Frieze London, the capital’s biggest annual art fair is back this week, bringing newcomers, international masterpieces, rediscovered artefacts, and everything in between.
October in London has become synonymous with Frieze London and Frieze Masters, which draw the international art communities to the capital for an (almost) week of art-filled festivities, running from 15 to 19 October 2025 for its 23rd edition. Following an artful redesign by A Studio Between last year, which saw larger zones, interactive spaces, and curated sections – and joined by ambitious solo projects as well as artist and curator-led projects – this year’s fair brings a total of almost 300 galleries, representing 45 countries of artists, to the capital.
From modern art to ancient masterpieces, citywide pop-ups, as well as where to dine, here is Citizen Femme’s guide to Frieze London 2025.
TO SEE AT FRIEZE LONDON
Henry Taylor
Untitled (Portrait of Reign Judge)
2025
Acrylic on canvas
121.9 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm / 48 x 36 x 1 1/2 in
© Henry Taylor
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Keith Lubow
Frieze London is the contemporary half of the fair. There is something incredibly arresting and urgent about contemporary art, which is created in response to the political, social, environmental, cultural, and financial contexts we all live within. Art is powerful in presenting questions, answers, solutions, and commentary in such vivid and unique ways. Spanning 168 galleries from 43 countries – including from big names like David Zwirner, Thaddaeus Ropac, Lisson Gallery and Hauser & Wirth as well as emerging favourites (like Llano Gallery from Mexico, and London-founded Rose Easton) – we hope you’ll find a dialogue meaningful to you.
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. From British icons to international artists and newcomers, there’s art and creative styles 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 spotlights 35 creatives (both artists and galleries, though galleries must have been founded under 12 years ago) emerging in the contemporary art scene. Frieze director Eva Langret explains “our Focus section reinforces Frieze London’s identity as a site of discovery, where new voices show how the city continues to set the pace for contemporary art.” For a second time, Focus has been moved so that it’s the first section of the gallery to help champion these innovators. Highlights are numerous, but include Michelle Uckotter’s dramatic oil pastel paintings set up within a voyeuristic hall of mirrors, Rafał Zajko who brings civil defence sirens via sculpture and, for the first time, Eunjo Lee is showcasing a trilogy of films.
George Rouy
DESIRELINE II
2025
Oil on canvas
220 x 340 x 4 cm / 86 5/8 x 133 7/8 x 1 5/8 in
© George Rouy
Courtesy the artist, Hannah Barry Gallery and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Damian Griffiths
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 solo. American painter Amy Sherald selects Mexican American artist René Treviño whose work calls upon European and Mesoamerican histories, while Chris Ofili from London’s Lungley Gallery selects London-based artist Neal Tait. Touching upon themes of everything from Spain’s golden age of cinema to dreams, motherhood, urban space, and history, this whole section is a highlight within its own right.
Echoes in the Present
This section at Frieze is headed up by Dr Jareh Das, a researcher and independent curator, and connects artists from Brazil, Africa, and their diasporas. Bunmi Agusto’s mixed-media drawings connect Brazil and Nigeria via their Portuguese trade routes, Tadáskía’s colourful world examines how Indigenous narratives converge, and Alberto Pitta looks at how textile informs dance and festival.
TO SEE AT FRIEZE MASTERS
Hans Emmenegger
Blumenstillleben (Floral Still Life)
1935
Oil on canvas
50 x 51 cm / 19 5/8 x 20 1/8 in
Photo: Gina Folly
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. “Together these highlights invite audiences to look afresh at how the past continues to inform and challenge the present,” Frieze Masters director Emanuela Tarizzo explains. This year, landmark rediscoveries (including a Rubens panel at Salomon Lilian’s booth) are brought back into public view. With 137 international participating galleries spanning 27 countries and hundreds of years of art, there is plenty to see. Including Pace Gallery’s display of Peter Hujar’s backstage portraits; Salon 94’s presentation of Aboriginal artist Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori; Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert and Frankie Rossi Art Projects’ joint exhibition spotlighting Barbara Hepworth, Frank Auerbach and more, these are some of the highlights.
Reflections
This section is new for 2025, and will spotlight a creative array of decorative arts, curated and overseen by Abby Bangser.
Félix Vallotton
Baigneuse vue de dos (Bather seen from behind)
1906
Oil on canvas
81 x 60 cm / 31 7/8 x 23 5/8 in
Photo: Gina Folly
Studio
In its third year is the six-booth space: titled Studio and curated by art historian and creative advisor of Frieze London Sheena Wagstaff, it 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 British artist Anne Rothenstein’s dreamlike panel paintings and Indian artist Anju Dodiya’s mythical watercolours.
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 Novera Ahmed (titled the first modern sculptor of Bangladesh), Madge Gill’s cryptic ink work, and Nigerian sculptor and painter Twins Seven-Seven.
