For the 2025 edition of Frieze Los Angeles, MASSIMODECARLO presents a booth dedicated entirely to artists who call the city home, offering a gesture of solidarity following recent difficult weeks for the community. The presentation centered on two distinct focal points: the sensorial, dreamlike worlds of Ariana Papademetropoulos and the urgent, raw abstraction of Spencer Lewis. Complementing these were works by other leading LA-based artists, including Ferrari Sheppard’s fluid portraits, Lily Stockman’s organic biomorphic forms, and Austyn Weiner’s bold chromatic gestures. Together, the presentation celebrates the city’s vibrant, diverse, and ever-evolving artistic landscape.
Ariana Papademetropoulos (b. 1990, Los Angeles) is a Los Angeles-based painter known for blending hyperrealism with dreamlike, surreal tableaux. Her work explores themes of mythology, femininity, and Jungian archetypes, often referencing medieval and Renaissance iconography reimagined through a contemporary lens. A graduate of CalArts with additional study at Berlin’s Universität der Künste, Papademetropoulos creates portals to fantastical, psychologically charged worlds. Her exhibition history spans the U.S. and Europe, with shows at venues like Vito Schnabel Gallery, Jeffrey Deitch, Galerie Max Hetzler, and Manifesta. In 2014, she co-curated the influential Veils exhibition at Los Angeles’s Underground Museum. Papademetropoulos shared with us her favorites from Frieze.
Courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
Courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
WHITEWALL: Can you tell us about your work that was on view at Frieze LA with Massimo de Carlo?
ARIANA PAPADEMETROPOULOS: For the past five years, I have been documenting my conversations with my psychic, Wendy. In the booth, we placed a shell- shaped telephone booth from a casino that allowed visitors to listen to these recordings, where Wendy enters my “painting field” and describes the visions of work I am about to create.
The telephone acts as portal, where the audio provides a visual to let you imagine the work. In addition, I made two new works inspired by the recordings. The paintings are both hallucinatory domestic scenes.
WW: Did you visit the fair? What were some highlights for you?
AP: Ambera Wellman did a solo booth with Company and Hauser & Wirth, and her paintings in person are truly breathtaking- rare to see that kind of work at a fair.
Ariana Papademetropoulos’ Favorites from Frieze
Courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
WW: Any discoveries?
AP: There was an exhibition of Mike Kelley’s photographs at Manual Arts which is a project space run by Alex Perweiler. It’s in this old Hustler Magazine building , and the carpeted office space was an ideal environment for the photographs.
WW: What were some of the exhibitions you visited that made an impact last week?
AP: Helmut Lang Exhibition at Schindler House and Kelly Akashi at Lisson.
Best Party in Los Angeles During Frieze
Courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
Courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
WW: What was the overall vibe during LA art week?
AP: Amityville exhibition curated by Jed Moch hosted by Lorraine Nicholson in a home in the Hollywood Hills. Most fun party and beautiful work.
WW: Any best moments or surprises of art week?
AP: A Nigerian porn director who makes “traditional wedding porn” showed me his porn set in Rosie Marks’ new book at a party Brazzer’s hosted for Rosie. He was great.
Installation view of Helmut Lang, courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
Installation view at Manual Arts, courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
Work by Ambera Wellman, courtesy of Ariana Papademetropoulos.
