Frieze London, the capital’s biggest annual art fair is back this week, bringing to London newcomers, international masterpieces, and everything in between.
October in London has become synonymous with Frieze and Frieze Masters, which draw the international art communities to the capital for a long weekend of art-filled festivities. This year, both Frieze and Frieze Masters have been artfully redesigned by A Studio Between to offer larger zones, interactive spaces, and curated sections to accommodate work from 270 galleries across 47 countries.
From modern art to ancient masterpieces, as well as where to dine, here is Citizen Femme’s guide to Frieze London 2024.
TO SEE AT FRIEZE
As soon as you step into the Frieze London marquee, you’ll be hit with an overwhelming – in an exciting way – choice of mediums, colours, themes, scales, and artists. Spanning British icons such as Tracey Emin, to international artists and new comers, there’s artwork here for everyone. We recommend slowly meandering through the whole fair to take it all in, but make sure to stop by these specially curated sections too.
Focus
Focus is all about creatives emerging in the contemporary art scene, including art spaces, galleries, and artists alike. This year, Focus has been moved so that it’s the first section of the gallery to help champion these innovators. Highlights from the collection of 34 exhibitors from 21 countries include a cinematic installation by Eva Gold, which sees the gallery booth become an immersive living room space to encourage us to consider the relationship between gender, art, and voyeurism. You also can’t miss Benedikte Bjerre‘s penguin installation which breaks up the walkway with these comical creatures. Swiss-Japanese drawer, painter, sculptor, photographer, and poet Leiko Ikemura is also exhibiting with Lisson Gallery for the first time.
Artist To Artist
For a second year, the Artist to Artist series returns, where six high profile artists have selected a lesser known or younger counterpart to exhibit with. Touching upon themes of nationality, place, childhood, landscape, and more, this whole series is a highlight within its own right.
Smoke
This section of Frieze London is making sure that it’s not just painting that receives the critical attention this season. Curated by Pablo José Ramírez, Smoke is showcasing artists from each corner of the world, focussing on indigenous tradition in ceramic works.
TO SEE AT FRIEZE MASTERS
Frieze Masters presents the canonical art and artists from the previous century to complement the contemporary art at Frieze. Many of these paintings and artists have formed muses for contemporary artists, and founded art movements that continue to inspire artworks today. With over 130 international participating galleries spanning 26 countries and hundreds of years of art, there is plenty to see. Here are some of the highlights.
Art Icons
Hauser & Wirth are displaying one of celebrated French, Modernist painters Édouard Manet’s rare racecourse paintings, an oil on canvas titled Pelouse du champ de courses à Longchamp (1865). To satisfy your French-painter cravings, Les Nabis at Waddington Custot are spotlighting rare paintings by Parisian painters Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Paul Sérusier, and more.
Studio
In its second year is the ten-booth space titled Studio curated by art historian and creative advisor of Frieze London Sheena Wagstaff, which encourages visitors to view the present through a historical lens. You’ll find works by acclaimed artists hung next to older objects that have formed inspiration for the showcased works, including hand-carved sculptures by Thaddeus Mosley inspired by sculptural traditions of the Dogon and Yoruba people.
Spotlight
While it’s a treat to see well-loved impressionist masterpieces loaned from French galleries at the Fair, don’t skip on the Spotlight section when walking through Frieze Masters. Valerie Cassel of Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has carefully curated work by lesser known artists from the 20th century. This includes three large panels painted in 1973 by Lebanese painter Nabil Nahas (Lawrie Shabibi), paintings by Nigerian modern artist Jimo Akolo (kó), Guyanese ceramicist and sculpture Donald Locke (Alison Jacques), and Turkish artist Nil Yalter‘s portraits of transgender subjects at Ab-Anbar.
TO SEE AT FRIEZE SCULPTURE
Frieze Sculpture runs alongside Frieze London, decorating the pruned planes of Regent’s Park with contemporary sculptures by acclaimed artists. For the 12th edition, this year sees sculptures by over 20 leading international artists spanning five continents. The line-up is curated by Turkish writer and curator Fatoş Üstek; particularly exciting as we see a strong focus on female artists, including Leonora Carrington, Zanele Muholi, Theresa Chromatic, Ashwini Bhat, and many more. Themes of the environment, spirituality, and global community give way to intriguing, conceptual pieces that will leave you with lots to think about. The installation is open to the public and is free to attend, making it the perfect addition to a relaxed Sunday stroll on a crisp autumnal day.
TO SEE AT WOMEN IN ART FAIR
After a successful debut year last year, the Women In Art Fair is back at Frieze London 2024. The fair takes over the Mall Galleries in South Kensington and comprises of hundreds of artworks by female artists selected via an open call process, as well as a curated exhibition, this year titled Women’s Cycles.
As curator of the fair, Jacqueline Harvey, explains “we stand for diversity and inclusion in the arts and we’re here not just to encourage dialogue around gender and culture, but fundamentally to change the way art is exhibited.” The result? An extensive and provocative female-only art exhibition.
Women’s Cycles
This year’s curated exhibition is centred around Women’s Cycles and explores the circadian rhythms of femininity and the powerful presence of these movements in our daily lives and wider society. Six international female artists have been selected by curator Virginia Damtsa for their diverse range of media and approach to biological, emotional, psychological, and cultural female cycles. Amongst the artists is Sofia Laskari, the Robert Walters UK Artist of the Year 2023 and who recently showed their first solo exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea.
EAT + DRINK
Ham Yard
For a quick but luxurious lunch in between booths, head to Ham Yard’s pop-up restaurant, bar and lounge, which has returned this year to the fair for a third time. Frieze ticket holders can enjoy an autumnal menu of beetroot and pomegranate salad and roast chicken coq au vin – plus plenty of sweet treats from the dessert trolley. Designed by Kit Kemp, it’s a wonderfully colourful space to sink into and recharge.
George
Celebrated Private Member’s Club George presents its first external pop-up at Frieze this year. In homage to the fair’s artistic spirit, the activation offers a taste of George’s Mediterranean-inspired menu and signature cocktails, set within a refined and sophisticated oasis that captures the essence of its elegant Mayfair setting. Designed to reflect the club’s unique atmosphere, the space will also feature elements of its original home, including works by British artist David Hockney.
Jikoni
In a natural follow on to the style of cooking from the restaurant on Blandford Street and the cultures and cuisines that feature on their menu, Jikoni at Frieze runs a special vegetarian menu. The menu at Frieze celebrates a relationship with their friends and biodynamic farm partner at Waltham Place, who have supplied many of the nourishing vegetables and herbs on the menu. When the world feels like a wilderness, we find safety and refuge in nature – in the grounds of our biodynamic farm partner Waltham Place. Feel-good, life-enhancing dishes that nurture, nourish and lift your mood.
Sessions Arts Club
It perhaps goes without saying amongst fellow Londoners that some of the hottest tables in town for art lovers can be found at Session’s Arts Club in Farringdon. Set up at Frieze London this year, enjoy the menu from 11am to 6pm daily for a light art fix throughout the day.
Lead image credit: Pierre Bonnard, La famille du compositeur Claude Terrasse, 1892 watercolour on paper, 11 1/2 x 21 1/4 in / 29 x 54 cm Courtesy Waddington Custot
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