TO SEE AT FRIEZE SCULPTURE
Timur Si-Qin, Last of the Wild and Free (Rhododendron calophytum), 2025. Courtesy: Frieze. Photography: Linda Nylind
Frieze Sculpture runs alongside Frieze London, decorating the pruned planes of Regent’s Park with contemporary sculptures by acclaimed artists. For the 13th edition, this year sees sculptures by 14 leading international artists. For the first time this year, Frieze Sculpture has an overarching theme, titled In The Shadows which redefines ‘shadow’ from a dark space to one that is productive, and spotlights themes from memory and myth via intriguing, conceptual pieces that will leave you with lots to think about. The line-up is curated by Turkish writer and curator Fatoş Üstek who will be hosting a curator tour at midday on 2 November to share more information on each of the pieces. On 16 October, Lucia Pizzani and Lucia Pietroiusti will tribute Venezuelan Indigenous communities via a performance piece.
As usual, 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 ACROSS LONDON
Frieze x ICA London
The ICA is hosting a programme of specially curated films coinciding with Frieze 2025. The programme will also be available to stream worldwide until 31 October. Discover here.
Moco Museum
Photo by Matt Chung
The visionary Moco Museum – which has set out to change how we interact with art via immersive installations and digital experiences – opens Heart Space by digital artist Krista Kim on 17 October. The installation will transform visitors’ heartbeats into colourful, digital artworks.
No.9 Cork Street
No.9 Cork Street is Frieze’s Mayfair-based permanent gallery space. Swing by for a wonderful mix of work, from a first-time London solo exhibition to artists from Central Asia and beyond.
Pipeline
Pipeline opens a new two-floor gallery space on Windmill Street in Fitzrovia, opening with an exhibition featuring sixteen artists as well as a library of 500+ rare artist’s books, including by Andy Warhol and Joan Miro.
Ibraaz Opening
The Kamel Lazaar Foundation is funding a new space for Ibraaz on Mortimer Street opening on 15 October. The multi-disciplinary space complete with talks, screenings, music, residencies, a bookshop, library, and cafe will open with an exhibition titled Parliament of Ghosts.
Edward George: Black Atlas, The Warburg Institute
Edward George is the founding-member of the Black Audio Film Collective (and also a writer and artist) and has pulled from The Warburg Institute’s Image of the Black Archive, home to over 30,000 photographs, sculptures, manuscripts, and more, each documenting people of African descent, for this project. Following a year-long residency, Edward George has created a feature-length film image-essay. The project aims to encourage viewers to use archives as tools for speculative thinking.
Home Grown Curated By Marine Tanguy
Art industry stalwart, founder and CEO of MTArt Agency, and shepherd for many of the brightest artists of our time – plus Citizen Femme columnist – Marine Tanguy has curated an exhibition at Private Members’ Club, Home Grown. The exhibition spotlights the intimate paintings of Ella Brill, the “modern Cindy Sherman” Claire Luxton, Amelie Satzger, and Stefania Tejada, among many wonderful others. Marine enthuses “as you walk through this exhibition, I invite you to see beyond the surfaces of the works. Listen to the cracks, the colours, the mythologies, the silences.”
Still in the art mood? Check out our full list of exhibitions in London.
EAT + DRINK
FRIEZE LONDON
Jikoni
Jikoni by Ravinder Bhogal is back at Frieze London for its fourth year, serving up a special vegetarian menu that follows on from the “cross borders and cultures” style of cooking that the award-winning, Blandford Street spot champions. Dishes are led by seasonal ingredients grown in biodynamic farms, and feature slow-roasted cabbage with curry hollandaise and green goddess dhal topped off with pomegranate Negronis and the signature banana cake.
Sessions Arts Club
It perhaps goes without saying amongst Londoners that some of the hottest tables in town for art lovers can be found at Sessions Arts Club in Farringdon. Set up at Frieze London this year, enjoy the menu from 11am to 6pm daily for a light mid-art fix throughout the day.
Maison François
This upmarket French bistro is also flocking north from St James’s to Regent’s Park this October, bringing excellent wine and French dishes with it.
Pop-Ups
Across the Frieze tends, spot pop-ups from BAO, Rita’s, Sayuri, Yalumba Wine Bar, and Company Drinks to keep you going from gallery to gallery. Gail’s Bakery will also have stalls at both Frieze London and Frieze Masters.
FRIEZE MASTERS
Ham Yard Restaurant & Bar
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 fourth 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.
Nobu
Nobu is a global name, whose exquisitely refined Japanese fare needs little introducing. Nobu will pop-up at Frieze Masters this year with a selection of tailored menus of all the spot’s signature dishes.
Trullo
Trullo is a Frieze debutante this year, bringing its rustic Italian cooking to the prestigious Frieze Masters. Peacocking the very best of its classic fare, find pappardelle with beef shin ragu and tagliarini with picked Dorset crab, Amalfi lemon and chilli on the menu, available throughout the fair.
George
Celebrated private members’ club George presents its second external pop-up at Frieze this year. In homage to the fair’s artistic spirit, the activation will showcase the portraits (including of Queen Elizabeth II) of Chris Levine, who will stop by the sophisticated Mayfair restaurant for a conversation with curator and art advisor Katy Richfield.
Any Questions or Tips to add?