Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1529602
C O U R T E S Y O F O L I V E R OT T E N S C H L ÄG E R , C H R I S T I N E S U N K I M , S EC E S S I O N , F R A N Ç O I S G H E B A LY G A L L E R Y A N D W H I T E S PAC E ; O R I O L TA R R I DA S ; J O H N & A L I C E C O LT R A N E H O M E ; C A S E Y K E L B AU G H A N D F R I E Z E Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the show reveals Sherald's ability to evoke the sublime within her figures, pushing forward conversations on identity, race, and the shared human experience. FOG Design + Art, January 23–26, 2025 This year, FOG Design + Art fair celebrated its 10-year anniversary. It was a time to look back at the eclectic reputation the event has earned for its focus on technological ingenuity and its playful mix of local patrons, curious newcomers, and FOG devotees. The latter group, in recent years, has grown, lending the fair that spans collectible design and art an urgency. Now, as it enters its second decade, FOG is making big moves to support its growing fan base, including appointing Sydney Blumenkranz as the fair's inaugural director. Los Angeles Felix Art Fair; Frieze Los Angeles, February 19–23, 2025 Never do LA's bonafides as an art capital shine more than in February, when the awards season and Frieze Los Angeles converge. As the unofficial anchor for the week, Frieze sets the agenda, drawing folks westward for VIP previews. Then, it's time for satellites like the beloved Felix Art Fair, a hotel-based art fair with a punk attitude that takes over The Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. It is the perfect place to pick up a unique souvenir (a small sculpture or painting, perhaps?) before retiring for a well-deserved martini down the street at Musso & Franks Grill. Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner, opening February 18, 2025 One of the most celebrated female painters of our time, Lisa Yuskavage makes her first major LA exhibition in many years for David Zwirner's sparkling new West Coast headquarters. Since her Yale School of Art days, Yuskavage has created a whole world, with idiosyncratic feminine figures whose protruding breasts and stomachs dramatize an idealized female form. Often erotically charged, her characters toy with the art history canon, simultaneously upending our desires and expectations. Alice Coltrane at the Hammer Museum, February 9–May 4, 2025 Relive the spirit and sound of Alice Coltrane at "Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal," arriving at the Hammer Museum just in time for Frieze Los Angeles. This biographical exhibition blends Coltrane's personal archive—handwritten sheet music, unreleased recordings, and rare videos— with works by contemporary artists like Jennie C. Jones and Bethany Collins. Through video, installation, and performance, visitors will explore themes of spiritual transcendence, sonic innovation, and healing that celebrate the musician's lasting cultural legacy. New York "Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now" at The Met, through February 17, 2025 Discover how Ancient Egypt has inspired generations of Black artists in this monumental exhibition. Spanning nearly 150 years, the show features around 200 works by well-known names like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Chase-Riboud, and Kara Walker, in dialogue with The Met's antiquities. The show explores themes of identity and historical contributions. For the first time in the Met's history, this includes embracing performance with a gallery devoted to live action. Christine Sun Kim at the Whitney Museum of American Art, opening February 8, 2025 An artist, performer, and activist, Christine Sun Kim illuminates deaf culture and the complexities of communication through her art, humor, and unique perspective. Explore Kim's world in "All Day All Night," her first major museum survey, co-organized by the Whitney Museum and Walker Art Center. This exhibition puts together all of Kim's innovative works from sound and language, including drawings, murals, and video installations. Paul Mpagi Sepuya at Bortolami, opening January 10 LA-based photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya makes his triumphant return to New York in January, with a marquee show at Bortolami gallery. Once a rising star and now at the height of his powers, Sepuya has become a tentpole of contemporary photography, appearing in collections and survey shows from coast to coast. His work plays with the physical realities of the medium itself to access the nuances of building images and identities. Installation view of "Christine Sun Kim: Cues on Point" (Secession, Vienna, February 17–April 16, 2023), coming to New York's Whitney Museum in February. CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Installation view of "Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides," at PAMM; David Kordansky's booth at Frieze Los Angeles, 2024; Alice Coltrane, circa 1995.