{"id":302663,"date":"2026-02-17T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/302663\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:54:10","slug":"no-queuing-please-how-to-keep-art-world-vips-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/302663\/","title":{"rendered":"No queuing please! How to keep art world VIPs happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art fair season is in full swing. Events in the next few weeks include Frieze LA (February 26-March 1), Arco Madrid (March 4-8) and Tefaf Maastricht (March 14-19), following the past month\u2019s coinciding Art Basel Qatar (February 5-7), 1-54 Marrakech (February 5-8) and Delhi\u2019s India Art Fair (February 6-9).<\/p>\n

A private jet presumably helps ease some of the logistics but, for most VIPs, such dates are mostly meaningless. In-crowd events, including museum tours and art-fair openings, are organised before the official public dates, while VIPs can also ignore any ticket prices as their entry to all is free.<\/p>\n

Preloaded programming is the norm, with drinks and nibbles to keep the build-up mood high. In Los Angeles next week, Frieze\u2019s VIP events begin on the Monday before Thursday\u2019s official fair opening, with a private view (and cocktail) from the local artist Zenobia Lee of her exhibition at Sea View Gallery \u2014 ahead of a showing of her sculptures, made from materials that reflect Caribbean histories, which will be in the more business-like confines of the actual art fair.<\/p>\n

\"A\u2018Banana leaf as a case for modernity\u2019 (2025) by Zenobia Lee, which will be in the Focus section at Frieze LA 2026 \u00a9 Courtesy of the artist and Sea View Gallery \"ADetail from \u2018Poeisis\u2019 (2025), a sculpture by Zenobia Lee, also on display at Frieze\u2019s Focus section \u00a9 Courtesy of the artist and Sea View Gallery <\/p>\n

Frieze says that its VIP ticket holders account for more than 40 per cent of expected visitors to the Santa Monica fair, which last year recorded 30,000 total attendees, despite the city\u2019s recent and devastating wildfires. These included the likes of the actors Adrien Brody and Gwyneth Paltrow as well as Hollywood film and TV veterans Oliver Stone and James L Brooks. Art-collecting royalty was also out in force, including LA\u2019s Rosetta and Balthazar Getty, Miami\u2019s Jason and Michelle Rubell and Chicago\u2019s Gael Neeson.<\/p>\n

Fair organisers emphasise that an art world VIP isn\u2019t necessarily rich or famous. \u201cVIP can mean something very broad. It includes museums, collectors, art advisers, curators, foundations \u2014 everybody who\u2019s engaged in the art world in a meaningful way, who plays a role in the lives of the artists, the galleries and the museums,\u201d says Brooke Kanter, Frieze head of VIP, Americas. Rival fair group Art Basel seemed to be thinking along similar lines when it decided last year<\/a> to stop using the term \u201cVIP\u201d, opting instead for \u201ccollector and institutional relations\u201d to reflect the broader base.<\/p>\n

\"AdrienAdrien Brody at Frieze Los Angeles in February 2025 \u00a9 Casey Kelbaugh\/CKA\"OliverOliver Stone at last year\u2019s Frieze \u00a9 Nina Fernandez\/BFA.com<\/p>\n

Whatever they are known as, keeping them happy is something that art fairs take very seriously in an increasingly competitive industry. Persuading a gallery to exhibit at their shows, for a significant percentage of annual income and in straitened times, relies on bringing the right visitors, and buyers, to their booths. Frieze\u2019s VIP team numbers 37 (including consultants) and, while previously these were centralised and headed by one person (Kanter), they are now separated to serve the three regions \u2014 the Americas, Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa \u2014 to service Frieze\u2019s current roster of eight fairs.<\/p>\n

People wake up early in LA. They go for a hike, they get their Erewhon smoothie and then they come to the fair<\/p>\n

