When wildfires swept through the Pacific Palisades and Altadena last month, the fate of the fairs participating in LA’s February Art Week was an open question. Many in the art world wonder whether it was too soon after a major tragedy to move forward with such a grand event, especially one so commercially driven. But as the dust settled and the smoke cleared, five of the six fairs — Frieze, Felix, the LA Art Show, The Other Art Fair, and Post-Fair — announced that they would be returning this year as planned, citing their commitment to supporting LA’s artistic community and their faith in its resilience at a fraught moment. Below is a handy guide to these shows along with a handful of offsite and alternative events and exhibitions that characterize the breadth and endurance of the city’s creative communities.
Fairs
Frieze
February 20–23 | frieze.com
Santa Monica Airport, 3027 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica
Frieze LA will bring nearly 100 international galleries to the Santa Monica Airport, with highlights including LA-based artist Lila de Magalhaes’s chalk and thread creations at Matthew Brown’s booth, a presentation of Noah Purifoy’s assemblages at Tilton, the United States debut of Chris Burden’s 2001 installation “Nomadic Folly” at Gagosian, and South African gallery Southern Guild’s first Frieze showing. Also keep an eye out for the Frieze Focus section featuring 12 emerging galleries, organized by curator Essence Harden, and Frieze Projects, including Ozzie Juarez’s homage to South Central swap meets and Madeline Hollander’s choreographed airplane rides.
Felix
February 19–23 | felixfair.com
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles
The beloved hotel fair returns to the Hollywood Roosevelt for its seventh edition. Visitors can leisurely meander in and out of ground-floor cabana booths surrounding the swimming pool famously painted by David Hockney before heading upstairs heading upstairs to the tower presentations, accessed via the warren of crowded, winding halls. Nearly 70 galleries from around the world including over 30 first-time exhibitors will be participating, among them murmurs and Charlie James from LA, Voloshyn Gallery from Kyiv and Miami, Brigitte Mulholland from Paris, and Magenta Plains and Mrs. from New York.
LA Art Show
February 19–23 | laartshow.com
Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles
This veteran art fair is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, returning to the LA Convention Center with over 70 galleries from around the world. Don’t miss the retrospective of the fair’s non-commercial exhibition DIVERSEartLA, launched in 2017; Robert Vargas’s large-scale mural painted live onsite; and a presentation of works by Inna Kharchuk, Anna Veriki, Iryna Maksymova, and Liza Zhdanova, four woman Ukrainian artists reflecting their experiences of war, displacement, and resilience.
The Other Art Fair
February 20–23 | theotherartfair.com
2800 Casitas Ave, Atwater Village, Los Angeles
The Other Art Fair returns for its 13th edition in Los Angeles, relocating to a new spot in Atwater Village. Primarily showcasing the work of artists who do not have gallery representation, the fair features 140 exhibitors with a focus on accessibility, including a selection of original and limited edition art under $500. Highlights include the presentation of a new section of Judy Baca’s ongoing historical mural The Great Wall of LA (2025), Anna Marie Tendler’s “House of Self” photobooth, and a presentation of work by the MFAs of LA, a series focused on emerging artists from fine arts graduate programs in the Greater Los Angeles area.
Post-Fair
February 20–22 | post-fair.com
Santa Monica Post Office, 1248 5th Street, Santa Monica
Launched this year by LA gallerist Chris Sharp, Post-Fair is a stripped-down, no frills show that bills itself as an alternative to the pomp and excess of the global art fair circuit, bringing the focus back to the art with affordability ($10 tickets!) and fellowship in mind. Located in a Santa Monica’s former Art Deco post office, the fair’s debut edition will feature single-artist presentations by 29 galleries, ranging from the storefront space House of Seiko and the London experimental gallery Harlesdeh High Street to the international powerhouse Sprüth Magers.
