Frieze Los Angeles 2025: Strong Sales and ‘Tremendous Energy’

The highly anticipated 2025 edition of Frieze Los Angeles closed on 23 February, marking a defining year for the art fair with reports of strong sales, an energetic atmosphere and a vibrant audience that rallied in support of the LA arts community. Beyond its commercial success, the fair hosted numerous initiatives that directly contributed to recovery efforts following the region’s recent wildfires. Bringing together the city’s arts community and a global audience, Frieze Los Angeles 2025 reaffirmed its status as a vital cultural moment for the city.  

Over four days, Frieze Los Angeles welcomed 30,000 visitors from 85 countries, including leading collectors and representatives from at least 150 major museums and institutions. Deepening its collaboration with the wider LA arts community, the fair also presented special programming spotlighting museums, artist-run spaces and nonprofit institutions – celebrating the city’s rich artistic landscape and contributing to its cultural revitalization.

Gallery Sales & Response

Galleries across the fair talked about the resilience of the Los Angeles arts community, an enthusiasm shared by top collectors, museum groups and curators throughout the fair. ‘There was a real sense of showing up for each other and that energy has been palpable through the fair,’ said Alex Logsdail, CEO of Lisson Gallery. Angela Brazda, director of White Cube concurred: ‘Frieze provided an incredible opportunity for the international art world to unite in support of Los Angeles’s vibrant art community.’ 

Jessica Silverman, gallery founder and CEO said, ‘Los Angeles is like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Frieze LA continues to be an essential fixture in the international art world calendar. For us, it’s more than just a successful marketplace – it’s where we connect with our LA-based artists, catch up with curators who work west of the Mississippi, and meet new clients from the Pacific Rim.’ 

Tim Blum, owner of BLUM agreed: ‘I was rooting for this fair to happen. I knew that it would be an important event, it always is, but ever more so this year after the devastating fires. There was a very vibrant, energetic crowd at the fair. Frieze Los Angeles this year was a win.’ Julie and Bennett Roberts, founders of Roberts Projects said, ‘Frieze Los Angeles 2025 has been an incredibly positive experience during what has been a very difficult time for our city.’

Sold-out booths included a collaborative showcase of Ambera Wellmann’s paintings by Hauser & Wirth and Company Gallery; Haitian American painter Patrick Eugène’s solo with Mariane Ibrahim, making its Los Angeles debut; a group show of works by Naotaka Hiro, Rebecca Morris and Madeline Hollander with Bortolami; Sydney Cain’s solo with Casey Kaplan; Leah Glenn’s new oil paintings with Altman Siegel; and Maia Cruz Palileo’s solo presentation with David Kordansky Gallery. 

‘This year's edition of the fair was an especially important platform for the artists and galleries based here in Los Angeles,’ said Kordansky. ‘It was a galvanizing moment for the city as we look to rebuild. LA showed up for LA, and we felt the love and support from our international arts community.’ 

Claudia Altman Siegel, owner of Altman Siegel, said: ‘Frieze Los Angeles kicked off with tremendous enthusiasm and energy. We sold out our solo booth of works by Leah Glenn by the end of the first day. I think the art community came out with a heartfelt desire to support the galleries and artists and to see art thrive in Los Angeles, and we are thrilled to be a part of it.’

The fair also saw numerous seven-figure sales, including David Zwirner's sale of 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 saw quick success with a Keith Haring painting on glass for $2 million, as well as several Robert Mapplethorpe photograph editions priced between $200,000 and $300,000 each, and an Ugo Rondinone painting for $240,000, among other works.

Thaddeus Ropac made significant sales including a painting by Georg Baselitz for €1m and a painting by Alex Katz for $800,000. Michael Rosenfeld Gallery placed multiple works, including a Ruth Asawa sculpture in the region of $1m. Johyun reported opening-day sales totaling seven figures from its dual presentation of Lee Bae and Kishio Suga. Pace sold multiple works, including a 2021 installation by James Turrell for $900,000, Robert Indiana’s 1966–1996 sculpture LOVE (Red Outside Blue Inside) for $600,000 and a new painting by Loie Hollowell for $325,000. 

Xavier Hufkens placed major works including a painting by Tracey Emin for approximately £1,200,000, a sculpture by Antony Gormley for £375,000, two paintings by Sterling Ruby for $140,000 and $85,000, two paintings and a sculpture by Mark Manders in the range of €30,000 to €110,000 each, and a painting by Sayre Gomez for $60,000. Simon Devolder, partner at Xavier Hufkens said: ‘Los Angeles never loses its allure – [it’s] a city deeply intertwined with the lives and work of so many of our artists. Once again, Frieze Los Angeles reaffirmed the city’s vital role on the global contemporary art stage. The community showed its support, the mood was upbeat and forward-looking, and the fair was a resounding success.’

