Frieze Los Angeles Week has become more than a fair—it is a citywide convergence of artists, curators, institutions, and collectors who shape the evolving narrative of contemporary art on the West Coast. From museum openings and gallery dinners to late-night gatherings that blur Hollywood, design, and serious contemporary practice, the energy extends far beyond the fairgrounds. At the center of it all are the collectors whose vision and patronage sustain the ecosystem year-round. This year, Whitewall turns its focus to three leading Los Angeles collectors whose approaches reflect the city’s layered cultural landscape.
Artist, designer, and curator Zehra Ahmed builds a contemporary collection rooted in dialogue and experimentation, guided by curiosity and lived experience. Physician and entrepreneur Dr. Jon Quach views collecting as long-term stewardship, centering identity, material exploration, and cultural memory within Los Angeles’ evolving art history. Financial services executive Ayesha Selden foregrounds African American painters—particularly women—while pairing acquisitions with meaningful institutional patronage.
Together, their collections reveal a shared commitment: to artists, to community, and to the cultural future of Los Angeles.
Ayesha Selden
Financial Services Executive
Ayesha Selden, photo by Jorge Meza.
Who: Financial Services Executive and contemporary art collector committed to patronage and institutional engagement.
Focus: Contemporary, centering on African American painters—particularly women—shaping dialogue around color and light.
Location: Los Angeles, CA, and Houston, TX.
Began Collecting: 5 years ago.
First Piece: Robert Moore.
Most Recent: Gordon Parks, Drinking Fountains, Mobile, Alabama, 1956.
Instagram: @ayeshaselden
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
AYESHA SELDEN: I’m excited about commissioning Jas Knight, a Brooklyn-based painter, to come to my Los Angeles home and create two paintings from life, requiring hours of sitting over a week or so, but will be worth the investment of time. He’s a masterful painter.
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
AS: Go see a lot of art and read as much as you can on the subject. When traveling, try to hit museums in as many countries as you can. There are scores of collection catalogues that offer invaluable insight.
WW: What are you looking forward to most at Frieze LA?
AS: I’m most looking forward to seeing the pulse of the current art market. I’ve already started attending events, and the energy feels good.
“I’m continually inspired by the breadth of Alteronce’s practice,”
—Ayesha Selden
WW: What are the exhibitions in LA you won’t miss?
AS: I’m looking forward to seeing collector Eileen Harris Norton’s show at Hauser & Wirth, “Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985” at The Getty, and Raymond Saunders at David Zwirner.
WW: Who is the artist you’re most excited about right now?
AS: I recently came on board to support Alteronce Gumby’s second documentary on Color. I’m continually inspired by the breadth of Alteronce’s practice.
Zehra Ahmed
Artist, Designer & Curator
Zehra Ahmed, photo by Kobe Wagstaff.
Who: Artist, Designer & Curator based in Los Angeles.
Focus: Contemporary.
Location: Los Angeles, CA.
Began Collecting: 10 years ago.
First Piece: A sketch by Hiba Schahbaz.
Most Recent: Aryana Minai + Rabia Akhtar.
Instagram: @zehrahmed
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
ZEHRA AHMED: Gather by Maddy Inez, glazed eeramic, 2025.
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
ZA: Look at a lot of art. Read and research art, old and new. Speak to artists and learn about who, why, and what informs your opinions and taste.
WW: What are you looking forward to most at Frieze LA?
ZA: Running into friends all day long and exchanging notes. I love looking at the art, but this is the one time in LA that everyone is truly in the same space.
WW: What are the exhibitions in LA you won’t miss?
ZA: “Destiny is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection” at Hauser & Wirth DTLA, Isabel Rower at Marta
“What a Wonderful World” presented by the Julia Toschek Foundation at the Variety Arts Theater, “Everything was once something else” by Roksana Pirouzmand at Oxy Arts and JOAN, “Speaking with the Same Tongue: Tarini Sethi” and “Weird Fishes” by Sahana Ramakrishnan at Rajiv Menon Contemporary.
“Read and research art, old and new. Speak to artists,”
—Zehra Ahmed
WW: Who is the artist you’re most excited about right now?
