It’s Frieze week! Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters return to London from 11th–15th October

October 10, 2023

Are you ready to enjoy the new Frieze week? The countdown to the 2023 edition of Frieze has started! This year marks the 20th anniversary of Frieze London, with a dynamic programme of exhibiting galleries both established and emerging, representing some of the most iconic artists working today and a lineup of featured sections, performances and presentations. An extensive on-site and citywide programming will run alongside the fairs to celebrate London’s wider cultural community. Frieze London, founded in 2003 by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, and directed by Eva Langret, is one of the world’s most influential contemporary art fairs, focusing only on contemporary art and living artists and taking place each October in The Regent’s Park, in the heart of London. The fair will showcase over 160 international galleries — with 28 participants celebrating their 20th consecutive year at Frieze — who will present a wide range of far-reaching solo, group and thematic shows. One of the key initiatives celebrating this year’s special anniversary is Artist-to-Artist, a curated section where eight world-renowned artists propose a name of an emerging artist for a solo exhibition at the fair. A well established project, the curated section Focus returns for the 20th edition of Frieze London, to bring attention to galleries founded within the last 12 years. It creates a platform for emerging artists across generations, cultures and continents. Focus 2023 has been advised by Angelina Volk (Emalin, London), Piotr Drewko (Wschód, Warsaw) and Cédric Fauq (Chief Curator at CAPC Musée d’art contemporain Bordeaux). This year’s edition comprises 34 galleries from 18 countries and features several spaces participating in a Frieze for the first time: Crisis, Franz Kaka, Ginny on Frederick, Harlesden High Street, Heidi, HOA, Llano and Vardaxoglou.

Frieze London is run concurrently with and is within walking distance of its sister fair, Frieze Masters, in The Regent’s Park. Frieze Masters gives a unique view on the relationship between historical art and contemporary practice, showing work made before the year 2000. Frieze Masters presents an opportunity to discover and explore historic artworks, with over 130 galleries featuring works from the Palaeolithic era to the 20th century. Highlights of this year’s event include:

– Studio is a new themed section for 2023 drawing on the creative spirit tied to places of making. Curated by Sheena Wagstaff (Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York to 2022).

– Another project launching this year is Modern Women, a section dedicated to solo presentations by women artists, curated by Camille Morineau (Co-founder, AWARE) and AWARE (Archive of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions).

– The Spotlight section, curated for the first time by Valerie Cassel Oliver (Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), returns to Frieze Masters with solo presentations of influential 20th-century artists. This year’s project will focus on overlooked works dating from the 1950s to the 1970s. The programme include Cecilia Brunson Projects, which will exhibit works by Judith Lauand. the sole female member of Grupo Ruptura, the avant-garde pioneers of abstraction in Brazil.

Connecting Frieze London and Frieze Masters, Frieze Sculpture is a free display of public art located in The Regent’s Park’s English Gardens at the south end of The Broadwalk. Frieze Sculpture 2023 is curated by independent curator Fatoş Üstek for the first time, and returns to The Regent’s Park from 20 September–29 October, featuring new work by 21 leading international artists: Ghada Amer, Leilah Babirye, Sanford Biggers, Jyll Bradley, Catharine Czudej, Ayşe Erkmen, Yuichi Hirako, Suhasini Kejriwal, Tony Matelli, Louise Nevelson, Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Zak Ové, Li Li Ren, Hans Rosenström, Tomas Saraceno, Yinka Shonibare, Josh Smith, Amy Stephens, Holly Stevenson and Hank Willis Thomas. Frieze Sculpture 2023 features artists who are exhibiting major works in the public realm for the first time, alongside young practitioners who are pushing boundaries. Spanning conceptual, experiential, humorous and imaginative approaches, the artworks are linked by ideas of transformation, political empowerment, contemporary rituals and social imaginary.