Frieze La’s special project is the most powerful speech in this edition, a fundraising event for fire recovery woven throughout the fair. London-based dealer Victoria Miro gave up her gallery speech and handed the booth to various galleries, with all sales money going directly to the Los Angeles Arts Community Fire Fund.
Frieze La also works with the Black Trustee Alliance Land Memory: Altardna’s Voicethe project aims to collect oral histories of several artists who lost Altadena’s house in January in the devastating Eaton fire as a way to “elevate and preserve collective memory of the historically black and culturally rich Altadena community”, according to the wall text. In this work, Asher Hartman recalls how Altadena’s “acceptable, diverse community” makes it feel like a small town. Peter Kim and Alice Könitz become excited when they ask each other to recall their favorite rooms in their now ruined house. Dominique Moody strongly points out that the core of the Altadena spirit is “the connection between daily life and the experience of creating thoughts and visions.” This powerful collection of sounds is not to be missed.
Artist Tanya Aguiñiga’s Ambos (art made in the opposite direction) has been a long-time nonprofit collaborator for Frieze La. At this year’s expo, the collective focused on providing care to border communities through art and activism, which manufactures ceramic fruits sold from fruit carts (and accompanied by a print showing sketches of these works, in the color of the trans flag). These are made of immigrants, many of them trans women awaiting asylum hearings in Mexico. (All of these hearings were canceled by the Trump administration due to the production.) Behind are several hats and beans, using like Funding ice,,,,, Transgender is beautifuland Make vaginal denta again. During the opening hours of the fair, they are selling quickly and funds will support Ambos. Needless to say, all works are direct responses to the current presidential administration’s executive orders for trans rights and ongoing deportation of undocumented immigrants.
