Crowds of people lined the halls of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for this year’s edition of Felix L.A. Boasting a line-up of more than 60 exhibitors this year, the fair is not quite as big as the week’s most important art event, Frieze Los Angeles. But even at its relatively modest size, Felix L.A. is enough to induce visual overload.
Felix L.A. is unusual for a fair because it doesn’t take place at a convention center: much of the art can be seen on floors of this hotel, with rooms converted into makeshift gallery spaces. The experience harkens back to art fairs of the ’90s and earlier, but its format is the most exciting thing about the fair.
Much of the work was mediocre, and many dealers opted for group shows of artists on their roster rather than solo presentations. Perhaps these gallerists were trying to clear inventory in a shaky market. But amid the hodgepodge, there was some compelling art. Below is a selection of highlights from the fair.
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Sahana Ramakrishnan at Fridman Gallery
Image Credit: Photo Francesca Aton Among a number of artists, Sahana Ramakrishnan’s large paintings command a strong presence. The artist uses Indian mythology to highlight states in which predator becomes prey, subverting the natural order of things. In Song of the Naga, a man is framed by body parts and surrounded in ocean waves, with two heads overlooking him. For this work and the others, Ramakrishnan build out her her painting in layers, embedding mantras and cutting her canvas before sewing it back together. With their rich detail, these paintings reward prolonged viewing.
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Talia Levitt at Rachel Uffner Gallery
Image Credit: Photo Francesca Aton Talia Levitt’s paintings stood out at this booth for their subtle textural effects. For these works, Levitt scores her canvases, then paints images of mundane scenes from her life on top of these uneven surfaces. The end result is something that looks a bit like fabric patterning, but they are entirely painted. (Levitt has a longstanding interest in trompe l’oeil, and indeed, her paintings do mess with the eye in pleasant ways.) Her works are neatly complemented by Anne Buckwalter’s paintings, which also capture the everyday and pay homage to craft traditions; Buckwalter references her Pennsylvania Dutch background. Gitte Maria Moller’s mixed media works, which hangs small digital prints among small beads and charms, are also strong.
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Kathryn Goshorn at Storage
Image Credit: Photo Francesca Aton The egg tempera paintings by Kathryn Goshorn at Storage were modeled after the artist’s memories of her estranged father. Done in light gray hues, these paintings depict the lighting and subsequent disposal of cigars her dad smoked. They’re precious without being overly sentimental. Nearby them is a small photograph by Barbara Nitke, titled Bathroom Kiss, which captures two figures in lingerie and bondage equipment as they prepare to lock lips, and an Adam Lupton painting that represents a person in bed, staring at a phone. For that latter work, cut pieces of canvas and paint transferred from other works are cobbled together, causing the work to appear layered and dense.
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Cheryl Pope and Jake Troyli at Monique Meloche Gallery
Image Credit: Photo Francesca Aton Monique Meloche is showcasing the work of Cheryl Pope and Jake Troyli, two former athletes who have turned to art. Working with wool that is needle-punched into cashmere, Pope depicts intimate moments between lovers. These moments of implied physical contact find a parallel in Troyli’s paintings, which depict wrestling figures.
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Angeline Rivas at Chris Sharp Gallery
Image Credit: Photo Francesca Aton Vibrant canvases by Angeline Rivas beckon attendees into this booth. Inspired by both the Light and Space movement as well as Spiritualism, Rivas airbrushes her mesmerizing swirls, which look like cosmic visions and natural formations. But if the paintings hint at other planes, they are brought right back down to earth by the remnants of graffiti included, which recall the streets of LA.
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Isabelle Albquerque at Nicodim
Image Credit: Photo Francesca Aton Snaking up from the center of a bedroom floor was Isabelle Albuquerque’s phallic bronze and silver sculpture Shadow Cruiser. The piece commanded the room, rising to meet this viewer in the eyes. Meanwhile, there were also Jeanine Britto’s paintings, which are also mysterious, erotically charged, and slightly menacing. Modern Medicine shows woman’s torso bleeding out into a glass heart container, while The Feminine Urge to Sacrifice shows a scantily clad woman cutting into a fawn with a knife.