Major sales from other Los Angeles-based galleries included BLUM’s placement of an anchor work by Yoshitomo Nara for $750,000; Night Gallery’s sale of two works by Jesse Mockrin priced between $100,000 and $120,000 each, as well as three works by Sterling Wells between $10,000 and $20,000 each; Parker Gallery's sale of works by Marley Freeman, Karin Gulbran, Claudia Keep, Sahar Khoury, Joe Minter and Daisy Sheff; Nazarian / Curcio’s four paintings by Summer Wheat priced between $40,000 and $70,000 each, and seven works by Vincent Pocsik ranging from $7,000 to $30,000 each; L.A. Louver’s placement of an Alison Saar woodcut print, Mutiny of the Sable Venus (2024) to the MSU Broad Art Museum in Michigan, and paintings by Heather Gwen Martin priced between $14,000 and $26,000, in addition to numerous digital prints by Gajin Fujita and Saar that benefitted the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. Sebastian Gladstone sold seven bronze and wood sculptures by Emmanuel Louisnord Desir, priced between $10,000 and $40,000 each.

First-time participant Southern Guild made numerous sales including two works by Manyaku Mashilo for between $22,000 and $26,000 each, three Bonolo Kavula works ranging between $5,000 and $16,000 each, an Alex Hedison work for $17,000, and a Zanele Muholi print for $22,000. The gallery’s founder, Trevyn McGowan, said: ‘Marking the one-year anniversary of the opening of our LA gallery, we celebrated amidst a dynamic hub of collectors, longtime supporters and new, curious visitors. The response to our all-women presentation was overwhelming, both in volume of sales, which exceeded all expectations, and in the depth and gravitas of engagement.’ 

Focus Sales

Focus, for emerging US-based galleries under 12 years of operation, was curated by Essence Harden for the second time. Its participants reported sold-out booths and important acquisitions. 

Carlye Packer sold out its booth of works by Brandon Landers, priced between $16,000 and $54,000; Dominique Gallery made several sales in the range of $8,000 to $40,000, including an institutional placement to LACMA from their solo presentation of local artist Adee Roberson; Dreamsong sold acrylic, silver nitrate, and glass on canvas works by Edgar Arceneaux in the range of $16,000-$100,000 each; Make Room placed all the works from their solo presentation of artist-engineer Xin Liu to prominent private and museum collections, with prices between $20,000 and $50,000 each; Babst sold two large works on paper by Athena LaTocha for $45,000 and $55,000; Nonaka Hill sold multiple works by Sawako Goda, priced between $25,000 and $50,000 each; and Tyler Park Presents sold several pieces by Henri Paul Broyard each priced between $3,000 and $12,000.

Tyler Park said: ‘It was great to be a part of the fair and see the Los Angeles community come together. It’s been a fair that I have wanted my gallery and artists to be a part of since I opened, so I really loved being here. Sales were strong and we sold to new collectors.’

Pauli Ochi, the owner and founder of Ochi said: ‘We've had a wonderful fair showing LA-based artist Lenworth McIntosh’s work in the Focus section. This year’s Frieze has been a powerful demonstration in the resilience of our community. The collective spirit of support has been a reminder of art’s ability to bring people together.'

Community Support and Fire Relief Efforts

The 2025 fair saw several philanthropic initiatives providing direct support to those affected by the recent wildfires. Proceeds from select artworks were donated to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund.

Led by Victoria Miro, the collective presentation ‘Galleries Together’ invited exhibitors and artists across the fair to donate works, with proceeds benefitting the Getty-led LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. The many works sold included Victoria Miro placing Tidawhitney Lek’s Made in Cambodia (2024) and Jemima Murphy’s Life in Violet (2024), each in the range of $15,000 to $20,000; David Kordansky Gallery sold Maia Cruz Palileo’s sculpture Spotted Aspin (2024) for $8,000; Kaikai Kiki Gallery sold Chinatsu Ban’s painting Baptism in Mexico (2007) for $5,700 and Ban’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (2004) for $1,900, plus a 2022 ceramic piece by Shin Murata and Takashi Murakami for $12,000; and 303 Gallery sold Erin Falls and Sam Falls’s ceramic piece Concord (2025). 

