2023 Felix Art Fair

This is the second article of a Four Part series about the 2023 Los Angeles Art Week by Brooke Harker. The 2023 Felix Art Fair took place at the Roosevelt Hotel. Here are the rest of the articles – 1. An Artist’s Perspective, 3. Frieze & Spring/Break Art Fairs, 4. LA Art Show

2023 Felix Art Fair

I attended LA’s Art Week in February 2023 as well as three other art fairs. Here is look at the 2023 Felix Art Fair.

We all look at art as differently as we see the world. As an art collector and artist myself, I view art with a spirit of play and adventure. I’ve made a game of discovering art treasures that keeps me entertained and excited about what others create. It also prevents me from being overwhelmed as well as feeling obligated to look at everything. We each only have so many breaths to take in on the planet, so why not choose where you want to focus your energy?

*Hollywood Roosevelt pool – Felix Attendees arriving; photo by Kathy Leonardo; courtesy of ETG*

2023 Felix Art Fair Preview

My first stop on my 2023 Art Treasure Hunt was a preview of The Felix Art Fair. The iconic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel set the stage for art galleries to inhabit cabanas rooms around the pool. Additional art patrons waited in line to gain elevator access to visit suites on the eleventh and twelfth floors.

The dimly lit corridors of this historic venue offered a maze to follow. A multitude of surprises in each room greeted me. The galleries utilized every opportunity to display art within the suite. Art was hanging in walk in closets, showers, and also prominent positions above toilets. There is something very fun about this set up. Rooms in this hotel are already each different in structure. How often does one get to see so many unique rooms in such a famous hotel unless they work on the cleaning staff?

*Brooke Harker with Summer Office (56 x 44 oil on linen) by Keiran Brennan Hinton with Charles Moffett at FELIX;*

NY Galleries

The first painting to catch my attention was “Summer Office,” (56” x 44” – oil on linen) by Keiran Brennan Hinton. This work most notably beamed showcasing the artist’s ability to capture light. There was much to discover in brushstrokes with color so pure that there is something cleansing in looking at his work. Charles Moffett Gallery in New York represents the artist who is originally from Canada.

Next, I noticed, “Off the Table,” (44” x 60”- acrylic on PVC Panel) by Kristin Baker. Represented by James Fuentes Gallery in New York, her work was fluid in form. Additionally, it captured a luminescence in vibrant colors. It seemed to depict an abstraction of a table setting layered in a technique that I’d never seen before. As described by the gallery: “in a painterly process akin to collage, Kristin Baker assembles her largely abstract, light-infused paintings using squeegees and metal dry wall knives to manipulate successive layers of paint…” Kristin Baker’s work evoked a sense of curiosity in me with a spark of joy. This is a valuable state for an artwork to be able to draw people into.

LA Galleries

One might find themselves in a similar state of joy walking into a field of flowers or into a room adorned with the work of New York artist, Marc Dennis who brought the flowers in his large-scale floral work, “Everything” (80” x 48” -oil on linen) on exhibit with Gavlak Gallery out of Los Angeles and Palm Beach. His towering painting commanded attention where it hung between two large windows in the suite, and in a way formed a window itself that brimmed with evidence that Dennis’s paint brush had put on many miles to arrive at his skill level.

*Art viewer with “Everything” by Marc Dennis 80 x 48 at Gavlak Gallery, FELIX; photo by Brooke Harker; courtesy of ETG*

There is an ability in art to help viewers travel into a different state of being. This can be both a gift or seemingly a punishment depending on what is on display. I tend to value being transported to a state higher than my past tendencies to go into rabbit holes of over-thinking. So I especially appreciate art that transcends being lost in inner turmoil. This isn’t to suggest the omission of struggles and depth from artwork; this wouldn’t be possible as there is always duality in the creation process. What I refer to, is an energy that radiates out of artwork, regardless of what is embedded in the stories that motivated the art’s creation. This may be experiential and is certainly subjective.

Residency Art Gallery

The display that moved me the most at Felix occurred when I entered the suite occupied by the work of one artist represented by Residency Art Gallery out of Inglewood. The vivid paintings of LA based artist, Devon Tsuno felt like a breath of fresh air after being held under water. No photos I took captured the energy these paintings emitted. The presence of his creations extended, in my opinion, beyond their surfaces, and also enveloping the room with an air of magic and can only be experienced in person.

When I first saw Tsuno’s artworks, I was so amped up with gratitude for the joy I felt upon entering the force field of his collection. However, it was only later that I learned where his work stemmed from, and was even more affected. During this time, the United States relocated 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, including his grandfather, to concentration camps.

A time when 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry in the United States were relocated to concentration camps, including his grandfather.

As described by the gallery, “Tsuno’s paintings of agriculture serves as a record of the historical impact labor, beauty, migration and displacement had with the Japanese diaspora. Taking stories from his own family and working directly with the families of survivors, Tsuno paints abstract memories from their past and present. Tsuno’s new body of work is a rare historical look at labor as a means of survival and solidarity, celebrating the beauty of cultural preservation.”

Artist Devon Tsuno at the 2023 Felix Art Fair

In reading about this collection, tears formed in my eyes. In the moment of seeing Tsuno’s art, I wasn’t ready to take in the stories in a logical way. Tsuno let me keep the joyful state that bubbled up and told me he appreciated my enthusiasm. Gallery director Rick Garzon referred me to the QR code, when I asked for additional information about the art. This was perhaps the smartest thing he could have done. He let me walk away with the gift of how I felt around those paintings without an agenda to jar me with the horrors of history. Both the artist and gallery had a respect for the viewer in those moments which magnified my respect for them.

The energy of art speaks regardless of what our brains know. The senses pick up on the stories embedded in the paint, whether hidden or obvious. Frequency can’t be faked. Devon Tsuno’s art managed to transcend the heaviness of historical events, while paying tribute to the stories of those people without dragging viewers into a dark state of mind that art can help us escape from. In doing so, I believe Tsuno’s work gave a voice to so many, to the beauty of them. People are always more than what has happened to them.