APAA’s Top Picks from Frieze LA
After careful consideration, Frieze LA will proceed as planned. APAA advisors have hand-picked a few of their must-see works from this year’s iteration. The fair opens with a VIP Preview Day on Thursday, February 20th, opening to the public starting on Friday, February 21st through Sunday, February 23rd. Learn more here.
Thank you to our advisors for sharing their top picks from this year’s Frieze LA.
Advisor Top Picks from Frieze LA
Flying Studio. Courtesy the artist and MASSIMODECARLO
Ariana Papademetropoulos, Vapors, 2025.
“In response to the devastation caused by the LA fires, Massimo De Carlo Gallery is dedicating its entire booth to artists who call Los Angeles home. Among them, Ariana Papademetropoulos’ ethereal painting Vapor stands out, speaking volumes through its dreamlike presence. Her evocative work blurs the line between reality and fantasy, seamlessly weaving together mythology, symbolism, and historical Romanticism. The result is a world that is both seductive and unsettling, inviting the viewer into a realm where perception shifts and imagination takes hold.”
30x24 inches
oil on canvas
Presented by Massimo de Carlo Gallery
Laeh Glenn, Rose, 2025.
“Representational painting seems to ebb and flow in the market and discourse. Of late, it’s more flow. In the mix is Laeh Glenn, a talent mining more from Surrealism than Realism, including the catalog of Gertrude Abercrombie. Her still lifes in particular are carefully crafted vignettes bathed in suspense. The subject matter is familiar, but the paintings guard their secrets, in cold light and precise shadows.
And her oeuvre foregrounds a tendency today, which balances the painterly and filmic or otherworldly. In this vein, Avery Singer and Henni Alftan come to mind, for example, and in three dimensions, Genesis Belanger. So too is there a kinship with Laeh Glenn, whose immaculate, spare compositions tease the cliche of a vase and flower into a new space. A flower specimen is being mapped before our eyes, and the hybrid forms nod to Fantasia and genetic engineering — contemporary painting with one foot in the Jazz Age and another in the Digital. A rose is not necessarily a rose. ”
Oil on canvas, wood frame
43 1/4 x 35 1/4 inches
Presented by Altman Siegel Gallery
Analia Saban, Woven Angle Gradient as Weft, Fluorescent Orange (90°, 270°) #2, 2025.
“Argentinian-born, Los Angeles-based artist Analia Saban blurs the boundaries between textile, painting, and sculpture, expanding the possibilities of material application. Here, rather than applying paint to linen, she meticulously weaves strands of acrylic paint through the threads of the fabric. From afar, this work resembles a radiant minimalist painting, but upon closer inspection, its depth and complexity is revealed. A study in materiality and mathematics, Saban’s process deconstructs and reconstructs materials, redistributing their physical authority.”
Woven acrylic paint and linen thread
70-1/2 x 69-1/8 x 2 inches
Presented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Carolina Caycedo, Mercury Intensive, 2025.
“Carolina Caycedo is an LA-based multimedia artist whose work is rooted in environmental research. In a highly detailed drawing, Caycedo presents a figure holding the future of clean energy in their hands. Depicting vignettes of various labor, extraction, and energy conversion, Caycedo advocates for mercury extraction as an answer to meet our demand for clean energy. Caycedo’s commitment to scientific research and climate activism, combined with her exquisite handling of materials, helps with the visualization of climate change in an innovative way.”
Colored pencil, aluminum leaf on paper, walnut frame
35 x 35 in.
Presented by Commonwealth and Council
Robert Mapplethorpe, Calla Lilly, 1988.
“My choice for Frieze LA is this sublime Mapplethorpe Calla Lilly print presented by Gladstone Gallery. While most of us are probably familiar with this image (the Guggenheim collection holds a beautiful platinum print, for example) what is striking about this example is the large format of over 150 x 150 cm. The image is not compromised at this scale and exudes the sensuality we associate with Mapplethorpe in an elegant, ambiguous way. Gladstone has exclusive representation of the Mapplethorpe Estate so expect to see more of the best works from them in future. ”
60.24" x 60.24" x 2.64" (153 cm x 153 cm x 6.7 cm)
Silver gelatin print
Presented by Gladstone Gallery
Luc Tuymans, Portrait, 2000.
“Glasses are an apparatus of distortion—whether aiding vision, tinting the world, or serving as a means of concealment. Luc Tuymans, a true über-intellectual of contemporary painting, has repeatedly returned to the subject of glasses in his work. His 2000 painting Portrait, depicting a nameless woman, is based on a death announcement he found in the street. It stands as one of the finest examples of his work to reach the market in years. The distinct palette and composition are synonymous with Tuymans, and so is the use of found image, making this piece nothing short of a painterly spectacle!”
Oil on canvas
26 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches
67.3 x 39.4 cm
Presented by David Zwirner
Donna Huanca, Sueno neurologio, 2024.
“I first encountered Donna Huanca’s work a few years ago through her performances—vivid bursts of color, visually striking and an uninhibited celebration of the body. That same electrifying energy carries over into her canvases, which captivate with their freshness and aesthetic intensity. Her layered surfaces are built upon images of bodies photographed during her performances, printed onto canvas and then transformed through overpainting. I’m drawn to her work for the way it captures the ever-shifting, fluid nature of both the human body and the world around us.”
180 x 132 cm (70.87 x 51.97 inch)
oil and sand on digital print on canvas
Presented by Sean Kelly
Lily Stockman, Roman Window, 2025.
“Roman Window is a beautifully rendered balancing act, showcasing LA based-painter Lily Stockman's meticulous pairing of glowing swaths of color, anchored within the framework of a strong geometric composition. Upon closer viewing, the presence of Lily's own hand reveals itself slowly in the delicate application of paint. The magic is in the details: shadow, color transitions, and nuance of line. I admire Lily's embrace of art history, while boldly claiming her own space within the formal language of abstraction. Roman Window is a stunning example of Lily's work, whether an initial introduction to her practice, or as an existing fan! ”
84 × 62 inches
Presented by Massimo de Carlo Gallery
