It’s fall in London, which means Frieze Week is nigh. Fair-goers will be relieved to learn that despite recent legal battles, Uber is still operating in London—and the weather forecast is, as usual, OK-ish.
To help you assemble a plan of attack, we’ve compiled a handy guide to all the fairs next week. As ever, the motherships are Frieze’s two big tops found at opposite ends of Regent’s Park: Frieze London and Frieze Masters. But there are many more events to take in as well. Here is our list of fairs, big and small, in London next week.
Frieze London
October 4–7, Regent’s Park
John Baldessari, Penguin (2018). Marian Goodman Gallery – New York, Paris, London.
WHAT: Alongside presentations of work across the fair by artists including Jim Shaw, Lubaina Himid, Mary Kelly, Faith Ringgold, and more, the fair will host a special section called Social Work. It celebrates female artists, including Nancy Spero and Helen Chadwick, who challenged the status quo in the 1980s, selected by a high-powered panel of experts including Whitechapel’s Iwona Blazwick and Frieze’s Jennifer Higgie. Meanwhile, the artistic director of the Dhaka-based Samdani Art Foundation, Diana Campbell Betancourt, makes her debut organizing Frieze Projects, which includes an eavesdropping opera singer courtesy of the Turner Prize-winning artist Laure Prouvost. Frieze Sculpture, which has been in full swing all summer, remains a must-see. Keep an eye out for John Baldessari’s self-portrait as a big penguin.
WHEN: VIP previews: Wednesday, October 3, invitation only; Thursday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Public hours: Friday through Saturday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m. General admission: £38.70. Combined with Frieze London: £64.50.
WHERE: Regent’s Park, near Park Square West.
Frieze Masters
October 4–7, Regent’s Park
Frieze Masters 2017. Photography by Benjamin Westoby. Courtesy of Benjamin Westoby/Frieze.
WHAT: There are more Old Master dealers than ever in the fair’s elegant, Annabelle Selldorf-designed big tent. Toby Kamps, the Blaffer Art Museum director-turned-White Cube exec, has organized its eclectic Spotlight section of overlooked 20th-century artists. One surprise in the mix is the film director Sergei Eisenstein, presented by New York’s Alexander Gray Associates. Who knew he drew exquisite erotic drawings, which were saved by his widow? In the main section, some dealers have pulled out all the stops: Hauser & Wirth uses the Zelig-like biography of the poet and editor Stephen Spender to weave together works by friends and acquaintances ranging from Henry Moore to David Hockney. Other treats include Galleria Continua’s display of works by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, wile at Pace, the artist Adam Pendleton has turned curator, hanging abstract works by artists including Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman, and Lee Ufan.
WHEN: VIP previews: Wednesday, October 3, invitation only; Thursday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Public hours: Friday to Saturday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. General admission: £38.70. Combined with Frieze London: £64.50.
WHERE: Regent’s Park, Gloucester Green.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
October 3–7, Somerset House
Pascale Marthine Tayou, Summer Surprise (2017). Courtesy the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana.
WHAT: The contemporary African art fair, 1-54 (named for the number of countries on the African continent), returns to London for its sixth edition this year. The illustrious Somerset House is hosting 43 galleries from across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North America, showcasing contemporary artwork by artists from Africa and its diaspora. Keep an eye out for Ibrahim El-Salahi’s Meditation Tree, the artist’s first-ever public sculpture project. Elsewhere, the fair’s nonprofit special projects program is staging an exhibition of the South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga, which will remain in Somerset House until January 6. The fair’s talks program also includes conversations with artists Sonia Boyce and Larry Achiampong.
WHEN: VIP preview, Wednesday, October 3, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Public hours: Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. –7 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6.p.m. Admission: £20.
WHERE: Somerset House, the Strand.
Sunday
October 4–7, Ambika P3
New York Sunshine, BOOTH C16 (2018). Image courtesy Stems.
WHAT: The cavernous former university engineering hall just a 10-minute walk from Frieze London is transformed into an art fair for younger galleries. Thirty international galleries from cities including Los Angeles, Berlin, and Barcelona will gather inside Ambika P3’s 14,000-square-foot space. Eighteen of them are new to the fair. Plus, Glasgow International and the Liverpool Biennial are presenting editions.
WHEN: Thursday, October 4, 6 p.m.–10. p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 12 p.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. Free admission.
WHERE: Ambika P3, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road.
Moniker
October 4–7, Old Truman Brewery
Dan Rawlings, Nature Delivers (2017). Image courtesy Moniker.
WHAT: The urban art fair has joined forces with Berlin’s Urban Nation Museum to organize a group show called “Uncensored”, featuring work by Lek & Sowat, Herakut, FaithXLVII, and Dan Rawlings among others. Kaili Smith from the Netherlands brings his series “Le Petit Prince” and Parisian-born veteran of the 1990s, Bom.K,melds gonzo art with the nude on “cinemascope-size” canvases, It all takes part in London’s street-art hotspot of Shoreditch.
WHEN: October 4, VIP Preview, 3 p.m.-10 p.m., Pubic hours, Friday 12 p.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sunday 11a.m.-6p.m. £10 general admission, day pass.
WHERE: Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane.
The Other Art Fair
October 4–7, Southampton Row
Sarah Maple, Not 30% Image courtesy The Other Art Fair.
WHAT: For the first time, Saatchi Art’s fair for emerging and self-represented artists will be held in two nearby venues (Victoria House, a former insurance building, and the College, the new name for the old central hall of Central St Martin’s College of Art). In the old school, Soho House’s curator Kate Bryan has organised a fair within a fair called Not 30%, devoted to work by more than 20 female artists, including Hattie Stewart and Samira Addo, the winner of the Sky Arts portrait artist award in 2018. The collective Femme Fatale Tattoo will also create a pop-up studio on site.
WHEN: Private view, Thursday, October 4, 5 p.m.–9.30 p.m. Admission: £20. Public hours: Friday, October 5, 12 p.m.–9 p.m., Saturday, October 6, 11.a.m.–7 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Admission: £10.
WHERE: Victoria House and the College, Southampton Row.
PAD London
October 1–7, Berkeley Square
Zao Wou-Ki, Untitled (1954). Signed and dated lower right, certificate of authenticity issued by the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation Courtesy of Aktis.
WHAT: The fair returns to its upmarket tent in Mayfair’s Berkeley Square. Its 12th edition welcomes 10 newcomers, including Achille Salvagni (London), Veta Stefanidou Tsoukala (Athens), 18 Davies Street (London), Karen Swami (Paris), and Robert Zehil (Monaco), while Hélène Bailly (Paris) is presenting Modern art, including a work by Georges Braque. Other highlights include Josef Hoffmann’s Sitzmaschine (1907), a “machine for sitting” presented by Paris gallery Alexandre Guillemain, and a 1960 Joan Miró burlap tapestry at Mayoral. Young designers featured at the fair include rising stars Valentin Loellmann, Marlène Huissoud, and Amelie Marei Löllmann.
WHEN: Preview: Monday, October 1, 11 a.m.–8.p.m.; Tuesday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Public hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. General admission: £25.
WHERE: Berkeley Square, Mayfair.