Christine Messineo, Frieze<\/p>\n

The move acknowledges too the regional differences among VIPs, including within the US. In Los Angeles, for example, \u201cpeople know that what we\u2019ve laid out takes into consideration traffic patterns and the timings of getting from one location to the next\u201d, says Christine Messineo, Frieze director of Americas. For instance, Tuesday\u2019s VIP activities are all in downtown LA \u2014 including visits to the Museum of Contemporary Art and The Broad \u2014 while Wednesday\u2019s circuit is more central. In New York, Messineo notes, \u201cthere\u2019s more independence, they don\u2019t need the itinerary as much\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"An\u2018The Controller\u2019 (2025) by Clare Woods, being shown by Night Gallery at Frieze LA \u00a9 Courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery, Los Angeles. Photography by Nik Massey.\"AnUntitled (2024) by Bosco Sodi, which will be at Olney Gleason\u2019s booth at Frieze this year \u00a9 Courtesy of Olney Gleason<\/p>\n

Angelenos trend earlier too. So, while Frieze\u2019s fairs in London, New York and Seoul have their first VIP entry at 11am, in Los Angeles this is at 10am. \u201cPeople wake up early in LA. They go for a hike, they get their Erewhon smoothie [a pricey viral hit] and then they come to the fair,\u201d Messineo says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frieze LA exhibitor David Maupin, the co-owner of Lehmann Maupin gallery who grew up in Los Angeles, finds differing attitudes when it comes to the art that VIPs want to see. \u201cIn LA, people are looking for new things, they particularly like discovery,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is a bit of a misconception that you see more stars and movie people [at a fair\u2019s opening] in LA, but you do get more agents, producers, people who are not recognisable but are part of Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their average spend tends to be lower than in the art market centre of New York, he says. The Lehmann Maupin booth at Frieze LA is anchored by works by the Venezuela-born Loriel Beltr\u00e1n, who is \u201ca younger artist, less expensive and a good entry point,\u201d Maupin says. Beltr\u00e1n\u2019s abstract works, which separate poured paint into panel-like layers creating a chromatic optical effect, are priced between $20,000 and $100,000 this week \u2014 though the gallery will also have pricier works from its programme (up to $300,000).<\/p>\n

\"An\u2018MLV (Fragments)\u2019 (2024-25) by Loriel Beltr\u00e1n, on display at the Lehmann Maupin booth \u00a9 Loriel Beltr\u00e1n. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul and London and Central Fine, Miami Beach<\/p>\n

At the heart of all activity is the VIP opening day of a fair, for which a balance needs to be struck between being buzzy and a pleasant experience. At Frieze London in 2022, some of its more discerning (and still social-distancing) VIPs found it too much of a crush, while also not enjoying having to queue to get in. Last October, Art Basel\u2019s Paris edition added an even more selective pre-VIP-day slot, called\u00a0Avant Premi\u00e8re, for the weightiest of spenders to have more space and time with gallery owners. This had the desired effect as multi-million-dollar sales were immediately reported back.<\/p>\n

Staggered openings go some way towards avoiding a crush and reflect a hierarchy of VIPs (the earlier the better). Art fair organisers are reluctant to define who gets into which slots, though eyewitness evidence at Frieze London suggests that its first visitors are those with the most influence and purchase power, such as museum directors, their patrons and curators as well as private collectors. To the last slot of the day (6pm) come more high-heeled fashionistas, primed to post an Instagram shot before dinner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fair organisers are keen for would-be VIPs to consider getting on board outside their annual events. \u201cWe find different moments for different audiences,\u201d Messineo says. Frieze runs a membership programme called Frieze Connect which offers talks, gallery tours and studio visits as well as \u201cpremier access\u201d to fairs (individual membership starts at \u00a3990 per year). Behind it all, Kater says, is an acknowledgment that, while the art fair is a convening point, \u201cwe don\u2019t think that the only thing people are doing in any city is coming to Frieze\u201d. Whenever they do, they will find that the art is the same all week \u2014 but the people on view will have changed.<\/p>\n

February 26-March 1, frieze.com<\/p>\n

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