This year’s Frieze Masters offered a beautiful juxtaposition of the natural and mechanic. Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze and Hugo Glendinning.
London’s art world has come alive once more for Frieze week. The Big Smoke is glittering with new shows, drinks receptions and VIP dinners and along with thousands, I went to pray at the feet of art and commerce at Frieze London 2024. The habitual hum of excitement bordered on anxiety this year as a depressed art market and an expanded Art Basel Paris (due to start in a few days) invited talk about London’s rivalry with the City of Lights. Is this the beginning of Brexit’s wrestling of the European art crown from London’s hands? Frieze director Eva Langret, showcasing a vibrant and varied London art scene, seemed to successfully make the case for why not.
“Frieze was never just a trade fair,” Langret told The Art Newspaper this week, but also an opportunity for “the many conversations that you can anchor around the galleries and the many ways in which they work for the artists.” Indeed, I found much to enjoy—particularly, as is always the case with art fairs, the opportunity to discover exciting artists and galleries I had never heard of. Of course, I would be remiss not to snark that if Frieze truly wishes to be more than a trade fair, they will need to consider adjusting ticket prices to encourage wider participation.
A redesigned floor plan by A Studio Between prioritized the new and emerging galleries in the Focus section, who, rather than sulking somewhere near the back of the tent, were able to greet visitors immediately. Like last year, they impressed with innovative booths. The Focus section is known for being experimental—the galleries in this section are looking to make a name for themselves. Placed along a central corridor, we were able to interact with them repeatedly whilst navigating the fair. I was particularly excited to see Xxijra Hii steal focus with Hannah Morgan’s alabaster carvings, steelwork, pewter casts, frogged clay and soundscape. I’d previously seen a very small show in Xxijra Hii’s boxy garage-like space in Deptford, their strong showing at Frieze is a testament to the breadth and depth of the London art scene even in a struggling art market and amongst omnipresent funding cuts.
Other standouts in the Focus section included Eva Gold’s sensitive text-based work at Rose Easton (You were disgusting and that’s why I followed you, 2024), Sands Murray-Wassink’s tongue-in-cheek illustrations at Diez (Culture is not a competition, 2024) and Nils Alix-Tabeling’s camp insectile sculptures at Public Gallery. Further into the fair, the blue-chip galleries presented solid, predictable booths, showing off big names—Georg Baselitz held the fort at the White Cube and Chris Ofili at David Zwirner.
Harlesden High Street’s booth at Frieze London. Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy Linda Nylind / Frieze.
For all the talk about Paris and London, Mumbai and New Delhi were the cities at the top of my mind this Frieze London. Indian galleries took pride of place at this year’s fair and ran with breathtaking displays. Vadehra Art Gallery from New Delhi showcased an incredible cabinet of curiosity and banality by Atul Dodiya (Cabinet VI and Cabinet VIII), including pipes, photographs and vaguely animist figurines. Jhaveri Contemporary showcased the textile work of Sayan Chanda (Dwarapalika II, 2024) and Gidree Bawlee (Kaal (Pala) 2023), which blended together into a sublimely sensate and textural experience.
Outside the tent, there were great improvements in the sculpture park this year. Arresting, thoughtful pieces responded deftly to their environment, working with organic forms and pagan imagery to transform a jubilantly sunny Regent’s Park into an other-worldly spectacle. Visitors were greeted by Leonora Carrington’s bronze sculpture The Dancer (2011) upon entering, the figure (half-bird, half-man) melted into bucolic surroundings. Carrington‘s Dancer was swiftly followed by two bronze pillars by Theaster Gates, The Duet (2023). The works in the park were so well integrated into the grounds that the trees that littered the lawn felt like sculptures themselves, blurring the line between the natural and the man-made; one work actually hung from a tree. My favorite by far was Albany Hernandez’s Shadow (2024). This was a shadow painted under a tree in the park using water-based grass paint. The paint marked the tree’s 10:30 a.m. shade; when I arrived around 3 p.m., the tree had two delicate shadows.
Gagosian’s booth at Frieze Masters. Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze and Hugo Glendinning.
