It’s a strange time for Los Angeles to be hosting an art week. The city is still reeling from the devastation of January’s wildfires, which scorched more than 40,000 acres and displaced over 180,000 people. The destruction affected the entire city, including its art scene: artists, galleries, and institutions alike.
In the immediate aftermath, uncertainty loomed over the city’s major cultural events, with the 2025 edition of Frieze Los Angeles in particular facing mounting pressure over whether to proceed. However, on January 17th, Frieze confirmed that the fair would proceed as planned. “After careful consideration and extensive conversations with galleries, partners, and city-wide stakeholders, we can confirm that the sixth edition of Frieze Los Angeles will go ahead,” read a statement from the fair.
With that decided, the city is now preparing for its regular February fairs, despite the circumstances. Also taking place are the L.A. Art Show, Felix Art Fair, and newcomer Post-Fair, along with a schedule of standout exhibitions that highlight both the city’s thriving art scene and its perseverance. The fires might not be far from visitors’ minds, as some gallery shows, like one at Anat Ebgi, will directly support artists who lost their spaces to the fires.
Here are 11 must-see gallery shows during Frieze Los Angeles 2025.
The walls of Hungarian artist Maria Szakats’s grandmother’s house, lined with richly embroidered textiles, left an indelible impression on the artist. Her childhood memories resurfaced in her twenties during a hallucinogenic trip in a flower-wallpapered apartment, where floral patterns pulsed before her. These experiences shape the thick mohair textiles featured in “Hover,” mounted by Megan Mulrooney.
Departing from her usual AI-generated imagery, Szakats embraces floral compositions—orchids, peonies, dahlias, fire lilies, and tulips—rendered in fluffy layers. The titular work, Hover (2025), for instance, presents a bright orange flower, seemingly bursting from the work, with a showy black bloom lingering behind it. Other pieces, like the orchid-inspired “Orchidion” series, present close-ups of the flowers, evocative of the huge, overwhelming rose in René Magritte’s The Tomb of the Wrestlers (1960).
Living and working in Paris, Szakats holds an MFA from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. Her solo shows have been staged by Galerie Chloe Salgado in Paris and Tusk in Chicago.
