LA's Art Scene Converges for Frieze Week
Los Angeles is at the center of the contemporary art world this week with the seventh edition of the Frieze Los Angeles art fair in Santa Monica. The event has sparked a city-wide celebration of art, including open houses at Bergamot Station, a Startup Art Fair for independent artists, and curator-led tours at MOCA.
Frieze Los Angeles has firmly established itself at the Santa Monica Airport for its seventh edition, running from February 26 to March 1, 2026. The event brings together over 95 galleries from more than 20 countries, solidifying its place as a major intersection for the global and local art scenes. The fair's history in LA is nomadic, having previously occupied Paramount Studios and a Beverly Hills location before settling in Santa Monica. The main fair's VIP preview on February 26 saw a flurry of significant sales, signaling market confidence despite recent volatility. David Zwirner gallery reported the sale of a Njideka Akunyili Crosby mixed-media work for $2.8 million and a Lynette Yiadom-Boakye painting for $1.5 million. Other major galleries like Pace and Hauser & Wirth also reported strong opening day sales, with Hauser & Wirth selling out its entire booth of paintings by Conny Maier. Beyond the main tent, the "Focus" section, curated by Essence Harden, provides a platform for emerging U.S.-based galleries. This year, the section features 15 galleries, with a special Frieze Impact Prize awarded to artist Napoles Marty, whose solo booth sold out during the VIP preview. This highlights a strong interest in discovering new talent alongside established blue-chip artists. A key satellite event, the Startup Art Fair, offers a counterpoint to the main proceedings from February 27 to March 1 at The Kinney Hotel in Venice Beach. This fair provides a platform for independent artists to directly connect with collectors and curators by transforming hotel rooms into individual exhibition spaces. The model is designed to give artists more agency and a larger share of their sales. Bergamot Station, a historic arts complex that began as a railroad stop in 1875, continues to be a central hub during Frieze Week. This sprawling site, home to dozens of galleries, opened in its current form in 1994 and became a model for shared art spaces. However, the city-owned property is currently facing potential redevelopment for housing, creating uncertainty for its future. Adding to the city-wide art immersion, MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson is leading a walkthrough of the exhibition "MONUMENTS" at The Geffen Contemporary on February 28. The exhibition confronts the recent wave of monument removals, displaying decommissioned statues alongside contemporary artworks to reflect on the legacies of post-Civil War America.