At the other end of the sculpture park, Frieze Masters opened with a beautiful juxtaposition of the natural and mechanic. Gagosian’s slick booth of metallic sculpture by John Chamberlain and furniture by Marc Newson stood next to a wooden booth with work much softer in feel at Hauser & Wirth, with broad-ranging paintings from the 19th and 20th Centuries, including Philip Guston and Édouard Manet. In typical showman style, David Aaron followed up last year’s towering T-Rex “Chomper” with an enormous Egyptian sarcophagus from the 7th Century BCE. Thaddeus Mosley at Karma in the ‘Studio’ section—which featured solo shows of living artists and considered their studio practice—seemed like an anchor point in the fair. This is due to the booth’s central placement but also its visual impact. The booth was vast and striking; Mosley’s robust wooden towers, pulling from modernist abstraction and African sculpture, made an imposing statement.
One prominent theme with Masters was the rediscovery of important female artists, with lengthy biographies getting ample space in numerous galleries: Eva Švankmajerová was spotlighted by The Gallery of Everything, Feliza Bursztyn at The Mayor Gallery and Alice Baber at Luxembourg + Co.
All in all, the Frieze fairs were good this year—fun, even. Frieze London celebrated the contemporary art scene in London whilst showcasing talents from across the globe, particularly works by Indian stars. Frieze Masters returned to its rightful place as Frieze London’s drab older sister whilst also reintroducing some unsung talents. The sculpture park, for once, held its own and felt like a destination in and of itself. The stark October sun was shining over an overexcited city, and London, it seemed, was well and truly alive.
Frieze Art Week has officially kicked off in London with its first openings, as the local community and international visitors gear up for the launch of Frieze London and Frieze Masters tomorrow (October 9). Despite the buzz that some global collectors might skip London in favor of Paris due to the challenge of committing to a full two-week marathon of fairs, the city’s art scene—through its galleries and institutions—has once again curated an impressive lineup that makes a stop in the British capital worthwhile, even if just for a few extra days before heading to the next art week or fair. To help you navigate this year’s Frieze offerings, Observer has compiled a list of the top show openings to check out in London.
Mire Lee’s Hyundai Commission at Tate Modern
Visceral and uncanny, Mire Lee’s art probes the boundaries between the technological and the human. Selected for the prestigious annual Hyundai Commission at Tate Modern, she has transformed the Turbine Hall into a surreal landscape of hanging fabric sculptures and epic mechanical installations, reimagining the space as a living factory populated by alien forms and mysterious processes.
Drawing on the building’s history as a power station, Lee reflects on its monumental scale and how it mirrors humanity’s relentless drive for dominance and control over nature. She has reconfigured the hall into an industrial womb—an environment where human desires and ambitions echo through sprawling mechanical systems. Crafted from industrial materials like silicone, chains, and eerie fluids, her “skin” installations stir a complex interplay of emotions, provoking awe and disgust, desire and repulsion. The work explores horror not merely as fear, but as a gateway to alternative possibilities and future potentialities, as once theorized by Foucault. As Lee expressed in a statement, “Ultimately, I am interested in how behind all human actions there is something soft and vulnerable, such as sincerity, hope, compassion, love and wanting to be loved.”
Exploring a non-human concept of the body, the Korean artist’s intricate installations challenge the technological illusion of solidity and permanence, confronting viewers with the inevitable decay and deformation of all subjects over time. By staging this perpetual state of transformation and metamorphosis within a post-apocalyptic setting, the artist engages with a new notion of hybridity—one that blurs the line between the products of the Anthropocene and the unknown entities and processes that will ultimately supersede them.
Mire Lee’s “Open Wound” opens tomorrow (October 9) and is on view at Tate Modern through March 16.
“Hockney and Piero: A Longer Look” at the National Gallery
Detail from David Hockney’s My Parents (1977). Courtesy London’s National Gallery
Don’t miss this rare conversation at the National Gallery, which explores the inspiration David Hockney drew from the enigmatic paintings of Renaissance master Piero Della Francesca. This one-room capsule project creates a space for slow contemplation, juxtaposing two of Hockney’s works—one portraying his mother and father, and the other depicting his friend, curator Henry Geldzahler, alongside the thread that connects them: Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of Christ. Part of the National Gallery’s Bicentenary celebrations, the project illuminates the connections that weave through art history, highlighting how it’s been a continuous journey of confrontations, inspirations and exchanges, where artists revisit and reinterpret recurring themes and archetypes according to the aesthetics and sensibilities of their own era.
