positive moment for the community at large,” the email from Felix read. “We believe the purpose of our fair remains clear: to support the artists and international set of galleries that make up our cultural fabric.”
Santa Monica Post Office made a statement on Instagram on Friday confirming its plans to proceed: “As it has been said in other statements by various institutions, galleries, and fairs, we believe that this is the best option for the survival and health of our community,” the post reads. In addition to encouraging donations to Grief and Hope, California Fire Foundation, and World Central Kitchen, the post continued, “we humbly encourage those who want to help the LA art community to simply show up this February.”
from Artsy News https://ift.tt/HbXCw0q
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