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The arrival of the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles in 2019 affirmed what many—particularly Angelenos—had known for a while: the California city had risen to become a major hub for global contemporary art. And just like other Frieze iterations around the world, as well as similar large fairs like Art Basel, the event quickly ballooned into a wider cultural moment that spans a week of programming, exhibition openings and across the sprawling metropolis.
The first edition of Frieze LA was held at the Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood, but the annual anchor for LA’s unofficial art week moved to Santa Monica in 2023. This February, the fair returns for its seventh edition and will run from 26 February to 1 March, 2026, with the first two days as VIP previews before opening up to ticketed guests. It will take place alongside several major exhibitions at the city’s top cultural institutions, including the Getty, Hammer Museum, The Broad, and MOCA that visiting art lovers can enjoy while they’re in town. Many LA-based galleries will participate at Frieze, or the concurrent Felix Art Fair, while a handful have planned exhibitions in their own spaces that will open over the same weekend. Here's everything you need to know.
What is Frieze LA?
The renowned contemporary art fair was founded by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, the creators of Frieze magazine, and held its first edition in October 2003 in Regent's Park, London. The annual show was later joined by Frieze Masters, dedicated to art created before 2000, and expanded to New York in 2012. The LA edition's debut in 2019 was shortly followed by Seoul in 2022, and the following year, Frieze also acquired The Armory Show in New York, and EXPO Chicago—creating a constellation of events that run throughout the year.
This year, Frieze LA will feature 95 galleries from around the world, with well-known names such as Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, Pace Gallery, White Cube, David Zwirner and many more on the roster. The LA art community will be represented by a large contingent that includes Matthew Brown, Château Shatto, Commonwealth and Council, Anat Ebgi, David Kordansky Gallery, The Pit, Roberts Projects and more. Curator Essence Harden is returning for a third consecutive year to curate the ‘Focus’ section, which includes 15 emerging US-based galleries.
Where is Frieze LA?
For its seventh edition, Frieze LA will take place at the Santa Monica Airport, located two miles inland from the city’s famed beach and pier. A vast temporary tent will be erected in an open-air parking lot to host the gallery booths, and provide a venue for a robust talks program and awards ceremonies. Across the airport campus, a series of site-specific installations and activations will also be free and accessible to the public.
Top things to see during Frieze Los Angeles 2026
Alicja Kwade at 303 Gallery
If there’s one Frieze booth number to bookmark, it’s 303 Gallery’s (B20), where a solo presentation of works by Polish artist Alicja Kwade is bound to be a fair highlight. Kwade’s combinations of richly coloured, almost planetary stone spheres with bronze replicas of everyday objects, like a monobloc plastic chair or a shopping bag. These pieces examine mass consumption and proliferation in today’s society, placing the weight of the world onto its most humble or commonly used items.
Felix Art Fair
Established in 2018 and now in its eighth edition, the Felix Art Fair is taking place 25 February to 1 March at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The fair is considered a more relaxed alternative to Frieze, and will feature 57 galleries that include 18 with a presence in Los Angeles—Megan Mulrooney, Albertz Benda, and Weinstein Gallery amongst them—and over 20 first-time exhibitors. The 2026 fair will also mark the launch of The Felix Podcast, a new audio project hosted by LA-based collector Dean Valentine—who co-founded the fair Mills and Al Morán—and journalist Janelle Zara.
The Future Perfect’s Goldwyn House
The Future Perfect continues to update and expand its presence at the Goldwyn House, a storied 1916 mansion at the foot of the Hollywood Hills. During Frieze, the collectible design gallery is unveiling never-before-seen spaces within the residence, including its private residential quarters. Now known as the Goldwyn Guest House, this area will feature works by Sarah Solis and Pinch, as well as Bocci lighting that will extend into the landscape. Meanwhile, the newly unveiled kitchen is hosting a group exhibition titled 'Jugs,' comprising 30 artists’ interpretations of the humble water vessel. Other rooms across the expansive building will exhibit Lindsey Adelman’s Illuminated Mobiles II series of ceramic canopies and hand-blown glass orbs inscribed in gold enamel, Collection Particulière’s US debut of new furniture designs, new pieces by Chris Wolston and a bedroom outfitted by Orior.
'Made in L.A. 2025' at Hammer Museum
Hold the Ice, 2020, Patrick Martinez
Frieze weekend will be the last chance to catch the Hammer Museum’s biennial exhibition dedicated to artists practicing across the greater Los Angeles area. This seventh iteration spotlights 28 multigenerational participants who are working in film, painting, theater, choreography, photography, sculpture, sound, and video. All of the artists were chosen for the way in which they represent and engage with the city, particularly in terms of attitude, and together create a patchwork portrait of LA’s cutting-edge art scene. On view through 1 March.
Ingrid Donat at Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Swedish-French artist Ingrid Donat’s first solo showcase in Los Angeles will involve a selection of sculptural furniture pieces imbued with influences spanning Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and a range of global craft traditions. Titled ‘Tatoo,’ the show demonstrates her signature mark-making techniques in materials such as leather, bronze and fabric. As the centrepiece of the exhibition, the rounded Commode Tatoo is covered in square, geometric patterns that resemble reptile skin, while the Banquette aux Caryatides et Scarifications incorporates wax-cast bronze figures into the slender frame of the upholstered bench. The show runs 26 February to 30 May at Carpenters Workshop Gallery on Santa Monica Boulevard.