Opening just ahead of Frieze Art Week, Whitechapel Gallery has set up a compelling dialogue between two artists who, despite distinct geographical and cultural backgrounds, have similarly sought to redefine the relationship between artist and audience by fostering greater interaction and a more participatory approach.
Brazilian artist Lygia Clark, a pioneer of the “Neo-Concrete Movement” (1959-1961), anticipated the notion of Relational Art by developing a new, organic concept of the artwork—one that could fluidly respond to the phenomenological space of the senses. Her creations evolved into “social sculptures” designed to engage and transform through direct interaction, unfolding within the temporal space of community and social cohesion. “Lygia Clark: The I and the You” traces her artistic journey from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, exploring how her radical approach emerged in response to a turbulent period in Brazil’s history.
In parallel, Venice Golden Lion-winner Sonia Boyce explores similar themes of manipulation and inhabitation, inviting viewers to engage, touch and experience her work in unscripted, immersive ways. “Sonia Boyce: An Awkward Relation” is conceived specifically to resonate with Lygia Clark’s exhibition, showcasing the strong synergies between the British and Brazilian artists’ experiential, participatory practices.
George Rouy’s debut solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth London, “The Bleed, Part I.” Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Following the announcement of his representation just a few months ago, the highly sought-after George Rouy is making his debut with Hauser & Wirth in London. The painter’s meteoric rise stems from his ability to resonate with a new generation of collectors, offering a visual language that captures the tensions and contradictions of the body and psyche as they navigate the physical and digital realms.
“The Bleed, Part I” showcases Rouy’s latest body of work, where he delves further into themes of collective mass, multiplicities, and human movement across different modes of existence. Playing between the “void,” where the psyche expands and projects itself, and the “surrounding,” where the physical body is in constant negotiation with external forces, Rouy’s paintings depict the push-and-pull between these realms, producing figures that are simultaneously fragmented and whole. This tension suggests the potential for a new hybrid human experience, oscillating between the linear constraints of the body and the quantum possibilities it can access.
The exhibition will continue with “Part II” at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles, launching during Frieze L.A. and underscoring the gallery’s commitment to positioning Rouy as “a leading figure of the new generation of painters.”
George Rouy’s “The Bleed, Part 1” is on view at Hauser & Wirth London through December 21.
Suspended between a dreamlike world, a sentimental dimension, and a poetic space of literary references, Dominic Chambers’s paintings capture moments of joy, leisure, love, and life. His vibrant canvases are defined by intentionally surreal palettes that heighten the emotions and atmosphere of each scene. Since graduating from Yale, the young artist has swiftly risen to prominence, making his debut at Lehmann Maupin in New York soon after. Now, for his first solo show at the gallery’s London location—his U.K. debut—Chambers presents an expansive new body of work, including paintings, works on paper and color studies. His visual language has already evolved into something more allegorical, shifting from human-centered scenes to lyrical or oneiric landscapes where figures often float, yet the mood and feeling remain the true protagonists.
Drawing its title from the Greek word meraki, meaning “to pour one’s soul into one’s work,” the exhibition takes this notion as a springboard to explore how the concept of the soul—or one’s interiority—intersects with devotion and creativity. Rich in both art historical and religious references, the works tap into a more spiritual dimension, expanding beyond the sentimental intimacy that defined his earlier pieces. Deeply influenced by Magic Realism, Chambers’s paintings detach themselves from material reality, moving fluidly between inner, outer and otherworldly realms, exploring symbols, signals and intermediaries that guide us in navigating the layers of human experience.
Dominic Chambers’s “Meraki” is on view at Lehmann Maupin through November 9.
Rirkrit Tiravanija at Pilar Corrias
“A MILLION RABBIT HOLES” marks Rirkrit Tiravanija’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. Courtesy of the artist and Pilar Corrias
As a pioneer of Relational Art, Rirkrit Tiravanija’s work carries an inherently political charge, as demonstrated by his latest show at Pilar Corrias London. In “A MILLION RABBIT HOLES,” Tiravanija explores the deepening polarization and disillusionment surrounding the U.S. election, touching on globally pervasive sentiments as the world’s balance grows increasingly fragile. Transforming the gallery walls with forest-like wallpaper, he creates an immersive environment reflecting the charged atmosphere of American politics in the lead-up to the election, inspired by his experiences in Upstate New York.
