L'Officiel Art

The Highlights of Frieze Los Angeles 2019

Catch up on everything you missed during last week's festivities.
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Last week, the world-famous art fair made its inaugural debut in the City of Angels. Torrential rain didn’t deter the big names from coming out on the preview day of the fair. In the eccentric style of a Wes Anderson film, VIP attendees parked in the famed Hollywood Forever Cemetery and were asked to remember the closest tombstone while awaiting a private shuttle to the fair. Celebrities like Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone, and Leonardo DiCaprio perused their way through gallery booths and the Paramount backlot along with famous collectors Eli Broad, Thom Weisel, Ruth Bloom, and Maurice Marciano. 

VIP Preview

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Upon exiting the gallery booths tent, the environment quickly felt like New York City as Paramount Studios’ backlot, normally a TV and film set designed like the West Village, was transformed into pop-up restaurants and shopping experiences by Frieze brand partners. 

Partnering up with big, global names such as Deutsche Bank, NeueHouse, MATCHESFASHION.COM, BMW, and Ruinart, it’s safe to say that festivities of the fair were not in short supply. VIP’s and attendees of the fair were given a daily fuchsia itinerary of pop-ups and week’s events at NeueHouse. As part of NeueHouse’s week of “ART&” series, guest presenters like Rosetta Getty, Jill Soloway, Jill Magid, and Heather Lenz hosted programs exploring the intersections of art with music, fashion, and film. 

The Standard x Rau Răm Dinner in Celebration of Kulapat Yantrasast

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They say it’s impossible to go a single day without encountering architecture. That definitely rings true in Kulapat Yantrasast’s world. In honor of the Frieze LA designer and famed Thai architect, roaming restaurant Rau Răm made its State-side debut in hosting a pop-up dinner at The Standard West Hollywood.

Guests, including Ivan Pun, Chomwan Weeraworawit, Cassandra Grey, Samantha Ronson, Alex Israel, Klaus Biesenbach, Lauren Halsey, Mary Weatherford, and Bettina Santo Domingo bonded over the night’s “Asian/Asian” fusion cuisine brought by the Myanmar restaurant. The currently nomadic Rau Răm is the brainchild of globetrotting Hong Kong and Myanmar-based entrepreneur and art patron Ivan Pun, one of the evening's co-hosts, and Hawaiian-born chef Kevin Ching.

The dinner, which was held at the Croft Alley restaurant by the first-floor entryway of the Standard, was a mix-and-mingle between tables. The crowd, predominantly art-world heavyweights, was seated at booths in lieu of a banquet table, lending serious upscale diner vibes. Table settings were tones of hot pink and fuchsia, the official color of Frieze.

Haas Brothers Dinner at NeueHouse Hollywood

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Niki and Simon Haas definitely have their own brand of cool. The artists and furniture designers teamed up with NeueHouse, one of Frieze’s official partners, to showcase their designs and culinary sensibilities. Creating the menu based on their family’s native German comfort foods, diners indulged on spätzle and braised rib after a cocktail hour filled with Bombay Sapphire martinis.

Guests including Djuna Bel, Langley Fox, Rob Scheppy, Bill Skarsgård, and Landon Liboiron were treated to a special playlist put together by the Haas Brothers. Music sounded like melodic juice—not from concentrate—on Devialet speakers, one of the evening’s brand partners. The French speaker company’s modern egg-shaped designs fit in perfectly with the Haas Brothers’ whimsical creations like sparkling ghosts and multi-piece water dragons.

Diners were asked not to touch the fragile table sculptures during the meal, only to be surprised when waiters came over with large knives, revealing they were actually cakes the entire time.

ART&MUSIC: Frieze Music Featuring Robert Glasper & Blue Note Records Dinner with Don Was

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In a collaboration with Blue Note Records, NeueHouse played host to a VIP dinner party with Don Was before the official Frieze Music event. Invitees were welcomed with custom Bombay Sapphire gin cocktails and gorgeous floral arrangements.

Guests like Heather Kerzner, Kulapat Yantrasast, Savannah Murphy, Hamza Walker, Rachel Barrett, Chris Pan, Aruna Seth, and Josh Wyatt were seated at a formal banquet table while indulging in a Cajun-inspired dinner, in keeping with the flair of Don Was. Attendees were also serenaded by a funk-rock and jazz playlist played on hi-fi Devialet speakers.

Once dessert was enjoyed to the last drop, dinner guests joined in the famous CBS performance hall at NeueHouse where Hamza Walker of LAXART curated an evening of jazz, blues, and dance. Hundreds of attendees danced to trumpets, 808’s, and a jazzy flute thanks to performers Robert Glasper with Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge, Ambrose Akinmusire and DJ Jahi Sundance.

With one Frieze-week down, LA proves it’s ready for many more.

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