Santa Monica Art Bank Acquires Edgar Arceneaux at Frieze Los Angeles
The annual acquisition fund is awarded to an LA-based artist at the fair, selected by a jury including Jay Ezra Nayssan
The annual acquisition fund is awarded to an LA-based artist at the fair, selected by a jury including Jay Ezra Nayssan
For the second time at Frieze Los Angeles 2025, LA artist Edgar Arceneaux has seen his work purchased by a major West Coast institution. The Santa Monica Art Bank bought his work Skinning the Mirror (Winter 9) (2025) was selected from Dreamsong’s presentation in the Focus section of the fair. The purchase follows Arceneaux’s acquisition at Frieze by the MAC3 gallery collective.
The selection jury for the Santa Monica Art Bank Acquisition Fund included Jay Ezra Nayssan (Founding Director & Chief Curator, Del Vaz Projects), Michael Masucci (Santa Monica Arts Commissioner) and Christine Messineo.
Nayssan said, ‘Transferring a mirror's film onto canvas, Edgar Arceneaux's work reflects back to the viewer the instability of memory—welcoming the warp and oxidation of material and perception.’
‘We are excited to continue our partnership with Frieze,’ said the mayor of Santa Monica, Lana Negrete. ‘As a city that has always prioritized and celebrated art and creativity, we’re proud to add another beautiful work to the municipal Art Bank collection from a wonderful regional artist. Hosting the fair in our city and supporting diverse artists allows us to continue to grow our city’s creative economy and underscore the vital role of the arts in fostering creativity, opportunity and economic growth.’
Edgar Arceneaux, Skinning the Mirror (Winter 9)
Los Angeles-based artist Edgar Arceneaux paints, shatters and strips mirrors, transferring their reflective silver nitrate on to canvas. As his paintings’ surfaces oxidize, they absorb elements of the atmosphere, altering their colours until sealed. Deeply personal and rich with metaphoric meaning, Arceneaux’s paintings materially reflect the fragmentary nature of self-understanding and the fissures within socio-historical narratives.
About the Santa Monica Art Bank
Santa Monica’s Art Bank collection began in 1984 to bring art into Santa Monica’s public spaces, funded through the city’s Percent for Art Programme. The Art Bank contains more than 200 works – including sculpture, painting, photography, and works on paper – by such notable artists as Laura Aguilar, Lita Albuquerque, Charles Gaines, Kerry James Marshall, Linda Vallejo and other artists active in Southern California. Acquisitions into the city’s collection have supported many artists of the Southern California region, including Edgar Ramirez, whose work Bajío (2023) was acquired from the Focus section at Frieze Los Angeles 2023, and Gary Tyler, winner of the Frieze Impact Prize in 2024.
Further Information
Frieze Los Angeles, 20 – 23 February 2025, Santa Monica Airport.
Limited full-price tickets available; 10 percent of the value of all newly purchased tickets is being donated to the fire relief efforts.
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Frieze Los Angeles is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing its legacy of celebrating artistic excellence on an international scale.
Main image: Edgar Arceneaux, Skinning the Mirror (Winter 9), 2025. Acrylic paint, silver nitrate, glass on canvas in custom frame, 45.72 x 60.96 x 3.81 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Dreamsong