Known for his groundbreaking installations centered around cooking and communal sharing, Tiravanija’s practice emphasizes human connections over traditional notions of art as static objects. His works often subvert societal hierarchies and behavioral norms, inviting audiences to participate actively—whether through interactions with others or through the artist’s facilitation. In his London exhibition, visitors are plunged into a world of paradoxical propaganda, surrounded by an intentionally illusory, pastoral setting that underscores the fiction of contemporary politics and the false promises of a better future.
Rirkrit Tiravanija’s “A MILLION RABBIT HOLES” is on view at Pilar Corrias, London, through November 9.
Tracey Emin at White Cube
Tracey Emin’s “I followed you to the end” at White Cube, London. Courtesy of teh Artist and White Cube.
Since her rise to fame as the queen of the Young British Artists with her unforgettable My Bed (1998), Tracey Emin has captivated international audiences with her provocatively raw yet deeply human art, addressing the peaks and valleys of existence—love, desire, grief and loss—with an unflinching honesty. Her autobiographical approach has laid bare the intensely personal yet universal experience of being a woman, capturing everything from the awakening of sexual desire and the claiming of one’s pleasure to the visceral trials of violence, shame, illness, abortion and menopause. This turbulent inner world of emotions, passions, and sensations is instinctively translated onto Emin’s canvases through bold, unplanned strokes that channel her emotional energy directly onto the surface.
Emin has never hesitated to confront the most profound physical and psychological challenges, chronicling the unique struggles of the female condition in today’s world. Her latest show in London continues the journey she began with her recent exhibition at White Cube New York last year, presenting a powerful new series of paintings and sculptures that delve into themes of love and loss, mortality and rebirth.
Every time Anna Weyant stages an exhibition, it becomes evident that beneath the buzz surrounding her private life, there’s an undeniable technical mastery that continues to evolve while remaining deeply engaged in a dialogue with art history. Drawing as much from the refined elegance of Flemish portraiture as from the dramatic chiaroscuro of Caravaggio, Weyant’s paintings are not only visually captivating but also deeply intriguing. They meticulously uphold the Western canons of beauty and “good painting”—executed with precision—but simultaneously disrupt this perfection with uncanny elements that provoke the viewer to question these very ideals.
Rendered in somber tones and pale hues, her figures often play tragicomic roles, suspended in a dreamlike, timeless space. These doll-like girls move through her canvases with a fierce presence, yet subtly reveal a concealed inner struggle—suggesting a fragile, unspoken vulnerability. They project an image of strength, wielding their allure with confidence, but betray an underlying trauma or insecurity that compels them to seek validation and admiration externally. This tension resonates perfectly with the exhibition’s title, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” Marking her London debut, the show makes these dynamics of concealment and performance even more apparent. The feminine attributes of her meticulously rendered classical bodies are only glimpsed through small windows, partially obscured by a fabric blind or a newspaper—introducing a fresh psychological layer to her latest body of work.
“Calder: Extreme Cantilever” at Ben Brown London. Courtesy of Ben Brown.
Opening on Frieze Masters Night at Ben Brown Fine Arts, this exhibition reunites Alexander Calder’s three unique cantilever sculptures for the first time, presented alongside a curated selection of oil paintings, works on paper and historically significant artifacts. The centerpiece sculptures—Extreme Cantilever, More Extreme Cantilever and Extrême porte à faux III—are on loan from the Calder Foundation and distinguished private collections, showcasing the artist’s boundless imagination and intuitive genius that firmly position him as one of the 20th Century’s leading innovators. More importantly, this grouping captures a pivotal evolution in Calder’s formal and conceptual approach to spatial abstraction, shaped by the seismic impact of the Second World War. Confronted with a world grappling with collective trauma, Calder responded with sculptures that became strikingly evocative, featuring increasingly complex forms that seem to encapsulate the anxieties of an era—a resonance that remains poignant amid today’s renewed geopolitical uncertainties.
“Calder: Extreme Cantilever” opens tomorrow (October 9) and runs on November 22 at Ben Brown Fine Arts in London.
