Gwyneth Paltrow, Oliver Stone, Katie Couric Among Stars Spotted as Frieze Los Angeles 2025 Begins

Just weeks after wildfires devastated southern California, a muted but refreshingly serene and warm Frieze Los Angeles opened at the Santa Monica Airport.

As airplanes roared overhead, well-heeled VIPs crowded the entrance to the massive fair, featuring more than 95 galleries from more than 20 countries, hugging and schmoozing after the uncertainty and tragedy of the fires. Despite whispers that celebrities had been encouraged by PR gurus to stay away from Thursday’s VIP preview due to optics, stars and collectors spotted included Gwyneth Paltrow, Oliver Stone, Katie Couric, Kid Cudi, Lisa Edelstein, Rosetta and Balthazar Getty, Minka Kelly, Bob and Linda Gersh, Susan Bay Nimoy, Lauren Taschen and Frieze staple Michael Chow.

But if entertainment industry folks were scarcer than usual (early reports indicated Hollywood elite were out out in full force on Friday), artists were there to support their fellow creators, including the unmistakable Takashi Murakami, Catherine Opie, Christina Quarles, Alison Saar, Betye Saar, Analia Saban, Alake Shilling, Mary Weatherford, Jonas Wood, Lita Albuquerque, Tanya Aguiñiga, Jackie Amézquita, Sadie Barnette, Claire Chambless, Sam Falls and Coco Fusco.

Museum leadership also showed their support for the art world, while searching for new acquisitions. The always sharp Michael Govan of LACMA was there, as was MOCA director Johanna Burton and other museum leadership including Thelma Golden, Louise Bernard, Amanda Hunt and Heidi Zuckerman.

At the pre-fair breakfast, where VIPs noshed on bagels and deviled eggs washed down with coffee and mimosas, Christine Messineo, Frieze’s director of Americas, emphasized the importance of art in difficult times. “Our institutions, our galleries, our collectors and, most importantly, our artists shape and transform our art world,” she stated.

First day sellouts included the Mariane Ibrahim gallery, which sold out its inaugural Frieze Los Angeles presentation, featuring Haitian American painter Patrick Eugène and Jennifer Rochlin. David Kordansky Gallery also sold out its solo presentation by interdisciplinary artist Maia Cruz Palileo. And the Casey Kaplan gallery sold out its solo booth featuring works by Sydney Cain, each priced around $30,000.

The Jessica Silverman gallery sold the majority of its booth in the early hours of the opening day, including a Loie Hollowell work for $170,000, a porcelain wall work by Rebecca Manson for $80,000 and a sculpture by Sadie Barnette for $75,000. In the FOCUS section, Dominique Gallery notably made numerous sales, including an institutional placement to LACMA’s collection from its solo presentation of Los Angeles artist Adee Roberson.

Big-ticket sales included the sale of a Ruth Asawa sculpture for approximately $1 million at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery. BLUM saw a significant series of sales, including the sale of a Yoshitomo Nara for $750,000. David Zwirner sold an Elizabeth Peyton painting for $2.8 million, a Noah Davis work for $2.5 million, an Alice Neel painting for $1.8 million and a Lisa Yuskavage painting for $1.6 million. Gladstone Gallery sold three Keith Haring works, including a painting on glass for $2 million.

In response to the fires, Victoria Miro presented Galleries Together, benefiting the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. Throughout the day, major contributions for the fund were raised, with sales including works by Chinatsu Ban, a Shin Murata x Takashi Murakami ceramic piece and a work by Yuji Toma.

Across town in Atwater Village, the 13th annual The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art, also responded to the fires at their Thursday opening night event. “In the wake of such heartbreaking loss, we are joining in solidarity with the creative communities of Los Angeles to offer people a moment of respite and a space to connect, to express themselves, to give back, and to rebuild,” global fair director Nicole Garton affirmed.

Featuring 140 independent artists, the fair was a joyous, crowded affair, with a DJ, artists painting guests’ auras, a performer teetering on stilts and a children’s painting corner.

One highlight was “The 1968 East L.A. Student Walkouts,” a new segment of the monumental mural The Great Wall of Los Angeles by Judy Baca. Anna Marie Tendler, author of Men Have Called Her Crazy, took lush portraits of guests as part of her House of Self photobooth. A portion of portrait sales will be donated to the Pasadena Humane Society and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition Firefighter Fund. The gallery Karma had a strong opening night, selling a still life by Persian-American abstract expressionist painter Manoucher Yektai for $300,000, as well as a still life by Chicago-born surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie for $225,000 and a work by Hughie Lee-Smith for $200,000.

Art loving Angelenos will find themselves crisscrossing the city all through the weekend. Highly anticipated is the invitational group exhibition Villa Tigertail, by Future Fair, taking place at a private residence in L.A., and featuring artists including April Bey, Hana Ward, Mia Weiner and Michael Buhler-Rose. Over at the Hotel Roosevelt, the Felix Art Fair, which opened Wednesday, started strong, featuring a sold out solo presentation of William Schaeuble’s captivating surreal paintings. The LA Art Show, celebrating 30 years, also opened Wednesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

In Santa Monica, the pilot edition of Post-Fair, located in the former Art Deco Santa Monica Post Office, features 29 galleries, an intimate alternative to the hustle and bustle of the bigger fairs. Galleries include Babst Gallery, Cooper Cole, 4649 and Chris Sharp Gallery.

For Angelenos, the fairs, from scrappy and affordable to sophisticated and exorbitant, are in many ways a balm to L.A.’s wounded creative community. “This moment,” Messineo notes, “is a testament to the resilience of the Los Angeles arts community.”