Events
One Hundred Percent
Through February 22 | instagram.com/griefxhope
619 North Western Avenue, East Hollywood, Los Angeles
In response to the wildfires devastated large swaths of Los Angeles last month, Hammer Museum curator Aram Moshayedi began reaching out to artists who had been directly affected, asking them to contribute one work each for a group show. The result is One Hundred Percent, a pop-up benefit exhibition featuring roughly 100 artists representing a diverse cross-section of LA’s creative community — a striking illustration of the number of artists impacted by the tragedy. As the show’s title declares, 100% of the profits will go directly to the participants.
Anti-Frieze: LA
February 21 and 22, 6–10pm | antifrieze.xyz
The Reef, 1933 South Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles
The organizers of the Anti-Frieze performance festival insist they don’t harbor any ill will towards the major art fair (“We think Frieze is cool!”, they exclaim). But the event, organized in conjunction with the CalArts REEF Residency, undoubtedly offers a non-commercial alternative to the market frenzy taking place simultaneously across town. Anti-Frieze features five “time-based experiences” spread over two evenings, including Genevieve Fowler’s reimagined Passover Seder “Long Stretches of Short Time,” Nicholas Ginsberg’s “Container Port no. 1,” which explores global networks of trade through light and sound, and Amy Chiao’s “ur already in eutrophia,” a theatrical mediation on hygiene and geometry. Make sure to scope out the offerings before you go, as attendees must RSVP in advance.
Kronenhalle Lïds
Through March 22 | johndoegallery.com
107 East 11th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles
The brainchild of Raffi Kalenderian and Alberto Cuadros, Raffi and Al’s is part-ongoing performance project, part-group show, and part-pop-up saloon, offering a convivial space for the art world weary to wet their whistles. Its latest iteration is Kronenhalle Lïds at John Doe Gallery, a mash-up of the famed Swiss art bar and the ubiquitous cap store found at malls throughout the US. True to its irreverent spirit, the list of participating artists includes local favorites Alfonso Gonzalez Jr., Mia Scarpa, and Frances Stark alongside big names that may or may not actually be featured, such as Picasso, Matisse, and Chagall. For night owls, the bar will be open for happy hour from midnight to 4am on Wednesday, February 19.
Mohilef Open Studios and Canyon Castator: Cannon Fodder
Saturday, February 22, 12-4pm | instagram.com/mohilef_studios
720 East 18th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles
Located just south of the 10 freeway in Downtown LA, Mohilef Studios is a converted industrial building that houses workspaces for 33 artists. On Saturday afternoon, they’ll be opening their doors for a building-wide open studios event, with food from Toro Antiguo, drinks by Recess and Dosi Dosi, and music by The Agency Art House. Concurrently at Mohilef, Diane Rosenstein Gallery will be opening an off-site exhibition of large-scale, maximalist pop-culture and comix-inflected paintings by Canyon Castator, who helped convert the Mohilef and another building into artist studios with his father and serves as an artist liaison.
Eastside Gallery Day
Friday, February 21 | instagram.com/theotherartfair
Various locations, Eastside Los Angeles
Much of the fair-related action this week is taking place on the Westside; however, several Eastside galleries have banded together to draw crowds to the other side of the 405 (and even the 5!) Highlights include Keith Boadwee’s cheeky transgressions at The Pit, new shows at historic house-galleries Sea View and the Wolford House, and a day of musical performances to accompany Tim Biskup’s print release at Face Guts. The evening caps off with an afterparty at the Silverlake Lounge hosted by Devin Troy Strother.
Redacted Lincoln Heights DTLA
February 19–23 | redacted.lacityart.org
Gallery Thirtysix, 260 South Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles
This scrappy DIY pop-up exhibition originally borrowed its name from a well-known global art fair juggernaut until organizers received a cease-and-desist letter — which they promptly screened onto t-shirts — and settled instead on the absurd moniker Redacted Lincoln Heights DTLA. Organized by Wyatt Mills, Ben Quinn, and Raffi Kalenderian, the second edition of Redacted will take place on the 36th story of a downtown skyscraper in the aptly named Gallery ThirtySix and feature the work of 20 artists including Zoe Alameda, Solomon Rousseau, Meg Jorgenson, and others.