“Enchanted Alchemies: Magic, Mysticism, and the Occult in Art” at Lévy Gorvy Dayan
Geltrude Abercrombie, Lady with Black Braid; Oil on Masonite, 8 × 10 inches (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Lévi Gorvy Dayan
As interest in Surrealism, now 100 years old, continues to rise, Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s latest exhibition in London delves into themes of magic, mysticism, and the occult through a collection of masterpieces primarily by Surrealist women artists such as Gertrude Abercrombie, Eileen Agar, Leonora Carrington, Elda Cerrato, Ithell Colquhoun, Leonor Fini and Monica Sjöö, placed in dialogue with contemporary figures like Francesco Clemente, Chitra Ganesh, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bharti Kher, Linder and Goshka Macuga. Blurring the boundaries between spirituality, mysticism, and hallucination, the show provides a sweeping exploration of the human imagination across cultures and eras.
Organized into three thematic chapters—“Occultism and Dreams,” “Magic and Mysticism” and “Alchemy: Enchantment and Transformations”—the exhibition examines how artists over the past century have engaged with occult and esoteric traditions to shape and reshape their personal, cultural and historical narratives. The timing feels particularly relevant as society experiences a renewed fascination with alternative knowledge and spirituality in an era that has “killed its idols” yet still searches for new belief systems amid a pervasive sense of irrationality and uncertainty.
If you’re making the rounds at the European art fairs this October and want to fill the gap between the London and Paris art weeks, Gagosian has you covered: the gallery just announced it will present the largest survey of James Turrell’s work in Europe in twenty-five years, opening on October 14 at its Le Bourget location in the northeastern Paris suburbs. The ground floor will feature two new mesmerizing large-scale installations by the renowned Light and Space artist: All Clear (a “Ganzfeld” piece) and Either Or (a “Wedgework” piece), both from 2024. All Clear envelops visitors in a pavilion where colored light saturates the space, creating a disorienting effect known as the “Ganzfeld effect,” where the lack of visual cues distorts depth and perspective. By flooding the room with light, Turrell overwhelms the senses, suspending the viewer in a sensory void. Meanwhile, Either Or manipulates projected light to create the illusion of architectural expansion beyond the room’s physical boundaries. Reflected off surfaces, the lights form ethereal yet tangible geometric shapes, giving the impression of a portal that appears simultaneously concrete and otherworldly.
The exhibition will also include a selection of Turrell’s seminal historical works, accompanied by archival materials that reveal the intricate engineering process behind his creations. Featured pieces include holograms, models, prints and plans for Roden Crater (1976–), his monumental project transforming a volcanic cinder cone in Northern Arizona into an immersive art experience. This masterpiece, integrating nature, technology and the cycles of geological and celestial time, is considered a culmination of Turrell’s exploration of human visual and psychological perception. After acquiring the dormant cinder cone in 1977, Turrell began constructing tunnels and apertures that interact with sunlight, working in harmony with nature to craft this unique light installation.
The surrounding hallways will display six new in-wall “Glassworks” connected to his recent exhibition at Gagosian Athens, alongside a collection of aquatints and woodcuts inspired by his Aten Reign installation at the Guggenheim Museum in 2013. As a master of light and space, Turrell has long investigated how to manipulate and compose complex phenomena that affect our perception, bridging optics with sensory, psychological and meditative aspects of light. “My desire is to set up a situation to which I take you and let you see,” the artist said in a statement. “It becomes your experience.”
Focusing on the materiality of light and the possibility of painting with it, Turrell has been able to build on the sensorial experience of space, color and perception. “We usually use light to illuminate things,” he went on. “I am interested in the ‘thingness’ of light itself.” Somehow anticipating the experimental dimension of art that is so popular in today’s museum strategies, his practice combines scientific principles and cutting-edge technologies with spiritual concerns, aiming to craft experiences that inspire a deeper awareness of our interaction with light and space. “Light does not so much reveal as it is the revelation itself,” he concluded. His installations encourage viewers to contemplate the interplay of light, time and space, transcending physical limits and elevating the sensory experience into a timeless, interconnected dimension of spiritual insight and contemplation.
Painter-turned-filmmaker Titus Kaphar. Photo by Mario Sorrenti, courtesy of Gagosian
Last week, the artist Titus Kaphar opened “Exhibiting Forgiveness” at Gagosian Beverly Hills, a painting show that pairs with his film of the same name, which premieres next month and was called a “confident debut” for the painter-turned-filmmaker, by Vanity Fair‘s Richard Lawson at Sundance. Kaphar is the winner of a MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ whose work has graced the cover of TIME magazine. We caught up with him to hear about his new show and the transition to filmmaking.
