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Frieze LA 2025 Revives Art and Community After Wildfires

In the wake of devastating wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles, the city's art community understood their role in the healing and rebuilding process. So artists, galleries, and patrons alike got together to ensure that Frieze Los Angeles, scheduled for 20-23 February 2025 at Santa Monica Airport, still holds.


Frieze Los Angeles banner Credit: Frieze LA
Frieze Los Angeles banner Credit: Frieze LA

The recent wildfires destroyed over 7,500 structures and claimed at least 27 lives. Artists and collectors, have been particularly hard-hit by the fire. Amidst this devastation, the art community has rallied together, emphasizing the importance of cultural events in the healing and rebuilding process.


A significant highlight of this year's Frieze Los Angeles is the debut of Southern Guild, the only African gallery participating in the fair. Based in Cape Town and Los Angeles, Southern Guild represents contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora, furthering the continent’s contribution to global art movements. Southern Guild's presentation at Frieze LA showcases the multidisciplinary practices of five women artists, contemplating themes of personhood, the reimagining of women's roles within domestic spheres, and vibrant material-led making.


Visual activist and artist Zanele Muholi offers self-portraits from their renowned "Somnyama Ngonyama" (Hail the Dark Lioness) series, one of which will be in lightbox form. South African ceramic artist Zizipho Poswa presents new work from her "iLobola" series, alongside a monumental ceramic and bronze sculpture from her latest solo "Indyebo yakwaNtu," one of the inaugural exhibitions to open Southern Guild's 5000sqft LA space in February 2024.


A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood. Credit: AFP via Getty Images
A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood. Credit: AFP via Getty Images

South African artist Manyaku Mashilo offers new mixed-media paintings, a continuation of her latest body of work produced for her first US solo, "The Laying of Hands," that is due to open a week before Frieze on 13 February 2025. Bonolo Kavula presents a specially commissioned textile installation, intricately produced using shweshwe fabric, thread, and glue. LA-based artist and filmmaker Alex Hedison presents a photographic work from her series, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," captured in Malibu over a period of four years.


The decision to move forward with Frieze Los Angeles, despite the recent tragedies, reflects a collective determination to support the city's cultural ecosystem. Frieze is one of the founding contributors to a $12 million relief fund launched earlier this week by local, national, and global organizations, galleries, and museums.


The fair's spokesperson added, "Together with our participants and partners, we are developing initiatives to aid recovery efforts and will share more details soon." As Los Angeles embarks on the path to recovery, the continuation of Frieze Los Angeles highlights the essential role of art in healing and bringing communities together, reinforcing the belief that, even amidst destruction, creativity and culture will continue to thrive.

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Frieze LA 2025 Revives Art and Community After Wildfires

January 20, 2025

Obidike Okafor

2 min read

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