Expert Eye: Amanda Sroka’s Frieze Los Angeles favourites

Amanda Sroka, the senior curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, has been a fundamental part of the museum’s recent evolution from a local, non-collecting institution into a cutting-edge contemporary kunsthalle. During her tenure at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she co-organised the institution’s first artist room dedicated to a woman, Marisa Merz—the only female member of the Italian Arte Povera movement—and spearheaded Senga Nengudi: Topologies, the largest travelling show at the museum ever dedicated to a Black woman artist. Trained at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, under the art historian Sarah Wilson, Sroka’s abiding interest in global conceptual practices has informed her expansive curatorial outlook. The museum's current show, Scientia Sexualis, is on view until 2 March.

During Frieze Los Angeles’s VIP preview, Sroka shared some of her favourite works.

Maia Cruz Palileo

Spotted Aspin (2024)

David Kordansky

“So much of the imagery comes from their own family archive in the Philippines or from mining anthropological archives as a means of unpacking the colonial history of this place. There’s such a distinct relationship between this place and the Pacific Rim, so this painting has a kind of familiarity and a sensitivity to place.”

Candice Lin

Transition Demon (2023)

François Ghebaly

“There’s a slipperiness and a humour to Candice’s work, a reference to the demonic and animalistic in humanity. She pushes the field of ceramics both in her practice and as a teacher at the University of California, Los Angeles.”

Ozzie Juarez

Anoranza (Yearning) (2025)

Charlie James

“Ozzie is from South Central Los Angeles and is making references to the cultural histories of South Central and Mexico. It’s such an important honouring of LA’s history. He used to be a scene painter at Disneyland, so there’s both a playfulness and darkness to his work.”

Saif Azzuz

Portraits of Friends installation (2025)

Anthony Meier

“What I love about this is how the artist brings in his own Indigenous heritage and his cultural experience with Islamic religion; he’s often using and making reference to the landscape as a way to talk about memory, history and time.”

Roksana Pirouzmand

Sinking in a Kneeling Position (2024)

Dastan

“This is a Los Angeles-based artist originally from Iran; the mould is actually from her own body, in a posture of prayer or of rest. This image on the top is of two bodies, almost like a landscape. The work is so beautiful, because it’s both so personal and speaks to universal feelings of desire and despair.”

Tanya Aguiñiga

Sexy Fruit (2025)

Ambos Project

“This is a booth dedicated to Ambos (Art Made Between Opposite Sides). The fruits here are ceramic! They were made as part of a collaboration with Ambos and Frieze, teaching art to LGBTQ+ asylum seekers at the border. It’s amazing to have a project here that brings awareness to the realities of life for that population.”

Lidia Lisbôa

Untitled, from the Cupinzeiro series(2014-22)

Almeida & Dale

“These are a reference to termite mounds in the more rural parts of Brazil, where the artist is from. These sculptures speak to her own personal experience of navigating difficult situations.”

Kelly Akashi

Wedged Life Forms (Opaline) (2024)

Lisson

“Kelly is often working across multiple materials, and the hands depicted in the work are also her hands. She also has an amazing solo show at this gallery right now; her work is a glimpse into the fragility and resilience of the moment.”