The works in this show seem nostalgic in both their techniques and subjects. What do you see as the unifying principles in this new body of paintings?
Every piece in this show is rooted in memory—I started by writing down experiences from my past. I wanted to find a way to have a conversation with my sons about my childhood, which up until that point I had been hesitant to speak about. When I sat down to write, old memories brought new images to mind. This produced an entire body of paintings that were completed before we started shooting the film.
You’ve been working with both mediums for some time now. What’s the difference in your creative approach to painting and film?
The process of making a painting is fundamentally different from the process of making a film. Making a painting can be a meditative solitary act, while there’s almost no way to make a film on your own. In the best cases, all of the individuals involved pour themselves into making the film, imbuing it with energy that is greater than the sum of its parts. In my mind, that is the greatest magic that film offers. That said, the editing process felt most similar to my painting practice. As a first-time director, my editor, Ron Patane made the process manageable. It was Ron who helped me see the parallels between the erasure and cut canvases in my paintings. The way we were removing something from a scene in order to come to a more potent statement.
It’s always fascinating to watch a painter turn to film direction. Do you have a favorite film by a painter? Mine would be The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Basquiat was my favorite movie as an undergrad. Up until then, I had not seen a Black painter portrayed in a film. It had more of an impact on me than you might imagine. Around that time, I decided that I wanted to be a painter. For inspiration, I brought an old television and VCR into my “studio,” a.k.a. the garage, and started playing Basquiat every day. Somehow, it assured me that my dream was lofty but attainable.
You gave a well-known TED talk in 2017 on the question, “Can art amend history?” Have your thoughts on that question evolved in recent years?
No, my feelings have not changed. Having just returned from my family reunion in Mississippi, I am certain that we still need artists to amend the monuments that stand as emblems of injustice in our town squares nationwide.
You were recently honored at the Brooklyn Museum’s Artists Ball. What was that experience like?
Those kinds of things are always very hard for me. I am keenly aware of how much I owe my success to my family and to my team. It’s easy to give credit to the person standing on the stage, but the truth is there’s nothing exceptional I’ve ever achieved without my family and a team around me. NXTHVN, the not-for-profit arts and community incubator I started, would still just be a dream without our staff, and Exhibiting Forgiveness would still just be words on a page without my producers, cast and crew. So as grateful as I am for the honor, it is a truism that great dreams require extraordinary teams. I would have been much more comfortable if I could have had my people on stage with me.
This is your first show at Gagosian’s Beverly Hills space, which brings a unique crowd. Are you ready for them?
The better question is: Is Beverly Hills ready for us?! You know folks travel… in packs!
Visitors at Frieze London in 2023. Photo courtesy of Linda Nylind/Frieze
As the art world copes with what feels like an abbreviated summer break and a crowded fall calendar looming, Frieze announced details for its upcoming London fairs, coming up on October 9-12 in The Regent’s Park. The 2024 Frieze fair in London will feature more than 160 galleries from forty-three countries, including some of the leading spaces in London’s gallery scene, with established names like Stephen Friedman Gallery, Alison Jacques, Lisson Gallery, Victoria Miro, Modern Art, White Cube and Thomas Dane Gallery plus spaces devoted to pioneering research on the latest contemporary art expressions, including Arcadia Missa, Carlos/Ishikawa, Leopold Thun’s Emalin and Maureen Paley. Among the international galleries returning to Frieze London are Gagosian, Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Gallery Hyundai, Tina Kim Gallery, Lehmann Maupin, Pace Gallery, Perrotin, Almine Rech, Thaddaeus Ropac, Esther Schipper, Sprüth Magers and David Zwirner.
What to expect at Frieze London 2024
Frieze London’s newly announced big change is the fresh floorplan by design practice A Studio Between. The new layout will give prominence to the fair’s curated sections, placing more emphasis on artists and discoveries.
Among those sections, “Focus” will feature thirty-four solo and dual presentations from artists and galleries spanning five continents. In the list of participating galleries and artists, we find that 56 Henry (New York) showcases powerful paintings by Jo Messer; El Apartamento (Havana, Madrid) brings Julia Fuentesal; Madragoa (Lisbon) takes the work of Jaime Welsh; and Gallery Vacancy (Shanghai) the work of Korean artist Sun Woo, among others. Meant to offer a platform especially to the young gallery community, the section is presented this year in collaboration with the brand Stone Island, which will help fund the participation of these emerging galleries.
