Billy Cotton’s Top Picks from Frieze Viewing Room
The designer’s choices from Frieze Los Angeles 2025 includes works by Carolina Caycedo, Alice Neel and Emmanuel Louisnord Desir
The designer’s choices from Frieze Los Angeles 2025 includes works by Carolina Caycedo, Alice Neel and Emmanuel Louisnord Desir
Mette Madsen, Untitled, 1990s
Oil on canvas, 50.8 × 40.6 cm. Presented by Stars $10k–$20k
Stars Gallery does an incredible job of highlighting artists we need to know about. Mette Madsen is one of them. These intimate abstractions of science make me want to understand them. His connection to one of my heroes, Colin Deland, also draws me in.
Alice Neel, Siamese Cats, 1950
Ink on paper, 24.8 x 34.9 cm. Presented by Xavier Hufkens. $50k–$100k
I find myself personally drawn to the drawings of master painters. I could never live with cats but I have always loved the legend and name of the siamese cat. This Alice Neel I could live with.
Carolina Caycedo, Power to Fulfill Wishes or Bonfim, 2025
Artisanal hand-dyed cast net, Bonfim ribbon, powder-coated steel, lead weights, thread. 108 x 122 x 76 cm. Presented by Commonwealth and Council. $28k
An incredible LA gallery doing such important things. Carolina’s sculptural work speaks for itself and demands to be heard and seen. I hope someone dedicates some space to this, wherever it lands.
Emmanuel Louisnord Desir, Spoil 9, 2023
Bronze, 19.1 × 17.8 × 17.8 cm. Presented by Sebastian Gladstone. $9,000.
As I have said before, there is work that I can’t wrap my head around but which keeps drawing me back to think about. Emmanuel’s work does that. At first familiar, its complexities start to unravel the closer you get.
Jack Pierson, Garbo, 2025
Metal and plastic, 40.6 × 157.5 × 8.3 cm. Presented by Regen Projects. $100k.
What could be more LA? What could be more arresting? I am not saying this because of Jack’s profound effect on me when I met him at 17. I would also get [this work] to spend time with Shaun Regen and maybe to feel a little closer to this distant, abstract town, much like this work. Garbo is my Queen of LA for good reason.
Ha Chong-Hyun, Conjunction 24-12, 2024
Oil on hemp cloth, 135 x 101.5 x 7.5 cm. Presented by Tina Kim Gallery. $250k–$500k
Tina Kim and an incredible group of Korean women have greatly influenced my eye over the last decade. Ha Chon-Hyun is a master and sometimes we need distilled perfection.
Merlin James, Boats, 1984
Acrylic on canvas, 63 x 48.5 cm. Presented by Maureen Paley. £21,000.
I can’t say anything brilliant about Merlin’s paintings other than I am influenced by their simple beauty and some fantasy of how and where they are made in Scotland. Maureen [Paley] will tell you more. Go see her!
About Billy Cotton
Billy Cotton is an American designer working in interior design, product design and architecture. Trained as an industrial designer, he focuses on the details and ergonomics of spaces. Based in New York with an office in Los Angeles, he leads his own interiors and product design firm and is a partner at CTK Architecture. His work has been recognized on Architectural Digest’s AD100 and Elle Decor’s A-List and featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and World of Interiors, among others.
About Frieze Viewing Room
Open to all from 13 – 28 February 2025, Frieze Viewing Room is the online catalogue for Frieze Los Angeles, giving global audiences access to gallery presentations at the fair. Visitors can search artworks by artist, price, date and medium, save favourite artworks and presentations, chat with galleries and much more.
Further Information
Frieze Los Angeles, 20 – 23 February 2025, Santa Monica Airport.
Frieze is proud to support the LA Arts Community Fire Fund, led by the J. Paul Getty Trust. In addition to Frieze’s contribution, 10% of the value of all newly purchased tickets is also being donated to the fund.
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.
Main image: Jack Pierson, Garbo, 2025. Metal and plastic, 40.6 × 157.5 × 8.3 cm. Courtesy: Regen Projects
