5 Must-See Artists at Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles This Weekend

This weekend marks the third iteration of Felix Art Fair founded by collector Dean Valentine and dealers Al and Mills Morán. The contemporary art fair, hosted at the storied Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, includes 29 local Los Angeles galleries featuring only the brightest talent on the contemporary art scene. 

For this weekend only, the Roosevelt’s chic poolside rooms have transformed into unique and intimate gallery settings that enable visitors to imagine what it just might be like to live with the art on view. Visitors may find themselves dreaming of a world in which they wake up in a bed by artist Sterling Ruby, brush their teeth alongside an impressively realistic painting by Victoria Gitman above the toilet and enjoy their morning coffee on the patio while spritzed by an artist-designed aerator with water imported from Positano, Italy. Situated in this distinctly domestic setting, the fair brings art lovers closer to the works and artists themselves, and perhaps more importantly, as one of the first art fairs to open to visitors in a not quite, post-pandemic world, reminds us of the value and joy of experiencing works first hand.  

Wondering what to see this weekend? Here we’ve rounded up five of our favorite artists to catch:

Sara Issakharian⁣. Dreamers Dreaming Red Tones, 2021⁣. Acrylic, oil pigment, pastel on canvas⁣. 165.1×193 cm⁣ 65×76 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton.

1. Sara Issakharian at Tanya Leighton  

There are a handful of not-to-be-missed works by Iranian-born artist Sara Issakharian on view at Tanya Leighton, a Berlin-based gallery with a satellite space in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles artist’s energetic, bright and imaginative pieces demand close inspection as they ride the line between abstraction and figuration, the seen and unseen, as well as darkness and light. Tanya Leighton will debut Issakharian’s work at Art Basel in September 2021, prior to her first solo exhibition in Los Angeles shortly after. 

Sharif Farrag, Juggler Jug, 2021. Photo by Paul Salveson. Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly Gallery.

2. Sharif Farrag at François Ghebaly

California-native Sharif Farrag’s wildly imaginative, anthropomorphic vessels at François Ghebaly are as mesmerizing as they are inventive. Simultaneously monstrous and beautiful, it’s difficult to not spend at least a good chunk of time admiring the complexities and intricacies of his work. Hot tip: be sure not to miss the surprise works hiding in the closet.  

3.  Ludovic Nkoth at François Ghebaly

Cameroon-born, New York based artist Ludovic Nkoth’s expressionistic portraits of Black subjects map the emotional complexities of diasporic life and history. Often, for Nkoth, these subjects are his family members, using painting as a highly personal investigation of what it means to be first generation African-Americans and immigrants in the United States. 

Fiona Connor, Untitled (Broom), 2019. Bronze. 61.38 x 26 x 4.75 in / 155.9 x 66 x 12.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Chateau Shatto.

4. Fiona Connor at Chateau Shatto 

Forcing us to consider notions of hierarchy and invisibility with regards to the working class, artist Fiona Connor uses bronze to bring into permanence the rudimentary objects that typically disappear before an exhibition has opened. Originally created as part of the exhibition Closed for Installation at SculptureCenter, Untitled Broom (2019) bears a message that translates to any gallery setting, claiming physical space for the work that goes unseen and the voices frequently left out of the art world.  

Jessie Homer French. Baxter at the Studio. Courtesy the artist and Various Small Fires.

5. Jessie Homer French at Various Small Fires 

A self-proclaimed “regional narrative painter,” Jessie Homer French’s works at Various Small Fires are deceivingly sweet. While her flat colors and simplified forms evoke the charm of outsider art, French is fascinated by the dark realities of rural living in California and often present in her sardonic scenes are a darker narrative lying beneath the surface. 

The Felix Art Fair continues through Sunday, August 1. Please visit https://felixfair.com for tickets.