Another interesting curated selection that will return this year is “Artist-to-artist,” which mounts six solo presentations chosen by world-renowned artists. This year’s edition will feature Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom, chosen by Glenn Ligon (Champ Lacombe, Biarritz); Rob Davis, selected by Rashid Johnson (Broadway, New York); Nengi Omuku selected by Yinka Shonibare (Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London); Massinissa Selmani chosen by Zineb Sedira (Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis); Magda Stawarska chosen by Lubaina Himid (Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, London); and Peter Uka chosen by Hurvin Anderson (Mariane Ibrahim, Chicago, Paris, Mexico City).
Finally, connecting material and some narratives that have become increasingly present in the contemporary art scene in recent years, Frieeze created a new themed section, “Smoke,” curated by Pablo José Ramírez (Curator, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles) and dedicated to ceramic works that explore diasporic and Indigenous histories. The section draws its title from El Animal Humo(the Smoke Animal), Humberto Ak’abal’s story of an enigmatic creature made of smoke that emanates from the soil as a sublime and disturbing manifestation of nature. Featured artists include Manuel Chavajay (Pedro Cera, Madrid, Lisbon), Lucía Pizzani (Cecilia Brunson Projects, London), Christine Howard Sandoval (parrasch heijnen, Los Angeles), Ayla Tavares (Galeria Athena, Rio De Janeiro and Hatch, Paris) and Linda Vallejo (parrasch heijnen, Los Angeles), who explore counter-archaeology, the continuum of ancestry and how materials bear witness to diasporic movements.
Koetser Gallery at Frieze Masters in 2023. Courtesy of Frieze and Michael Adair
What to expect at Frieze Masters 2024
This year’s Frieze Masters will feature 130 galleries from twenty-six countries mounting booths focusing on modern and classic masterpieces. Led by Nathan Clements-Gillespie, the fair will similarly try to be more artist-centered, with an expanded “Studio” section and a redefined floor plan designed to encourage creative connections across art history.
The fair will present long-time exhibitors such as Galerie Chenel, Richard Green, Hauser & Wirth, Lehmann Maupin, Skarstedt and Axel Vervoordt, as well as leading Korean dealers such as Arario Gallery, Gana Art, Hakgojae Gallery and Johyun Gallery. This year, there’s a solid contingent of galleries dealing in ancient Asian art on the roster including Gisèle Croës s.a, Rasti Fine Art, Carlton Rochell Asian Art, Rossi & Rossi, Tenzing Asian Art and Thomsen Gallery. First-time participants include Afridi (London), Bijl-Van Urk Masterpaintings (Alkmaar), Galatea (Salvador, São Paolo), Galerie Léage (Paris), Tilton Gallery (New York) and Trias Art Experts (Munich).
In terms of thematic sections, Frieze Masters will continue with the “Studio” section curated by British art historian and curator Sheena Wagstaff. This section focuses on practices that illuminate the interconnections between our civilization’s past and future. The line-up includes Isabella Ducrot, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Shirazeh Houshiary and Doris Salcedo
The other curated section, “Spotlight,” is curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and previously senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas.The section will focus on solo presentations by 20th-century artists, particularly overlooked artists and lesser-known works by established figures from the 1950s to the 1970s. Featured artists include Judy Chicago, Kulim Kim, Balraj Khanna, Donald Locke, Nabil Nahas, Nil Yalter and more.
Visitors at Frieze London in 2023. Photo courtesy of Linda Nylind/Frieze
Must-see Frieze Week shows
During Frieze Week in October, the vibrant London art scene will showcase a series of major institutional exhibitions that you’ll want to make sure to put on your art week itinerary. Those include: “Francis Bacon: Human Presenc” at the National Portrait Gallery; Lygia Clark and Sonia Boyce at Whitechapel Gallery; Michael Craig-Martin at the Royal Academy of Arts; “Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers” at the National Gallery London; “Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit” and the majestic Mire Lee’s Turbine Hall Commission at Tate Modern; Hew Locke at the British Museum and “Haegue Yang: Leap Year” at the Hayward Gallery.