ZA: Roksana Pirouzmand.
Dr. Jon Quach
Physician and Entrepreneur
Dr. Jon Quach.
Who: Los Angeles–based physician and entrepreneur focused on complex care and addiction medicine.
Focus: A contemporary collection centered on identity, material exploration, and cultural memory.
Location: Los Angeles, California.
Began Collecting: Nearly a decade ago.
First Piece: A print by Emory Douglas, acquired at the LA Art Show at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles approximately ten years ago.
Most Recent: A recent large work by WangShui.
Instagram: @jonquachh
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
DR. JON QUACH: I recently acquired a painting by Ana Segovia that interrogates masculinity and performance through a cinematic lens. I’m drawn to artists who challenge inherited narratives and recontextualize cultural memory—themes that resonate with my own lived experience. The work feels both introspective and historically grounded.
The piece was also considered for inclusion in the Venice Biennale, which was deeply meaningful to me. I didn’t come from a collecting family, so the idea that a work in my care might participate in that kind of international dialogue felt significant—a reminder that patronage can extend beyond ownership into stewardship.
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
JQ: Collect what challenges you, not what matches your sofa. Spend time with artists and galleries, ask questions, and build relationships slowly.
I often think about Poor Collector’s Guide to Buying Great Art—I read it several times when I was obsessed and didn’t have much money to spend—the idea that you don’t need immense resources to build something meaningful. What matters is attention, curiosity, and conviction. Spend time looking. Listen and ask advice from people in the community who know a lot more than you do. Let your collection reflect your taste, not the market cycle.
“Let your collection reflect your taste, not the market cycle.”
—Dr. Jon Quach
WW: What are you looking forward to most at Frieze LA?
JQ: Frieze LA is unique because it sits at the intersection of Hollywood, design, and serious contemporary art. I’m most excited about the way Frieze activates Los Angeles beyond the fair itself. It’s a moment when galleries, institutions, curators and artists intersect in a concentrated way—from museum programming to off-site gatherings and community-driven projects by Los Angeles–based artists.
I’m especially interested in seeing how artists rooted in LA engage their local communities, whether through education initiatives, cross-disciplinary collaborations, or reinterpreting the city’s layered cultural histories.
Every year, I look forward to the World Series of Art Poker (WSOAP) by Jonas Wood. The event brings together artists, streetwear and apparel tastemakers, collectors, and curators within one shared community. I play every year and, despite my best efforts, have yet to win—but like collecting, it rewards patience, conviction, and a tolerance for risk.
WW: What are the exhibitions in LA you won’t miss?
DJQ: I’m especially looking forward to programming at the Julia Stoschek Foundation, MOCA Monuments at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and The Brick and Canary Test in Downtown—spaces that feel closely tied to the city’s experimental and community-driven energy.
And of course,Made in L.A. at the Hammer Museum remains essential. It’s one of the most important institutional platforms for artists working in Los Angeles today and offers a meaningful snapshot of where the city’s artistic dialogue is headed.
In terms of commercial galleries, Los Angeles continues to distinguish itself through spaces that operate with strong curatorial identities. François Ghebaly consistently brings rigorous international dialogue into the city. Sea View and Chris Sharp Gallery offer sharp, conceptually driven programs that feel deeply embedded in contemporary discourse.
Spaces such as Hoffman Donahue, ATLA, Château Shatto, Bel Ami, and Night Gallery each contribute distinct perspectives—whether through historical reframing, emerging voices, or strong painterly programs. I try not to miss any of the shows they put on.
WW: Who is the artist you’re most excited about right now?
JQ: I’m especially excited about Kelly Akashi. Her ability to hold fragility and permanence in tension—particularly through glass, bronze, and organic forms—feels both materially rigorous and emotionally resonant. There’s a quiet intensity in her work that continues to unfold over time.
I’m also deeply interested in Roberto Gil de Montes. His paintings carry a powerful sense of identity, intimacy, and West Coast art history. The way he navigates cultural memory and figuration feels increasingly relevant, especially within the broader context of Los Angeles’ evolving artistic narrative.
