The Felix Art Fair began its life as a crusade to showcase the ingenuity of LA art amidst hardships and turmoil. Now, this year more than ever, the fair hopes to continue that mission and bring hope, empathy, and beauty to its hometown.
Since its debut in 2018, the Felix Art Fair has championed the Los Angeles community with a vibe that feels very much cut from the same cloth that the city itself is made of. The fair is uncharacteristically laid-back for an arts festival yet remains ferociously engaged with its audience. It brings people together to appreciate great art by local artists in a communal space, and this is what the directors of the fair find to be so important for LA right now. Mere weeks after the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires struck through the nearby Southern California neighborhoods, the Felix Art Fair affords everyone a chance to grieve and celebrate together.
The Felix Art Fair, along with numerous other coinciding arts festivals in LA, decided to continue with its initial plans despite the fires. This decision, borne from consultations with local arts stakeholders, highlighted its foundational principle: to be a fair for and by the L.A. community.
Local and Welcome
“The whole idea of the fair is to be welcoming,” Mills Morán, co-founder of Felix and Los Angeles gallery Morán Morán, told Artsy. “This wasn’t a decision we made unilaterally. This was feedback from everyone in the arts community—from art workers to artists, gallerists, and fabricators. Everybody was overwhelmingly in favor of pushing forward with a week like this. This is the first moment where people are going to be together.”
On February 19th, at 11 a.m., the fair’s seventh edition opened its doors to an anxious and excited crowd at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for its VIP day. This year’s edition of the fair hosts more than 60 exhibitors within the poolside cabanas surrounding the hotel’s iconic David Hockney–designed pool and the suites on the 11th and 12th floors.
Among the celebrity attendees was everyone from pop star Troye Sivan to award-winning actor Henry Winkler to actress and art connoisseur Julia Fox.
The fair’s emphasis on its locality was immediately apparent as visitors entered the lobby of the hotel, where LA AYUDA Network was presenting “Foundations.” The benefit exhibition featured more than 100 artist-made stones and ephemera meant to symbolize the local community. These stones were priced on a sliding scale between $125 and $500, with all proceeds prepped to be donated to underresourced communities.
Art Featured
Local stalwart Nicodim is among the galleries circling the pool. According to the gallery’s partner, Ben Lee Ritchie Handler, the poolside cabana features a “smorgasbord of our best and brightest.” At the center of the booth is Isabelle Albuquerque’s Sunflower (2024), a delicate bronze flower sprouted from a piece of Pacific live oak. Scattered throughout the booth are humanoid stoneware sculptures by L.A.-based artist Stanley Edmondson. Works in the booth are priced between $5,000 and $45,000.
Sales took off quickly for the gallery. “The vibes are off the charts. Business is great,” said Handler. “We actually had three collectors that we told no holds [on a particular piece by Devin B. Johnson]. We had three people running to the booth at 11 a.m. to come in, and the people that didn’t get the painting they wanted got other things.”
Johnson’s sought-after piece, A Curious Shade Fell Upon Thy Brother’s Countenance (2025), sparked a rush of eager collectors, with the first to arrive securing it.
Art for the Community
Handler emphasized the importance of recognizing Los Angeles’s resolve as an arts community.
“It’s really easy to get jaded in this business, but when something like that happens, it reminds you why we do it,” said Handler. “Everybody that comes here has realized that we don’t need charity. We need energy, and people have really brought that.”
“Even if we were worried about it being light foot traffic, it felt important to be part of it and show that in solidarity, that we’re still here,” said Mulrooney. “Art unites. It brings people together. It’s a common place to discuss feelings and thoughts and also to lean in and talk about grief.”
Overcoming numerous hurdles, from recent events to instances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have helped to shape Felix into what it is today, he reflected. “I never thought I’d see seven, and I could totally see 10,” he told Artsy. “It’s become a discovery fair for me at this point. You’re here to discover.”
