When major art fairs like Art Basel and Frieze take root in a city, alternative art fair models often emerge. This February, Santa Monica Post Office, a new alternative fair, will launch in Los Angeles, running concurrently with Frieze Los Angeles and Felix Art Fair.
Running from February 20th to 22nd, Santa Monica Post Office takes its name from its venue—a 1938 art deco post office just minutes from Santa Monica Beach. Spearheaded by Los Angeles gallerist Chris Sharp, the event aims to simplify the art fair experience, focusing on solo presentations and reducing participant costs.
Santa Monica Post Office 2025 will feature 25 galleries, many of which hail from Los Angeles, including Chris Sharp Gallery and Michael Benevento. Other participating galleries are traveling from cities across the globe, including San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Milan, and Tokyo. A highlight of the fair will be Sprüth Magers’s presentation of work by the late American artist Kaari Upson.
Sharp recently organized an art fair alternative called Place des Vosges in Paris. Named after the Parisian square where it was located, the exhibition was held during Art Basel Paris in October. The 2024 event featured eight galleries, including Corbett vs. Dempsey from Chicago and Linn Lühn from Düsseldorf.
With participation fees set at $2,000 for project spaces and $6,000 for galleries—considerably lower than those of its larger counterparts—Santa Monica Post Office will give galleries another space to showcase work during a major week for Los Angeles.
The full list of participating galleries is as follows:
- 4649
- Babst Gallery
- Castle
- Chris Sharp Gallery
- Cooper Cole
- Cruise Control
- Ehrlich Steinberg
- Et al.
- Good Weather
- House of Seiko
- Kayokoyuki
- King’s Leap
- Laurel Gitlen
- Lomex
- Louis Reed
- Michael Benevento
- Overduin & Co.
- P.P.O.W.
- Roland Ross
- Sprüth Magers
- Tanya Leighton Gallery
- Theta
- Tomio Koyama Gallery
- Tureen
- The Untitled Love
- ZERO…
