Inside the celebrity-packed art festival Frieze LA 2024 with giant swans and backwards cars
A-LIST celebrities and art lovers will descend on Santa Monica Airport once again this week for the annual Frieze Art Fair – which last year attracted everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Jared Leto.
The four-day event kicks off Thursday with 95 galleries from 21 countries in Los Angeles.
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The festivities will kick off with a VIP preview as Maestro Dobel Tequila hosts a cocktail lounge celebrating Mexico’s contemporary art and hospitality scene, while celebrities are expected to pour in.
Stars like Margot Robbie and even Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio have followed the art of the stock market in recent years.
Art Production Fund presents the public program ‘Set Seen’ on site, with Matt Johnson Giant’s Shell Swan, an eight-foot bronze sculpture with a classic swan made of shells.
The venue includes 120,000 square meters of tents and this year the entire fair will take place in one building in the historic Barker Hanger, designed by the architectural firm of Kulapat Yantrasast, Why.
It will solve last year’s problems with walking or driving between two large spaces on the site.
Frieze director of Americas Christine Messineo said in a statement: “As Frieze Los Angeles approaches, we are excited to unveil leading international exhibitors and established galleries in Los Angeles that will make up the highlights of this year’s edition.”
Another bizarre draw this year is Pippa Garner’s Haulin Ass!, a fully functional 2003 Ford Ranger pickup that has had its exterior turned 180 degrees and welded back together so it looks like it’s facing the wrong way while driving .
The event will feature large comic testicles and will reportedly “cruise around the airport and adjacent streets surrounding the fair to encourage art lovers to rethink our view of everyday objects.”
IMPACT PRIZE
The Frieze Impact Prize has been awarded to Gary Tyler for 2024.
Tyler was wrongly convicted, sentenced to death, and spent more than four decades in prison in Louisiana until his conviction was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The award recognizes an artist who has had a significant impact on society through his work. Tyler will present a solo project at Frieze, including textile pieces, and receive $25,000.
Romola Ratnam, SVP, Head of Impact, Inclusion and Advocacy at Endeavor said: “The Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize celebrates art’s ability to spark conversation, challenge perceptions and inspire change.
“We are honored to partner with The Center for Art and Advocacy this year and amplify their important work supporting justice-affected artists in the U.S.
“I look forward to seeing Gary Tyler, an artist whose work exemplifies the power of creativity in the face of adversity, presenting new textile works at the fair.”
Frieze, similar to the Art Basel fair, continues to grow every year and is now a full week of previews, parties and the fair itself, similar to an awards season.
It originated in London and was first held in Los Angeles at Paramount Pictures Studios in 2019 and 2020 before being canceled for two years due to the pandemic.
It returned to the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills before moving to the Santa Monica Airport location in 2023.
This year’s fair will feature pop-ups from a selection of renowned LA restaurants owned and operated by women, curated by the nonprofit Consider Her [RE: Her].
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