Frieze Los Angeles art fair is moving to Beverly Hills in February 2022 from its previous location at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. COVID- 19 forced organizers to cancel the event in 2021. They also had to relocate because social distancing guidelines and a filming backlog have left outdoor space in short supply at Hollywood studios.
When organizers needed to find a new venue fast, they turned to Beverly Hills, even- tually landing on a space at 9900 Wilshire Blvd., near the Beverly Hilton.
“I’m really excited for Frieze Los Angeles 2022 which will take place in February next year at our new location in Beverly HIlls,” said Frieze board director Victoria Siddall during a virtual event in July. “I really look forward to seeing you all in person there.”
Frieze Los Angeles is part of an interna- tional event series that includes locations in London, New York, Korea and now Beverly Hills. City staff expects the fair will be a boon for the city.
“It’s always exciting to be at the epicenter of the art world, even for a long weekend,” Beverly Hills Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers told the Courier. “Typically with the Frieze events, they fill up hotels and there’s lots of activity at local restaurants and retail. So we’re always excited about that, especially during this COVID moment when we’re trying to help our business community recover.”
Frieze first came to Los Angeles in 2019 and brings galleries from around LA and the world together under one tent to showcase and sell art, focusing mostly on contemporary visual arts. While Frieze Los Angeles has not announced all of its exhibitors, it is expected to include exhibitions from about 80 galler- ies. The New York edition of the fair in May included about 50 galleries.
In addition to the paid Frieze event, the Frieze organization will have a number of free public installations and exhibitions around the city.
“We’re also having a whole host of free community events that the City of Beverly Hills will be participating in,” Rogers said. “That’s something that we’re currently working with our Arts and Culture Commission to plan.”
The clock is ticking for Frieze organizers who are expected to present their event pro- posal to Beverly Hills City Council for approval at an Oct. 26 meeting, though a formal agenda has not been released for that meeting.
“The proposal will include what they’d like to do in terms of installation of art along Beverly Gardens Park and some activation at the Greystone,” Rogers said. “Part of what’s really unique about Frieze fairs which is very unlike other art fairs is that they’re very spe- cific when they do a fair in a particular place. They pay a lot of attention to the character of that location.”
City staff is working with Frieze to ensure the event proposal fits the community and passes muster with the City Council.
The Arts and Culture Commission is in talks to organize city sponsored art exhibits and events during the festival to celebrate the local art scene and take advantage of the buzz Frieze is expected to generate.
“It sounds like it would be a lot of fun actually. It’s leaving a wide open door for us to create a lot of initiatives around the city that aren’t just from one specific lane,” said Arts and Culture Commissioner Karla Gordy Bristol at a commission meeting Sept. 22. “As long as everybody’s happy and our city is more educated and celebrating arts and culture, then we as a commission have done our job.”
The Arts and Culture Commission dis- cussed possible events and plans to celebrate Frieze at its meeting Oct. 12.
“I think it’s a really opportune moment to utilize all of our strengths and make it beneficial to our city,” said Arts and Culture Commission Chair Deborah Frank at the September meeting.
Ticket release dates for Frieze Los Angeles have not been revealed. Frieze organizers were not available for comment.
