Art & Design in Los Angeles The newest edition of the London/New York-based
Then there are the less acknowledged California artists,
Frieze art fair is about to descend upon Los Angeles,
many of whom were represented by the group of L.A.
briefly making our city the focus of the art world. Much
gallerists that just pre-dated Ferus Gallery, such as Felix
like curating a masterworks show, L.A. is preparing
Landau Gallery, Esther Robles Gallery, and Dalzell Hat-
to put its best face forward, offering discounts at the
field. Early works by Craig Kauffman, Hans Burkhardt,
trendiest hotels, pop-up locations of the city’s most
Emerson Woelffer, Peter Voulkos, Oskar Fischinger, Jack
highly regarded restaurants, and walking tours of L.A.’s
Zajac, and Glen Lukens tell the history of contemporary
homegrown heavy-hitter galleries to the expected influx
L.A. art that is often overlooked.
of out-of-towners. All of this is to say that while Frieze’s arrival in Los We confess, LAMA is not immune to the Frieze excite-
Angeles can feel like an acknowledgement from the
ment. As we’ve prepared for the February auction, we’ve
international artworld that L.A. is now a contender, our
thought about the art that has come to define LAMA
city has a long(ish) history in this field that LAMA has
throughout the years. On offer are the mainstays of
always sought to tell.
modern California art that we have become known for—a 1969 painting by Mary Corse, a show stopping paint-
On another note, you may have noticed that this cat-
ing by Frederick Hammersley, a resin sculpture by De
alogue essay was not penned by our Director, Peter
Wain Valentine, Ed Ruscha’s Mocha Standard, a petite
Loughrey. Just as the L.A. art world has grown over
early work by Billy Al Bengston featuring his signature
the years, so too has LAMA. While Peter and Shannon
chevron motif, and countless other gems by California
Loughrey, the founders of LAMA, continue to drive the
artists, many of whom were captured by photographer
company forward, new voices and new ideas are helping
and gallerist Patricia Faure in her 1958 photograph,
to shape LAMA’s future, so expect to hear more from the
FERUS Gallery.
LAMA team!
Clo Pazera, Fine Art Specialist