Wellness Expert Anna Zahn’s Best of LA Art Week 2026

Anna Zahn, the Founder of Ricari Studios, knows a thing or two about the city of Los Angeles. It’s where she lived during some of her most formative years, founded her wellness company, and explored culture’s most dynamic offerings—from art and design spaces to atmospheres filled with poetry, fitness, cuisine, fashion, and more. 

Today, Ricari Studios operates in Los Angeles, New York, London, Grand Cayman, and St. Moritz, and is gearing up to launch a sixth outpost in Miami. Its spaces are renowned for hosting touch-meets-tech treatments, starting with guests getting into a “second skin” bodysuit before enjoying rejuvenating massage methods carried out on Italian Icoone devices, stimulating blood circulation and muscle recovery, releasing stagnation, reducing inflammation, and activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Partnerships with beauty brands like Costa Brazil and Chanel have joined Ricari’s hotel partnerships, too—such as those with The Peninsula London, The Peninsula Beverly Hills, and Palm Heights in Grand Cayman. Most recently, Ricari Studios launched its first product—the Essential Compression Socks, perfect for everyday use or when globe-trotting from fair to fair.

Ahead of its Miami opening, Anna Zahn toured Frieze LA—where she was struck by a Friedrich Kunath painting, shown by Pace Gallery—and shared her favorite spots around town with Whitewall.

WHITEWALL: Where do you find inspiration in Los Angeles? 

ANNA ZAHN: By saying yes and venturing out. Go to the dinner party where you barely know anyone. Say yes to the poetry reading all the way out in Malibu. (I just did this.) Attend the screening, gallery opening, concert, meditation, and dance party. Check out the record shops, bookstores, gardens, museums. Venture out into the vast landscapes LA offers, because LA can surprise you if you let it. It’s an enormous city with an immense amount to discover. The traffic is atrocious, yes, but take it as an opportunity to listen to an entire album top to bottom and enjoy the ride.

“Venture out into the vast landscapes LA offers, because LA can surprise you if you let it.”

-Anna Zahn.

WW: Favorite places to see art? 

AZ: The obvious but honest answer is LACMA—not simply because I love the institution, but because I have shared some beautiful memories and powerful experiences with art there. Richard Serra‘s “Band” I return to like my LA monolith. Outdoor jazz concerts, delicious dates, glamorous events, and every visit I always discover something new that leaves a lasting impression.

I also love MOCA‘s permanent collection, particularly the Rothko room, which creates a 360 degree immersion in his work that is worth the trip alone. 

Pace Gallery on La Brea is one of the most beautiful gallery spaces in the city. It’s worth visiting just to experience the space itself, aside from the incredible art. And if you’re lucky enough to catch the permanent Turrell Skyspace open, it is truly awe-inspiring.

A bit outside the city, the Noguchi Garden in Costa Mesa is an experience well worth the trip. Noguchi is an artist who deeply inspires me, and this serene sculptural landscape tucked between corporate high-rises is like the secret garden of my dreams. 

WW: Best neighborhood vibe? 

AZ: It used to be Venice, where I lived for over a decade, and experienced many a vibe, but that now feels in my past. Today I find myself circulating around different areas in Los Angeles – exploring new vibes. I’ve been spending more time in Larchmont, Highland Park, Pasadena, and Silver Lake to name a few.  I love rediscovering different parts of the city. 

WW: Best kept secret? 

AZ: I can keep a secret, but I’m not one to gatekeep. Tony Duquette was Hollywood’s most extravagant designer—sets, costumes, interiors, jewelry and beyond—from the 1940s through the ’90s. His work spans sets for Fred Astaire during the golden age of MGM to creating pieces for Tom Ford at Gucci in his eighties. Duquette’s legendary Dawnridge estate in Beverly Hills is hands down one of the best kept secrets in LA. A maximalist fever dream that feels completely otherworldly and captures everything about the Hollywood fantasy that LA is known for. 

WW: Best meal? 

AZ: Matsuhisa.

Anna Zahn’s 24 Hours in Los Angeles

When in LA, I find myself returning to the experiences that feel categorically Los Angeles. Though I could paint many different “best 24 hours” paths, this would hit all the marks.  

Morning: Enjoying a homemade smoothie with fresh ingredients from the farmers market, followed by a hike. I don’t have one favorite but I love Fryman Canyon, Griffith, or for a bit of a Los Angeles freak show, Runyon is always fun. 
Noon: Olympic Spa in Koreatown. Women only, no phones, no frills. I’ll steam, soak, sauna, and finish with a full body scrub. It’s one of those places that has no interest in being fashionable and is all the better for it. A few hours there and I’m practically a new person. 
Night: Dressing up and meeting friends at a stereotypical LA classic: Tower Bar, Polo Lounge, Bar Marmont, SVB to name a few. Or if I feel like a little more spectacle, a night at Vibrato in Bel Air—an iconic jazz supper club built by Herb Alpert. 

The Best of Los Angeles with Anna Zahn

1. LACMA

“At LACMA, “SUEÑO PERRO” raises the curtain on a film installation by Alejandro G. Iñárritu that reconsiders cinema as a physical and spatial medium. Created in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Amores Perros (2000), the installation draws from an archive rarely seen: more than a million feet of footage removed during the film’s original edit. These fragments—untethered from plot or sequence—are projected through an array of 35mm machines, forming a shifting field of image and sound. Memories of Mexico City gathered across decades surface and recede, creating a portrait built from accumulation rather than narrative. “SUEÑO PERRO” focuses on what was left behind, treating discarded footage as material with its own presence and duration.” -Whitewall

2. Dawnridge Estate

“Legendary designer Tony Duquette’s Dawnridge estate in Beverly Hills remains one of the most imaginative private residences in the country—a maximalist fever dream layered with fantasy, theatricality, and Old Hollywood glamour. Built in 1949 by Duquette and his wife, Elizabeth, the home has experienced a renaissance under Hutton Wilkinson, Duquette’s protégé and successor, who has carefully preserved its exuberant spirit while ensuring its legacy endures for a new generation.” –Tony Duquette

3. Matsuhisa

“Nobu Matsuhisa means dining at its finest. His restaurants stretch across five continents, with over 40 locations across the globe. His food is enjoyed by millions of diners hungry for his innovative food and sleek atmosphere. His name is the springboard for this generation’s master chefs, who have gone on to open their own acclaimed eateries after their start under Nobu’s guidance. Yet every great movement has to start somewhere. For Nobu, it all began here. In 1987, the ambitious sushi chef opened his first restaurant in sunny Beverly Hills, bringing his inspired blend of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine to the public. When Matsuhisa’s doors first opened, a silhouette of Nobu was painted behind the sushi bar. The smoky grey profile of a 38 year old Nobu is still there 30 years later, and has become the logo to his ever expanding legacy. Although his flagship still retains the low key décor from day one, it is distinguished by its skilled staff and an enormous menu packed with peerless dishes. Matsuhisa not only represents dining at its finest, it is the foundation of a culinary empire that is still growing today.” –Matsuhisa