October again, big white tents, expensive shoes and questionable hats. In other words, all the fun of the fair is back, yes, it is time for Frieze week!
Big conversations are pinned to this week. The run-up to 2025 was filled with existential questions about what Frieze meant in a landscape where major galleries were shutting their doors or “restructuring operations” seemingly weekly.
This year feels as though there is a bit more levity. Maybe, when everything feels so serious and existential daily, we can accept Frieze more on its true terms: a few days’ shopping (and networking) for the ultra-rich, and great people-watching for those cogs in the art-world machine who actually keep everything running, but could never dream of affording any of the work on display.
Despite this, Frieze does always offer a few crumbs, enough to lend the significance placed upon it some sincerity and to compel us to take it somewhat seriously. Those who want a bit more from the day than champagne and cigarettes should keep an eye out for Queering Modernism, curated by Anke Kempkes. Running through Frieze Masters and spotlighting LGBTQIA+ stories and artistic experimentation around queer identities in modernist and post-war art history, this addition looks to bring freshness to what has, for the past two years, been a somewhat staid Masters tent.
While exploration, through the often endless-feeling booths and pop-ups, is a big part of Frieze, there are some specifics worth seeking out. The 2026 Frieze Artist Award goes to Theo Triantafyllidis, whose Feral Metaverse (Spider) is a climbable giant spider wired into a shared digital world. A cynic could view this as a blatant play for the influencer set, for whom it will make attractive TikTok fodder, but the interactivity and the blending of the real and the virtual do create a sincere curiosity. The 35 younger galleries making up this year’s Focus section (backed by Stone Island) promise a view of an oncoming wave of new talent, with Benjamin Lallier building a fountain made especially for the fair at Heidi, and Tamo Jugeli, Frieze’s own campaign artist, at Bukia Vakhania. Those looking for blue-chip heft should seek out Albert Oehlen at Gagosian and Myrlande Constant’s sequinned Haitian drapo at Fort Gansevoort. For the truly committed, Gray Wielebinski has a scent-based commission housed, with some frisson, in the tent’s public toilets.
Then there is the always interesting Artist to Artist, where big names in contemporary art spotlight some of the most promising emerging talent. In a market which continues to be challenging for emerging artists to make an impact with collectors, this is a must see most years, providing an important platform for emerging contemporary artists.
Frieze London and Frieze Masters, The Regent’s Park, London, 14–18 October 2026 (Frieze Week 12–18 October). Frieze Sculpture, The Regent’s Park English Gardens, 16 September–1 November 2026, free. Tickets and full programme at frieze.com.
Photo by Linda Nylind. 15/9/2025.
Ruth O’Sullivan is a writer and curator. Her work explores the impact of digital technologies on contemporary art practices and challenging gender disparity within the visual arts.
