Frieze London - 2024
Frieze London and its companion event, Frieze Masters, returned to their renowned location at Regent’s Park, showcasing primarily artworks produced after 2000. The galleries participating in the fair feature an exciting mix of both emerging and established artists.
Frieze, one of the most prominent contemporary art fairs, exclusively showcases contemporary art and living artists. It took place in October at Regent’s Park, London. The 2024 edition introduced an innovative floorplan designed by A Studio Between. This redesigned layout and entrance enhance the visibility of the fair’s curated sections, including Artist-to-Artist, along with a new themed section this year called Smoke. The exhibiting galleries feature some of today’s most exciting artists, ranging from emerging talents to icons, supported by leading independent curators who guide feature sections, facilitating performance-based works and ambitious presentations from up-and-coming galleries. Emphasizing living artists and innovative practices, Frieze London ran concurrently with its counterpart, Frieze Masters, also in Regent’s Park. This pairing offered a distinctive exploration of the relationship between historical art and contemporary practices, showcasing works created before 2000 at Frieze Masters, while Frieze London primarily features works made post-2000.
See below a selection of personal gallery and art highlights from Martyn’s visit to the fair.
Union Pacific - London
Union Pacific, a London-based gallery, focuses on contemporary art and has locations in Bloomsbury and Whitechapel. They showcase bold and innovative artworks and artists, featuring works at Frieze from Niklas Asker, Will Gabaldón, Jin Han Lee, Nour Jaouda, Nova Jiang, Emiliano Maggi, Oliver Osborne, Koak, and Will Thompson.
Carl Freedman Gallery - Margate
The Carl Freedman Gallery made its return to Frieze, featuring new ceramic works by Lindsey Mendick alongside paintings from Billy Childish, Studio Lenca, Navot Miller, Vanessa Raw, and Benjamin Studio. This presentation also highlights the gallery's debut of new pieces by TM Davy and Laura Footes at the booth.
Galerie Gisela Capitain - Cologne, Naples
Galerie Gisela Capitain, established in 1986, specialises in International Contemporary Art from the 1980s onward. Since its inception, the gallery has cultivated a dynamic program featuring international artists across various disciplines. Notable figures such as Günther Förg, Charline von Heyl, Zoe Leonard, Albert Oehlen, Stephen Prina, Franz West, Christopher Wool, and Martin Kippenberger have significantly influenced the gallery's direction since its beginning. For more than 35 years, the gallery has consistently emphasised—though not exclusively—Contemporary Art from the 1980s to the present.
Xavier Hufkens - Brussels
Xavier Hufkens, a premier contemporary art gallery in Europe, offers a varied program featuring solo exhibitions from multiple generations of renowned artists and estates, spread across three sites in Brussels. This year, the gallery showcased works by artists including Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Matt Connors, Sayre Gomez, Giorgio Griffa, Thomas Houseago, Mark Manders, Paul McCarthy, Cassi Namoda, Constantin Nitsche, Ken Price, Joan Semmel, Danh Võ, and Cathy Wilkes.
The Modern Institute - Glasgow
The Modern Institute was established in Glasgow in 1997. The gallery collaborates with 54 internationally recognised and emerging artists. It organises both public and private exhibitions worldwide, managing programs across its two Glasgow spaces and curating projects in galleries and institutions globally. The Modern Institute currently represents four Turner Prize winners and three nominees, while also supporting the development of younger artists. This year’s fair showcased works by Alex Dordoy, Luke Fowler, France-Lise McGurn, and Andrew Sim.
Project 88 - Mumbai
Since its founding in 2006, under the leadership of Sree Banerjee Goswami, Project 88 has created a space for showcasing experimental and ambitious work across all media by artists whose practices are rooted in strong conceptual foundations. This year’s fair featured works from Amol K Patil, Ashwini Bhat, Mahesh Baliga, Neha Choksi, Prajakta Potnis, and Rohini Devasher, curated to explore the materiality of nature and existence—its physical presence, emotional nuances, and haunting traces.
PKM Gallery - Seoul
PKM Gallery continually showcases exhibitions featuring both Korean and international artists, with works that resonate with contemporary art trends. This year, the gallery highlighted the new and impactful pieces of two prominent Korean female artists, Koo Jeong A and Young In Hong. Koo Jeong A, chosen as the representative for the Korean Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, has gained considerable acclaim for her investigation into the connection between nature and humanity. Meanwhile, Young In Hong critically examines themes of equality and social justice, focusing on the analysis of power dynamics and societal inequalities.
Alexander Gray Associates
Alexander Gray Associates showcased both recent and past works by artists including Chloë Bass, Frank Bowling, Ricardo Brey, Bethany Collins, Melvin Edwards, Harmony Hammond, Kang Seung Lee, Steve Locke, Carrie Moyer, Ronny Quevedo, Joan Semmel, Hugh Steers, and Ruby Sky Stiler. These artists, who are pioneering new formal and conceptual ideas, share a common thread through their creative techniques in materiality and representation.
Galerie Karin Guenther - Hamburg
The gallery was established at the end of 1999 to showcase young, emerging artists. Guenther has supported most of her artists from the very beginning of their careers. The program focuses on artists who engage conceptually, considering the material qualities of traditional art media, thereby connecting the historical leap between the rise of conceptualism and its modern expressions. This year’s display featured works by Than Hussein Clark, Christiane Blattmann, Agnes Lux, Ellen Gronemeyer, and Berta Fischer.
Lisson Gallery - London, New York, Los Angeles, Beiijing, Shanghai
Lisson Gallery hosted the inaugural showcase of Japanese-Swiss artist Leiko Ikemura's work in London, where she presented a solo booth at Frieze. Based in Berlin, Ikemura is an internationally active artist who skillfully works across multiple mediums, including delicate oil paintings, introspective drawings, watercolors, and sculptures. Her artistic practice engages in an ongoing conversation between the past and present, as well as the personal and the universal. For her booth at Frieze, Ikemura displayed an array of tempera and oil paintings on jute, along with glass, terracotta, and bronze sculptures. This exhibition provides insights into her distinctive vision, paving the way for her forthcoming solo shows.
Sadie Coles HQ - London
Sadie Coles HQ is a contemporary art gallery in London showcasing approximately fifty international artists. This year, the gallery featured a stunning selection of works, including pieces by Tau Lewis, a New York-based artist. Her intricate craftsmanship transforms found textiles into monumental artworks, creating a distinctive iconography influenced by African diasporic communities, embodying themes of agency, resistance, and healing.
Pace Gallery - New York, London, Seoul, Geneva, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Tokyo
Pace's booth at Frieze London showcased a variety of works, including paintings, sculptures, installations, textiles, and photographs, spotlighting contemporary artists featured in its upcoming exhibition at the London gallery. While the fair is ongoing, a two-part exhibition of new pieces by Robert Longo—markedly his first Combines in over thirty years—will also be presented at Pace and Thaddaeus Ropac. Additionally, new creations by Genesis Belanger and Robert Longo will be displayed, aligning with their exhibitions at Pace in London.
