Felix LA: A New Vintage-Inspired Art Fair for Los Angeles

A new art fair called Felix LA will launch in Los Angeles from February 13 to 17, 2019, coinciding with the inaugural Frieze Los Angeles and the existing Art Los Angeles Contemporary. The fair is the brainchild of Dean Valentine, a former television executive and collector who felt that large-scale fairs like the Armory Show had lost the intimate, fun atmosphere of earlier art events. Felix LA will be held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and will feature 35 small to mid-sized international galleries, in contrast to Frieze's 60 larger exhibitors. The fair draws inspiration from the early 1990s art scene, particularly the Gramercy International Contemporary Fair (founded in 1994 by dealers Colin de Land, Pat Hearn, Lisa Spellman, Matthew Marks, and Paul Morris), which took place in hotel rooms in New York and Los Angeles before its decline in 1998. Valentine promises lower participation costs for galleries, with dealers able to stay in the same spaces where they exhibit. The move is seen as bold given previous failed attempts by fairs like Paris Photo and FIAC to establish a foothold in Los Angeles. Valentine remains optimistic, stating, "The worst that can happen is that you'll have spent wonderful days by a pool in Los Angeles."