Institutional Acquisitions

Los Angeles artist Edgar Arceneaux and his gallery Dreamsong had an especially good fair, with his work acquired by both the Mohn Art Collective (MAC3), in a new $75,000 fund, and by the Santa Monica Art Bank. Rebecca Heidenberg of Dreamsong said: ‘I am thrilled with the attention that Frieze Los Angeles has brought to Edgar’s extraordinary work. With a nearly sold-out booth at the end of Friday, and the significant acquisition of Skinning the Mirror (Summer 1) through the Mohn Art Collective for the Hammer, LACMA, MOCA collections, as well as an acquisition by the Santa Monica Art Bank, his new body of work created during a residency at the Walker Art Center is receiving well-deserved recognition.’ 

The Mohn Art Collective also acquired Shaniqwa Jarvis’s work Slowly, Surely from LA’s Sow & Tailor gallery. Owner and director Karen Galloway said, ‘With everything having felt so unstable recently, Frieze this year really offered us a solid platform to come together and ensure that our artists and the wider community were supported. A huge success was the broad institutional presence and reception of our presentation. Having Shaniqwa Jarvis’s work acquired by Hammer, LACMA, and MOCA through the MAC3 Collection is beyond significant. It’s a dream for most artists, but for her to be in these collections as part of her first Frieze presentation is such a blessing.’

Frieze Arts Alliance

Frieze launched the Frieze Arts Alliance as part of this year’s edition of Frieze Los Angeles. The new initiative unites major collecting institutions from across the US in their shared commitment to supporting galleries and strengthening LA’s creative networks through active acquisition efforts. High engagement and major museum purchases through the Alliance included the California African American Museum’s acquisition of two Darrel Ellis works, Untitled (Bathing Beauty) (1987–1989) and Untitled (Bathing Beauty) (1988–1991) from Hannah Hoffman Gallery.

Frieze Projects

This year, Frieze Projects included public artworks installed on site, curated by Art Production Fund and titled ‘Inside Out’. The special section features site-specific works by Lita Albuquerque, Jackie Amézquita, Claire Chambless, Joel Gaitan, Madeline Hollander, Greg Ito, Ozzie Juarez and Dominique Moody, in an exploration of ‘perspective’: how personal histories and experiences shape an understanding of Los Angeles, its culture and landscape.

Each day of the fair, Claire Chambless hid 100 different eggs throughout the fair campus, both within the tent and the airport site, with small, unique sculptures each within golden plastic egg. Ozzie Juarez gave out 1,000 uniquely packaged objects sourced from swap meets across the greater Los Angeles. Dominique Moody offered visitors private tours each day of her artwork Nomad, a mobile dwelling inspired by found objects and salvaged materials presented in collaboration with Destination Crenshaw. Madeline Hollander’s Day Flight allowed fair visitors to embody various forms of movement as part of a choreographed flight plan over panoramic vistas of Malibu and the Pacific Palisades as part of a deeply personal reflection on the conditions of living with global climate crises. In total, 27 flights were offered throughout the four days of the fair.

Partners & Non-Profits

The recipient of this year’s Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize of $25,000 was Victor ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez. The fair debuted his ‘I.C.E SCREAM’ series, a collection of paintings and sculptural installations confronting the immigrant experience and speaking to the beauty, strength and resilience of migrant workers, street vendors and Indigenous cultures. A distinguished panel including Pamela J. Joyner and Sable Elyse Smith, selected Quiñonez’s proposal for the award in collaboration with Taylor Renee Aldridge, who joined as the 2025 Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize curator.

In collaboration with Rosetta and Violet Getty, Frieze Los Angeles debuted an exclusive T-shirt featuring original artwork that was sold on-site at the fair. All profits from sales benefitted the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, established by the Getty to aid artists and arts workers impacted by the Eaton and Palisades fires.

Summaeverythang Community Center, a non-profit founded by artist Lauren Halsey, showcased the organization’s vision for a permanent LA hub offering education, health, wellness, and art through creativity, connection and empowerment. The fair also collaborated with AMBOS (Art Made Between Opposite Sides) to present Frutas Coquetas (Sexy Fruit), an installation of ceramic works created by artists in a trauma-informed ceramics programme for refugees and asylum seekers. All proceeds benefitted undocumented residents and workers affected by the fires. Additionally, a new collaboration with the Black Trustee Alliance on the legacy of Altadena’s Black and POC communities was inaugurated in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire. The project featured a panel discussion with Kenturah Davis and Leah Thomas (Green Girl Leah), alongside an activation in the fair’s tent.

Further Information

Gallery presentations are still available to view and acquire on Frieze Viewing Room until Friday 28 February.

To keep up to date on all the latest news from Frieze, sign up to the newsletter at frieze.com, and follow @friezeofficial on Instagram and Frieze Official on Facebook. 

Frieze Los Angeles is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing its legacy of celebrating artistic excellence on an international scale.