The fifth edition of the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles (on view from February 29 to March 3) will welcome the presence of 95 galleries from 21 countries, with 13 of these galleries showing at Frieze L.A. for the first time. With this level of stylistic and regional range in mind, the Cut has collected a group of ten women artists — working across cultures, identities, ages, and mediums — who are exhibiting work at this year’s fair, with the hope that zooming in on these creators will make the labyrinth of art on display a little easier to navigate. Whether these artists are emerging or have already eased into a level of established recognition, they are all complicating and beautifying the human experience in ways uniquely their own, making strong statements with work worth taking a closer look at this year.
Claudia Keep’s paintings celebrate the beauty of everyday life
Painter Claudia Keep’s treatment of the quotidian is an artful reminder to appreciate life’s simplicity without compromising the poignant quality of real-life details and the power of mood. At this year’s fair, her work will be part of a group show from Parker Gallery; Keep’s paintings are striking in their ability to represent moments frozen in time that ask the viewer to just see, rather than meditate on a larger narrative that may or may not be all that essential to feel and understand the painting. Her renderings of objects (teacups, rock collections) and scenes (a rainy night in Los Angeles, a spider spinning its web) are achieved from studying photographs, which gives each painting a precise level of realism. Keep’s painting of an unmade bed of white sheets, featured in the winter 2023 issue of The Paris Review, exemplifies the subtle power of looking at moments created by humans in motion.
