What to see in London during Frieze Week
From sculpture parks to major shows, there is plenty to see in the capital

Autumn has arrived bringing with it the return of Frieze London. Running from 9 to 13 October, the contemporary art fair is back for its 21st edition in Regent's Park, with more than 160 galleries competing for the attention of the world's biggest art collectors inside a sprawling tent.
This year, the Artist-to-Artist section will expand following its successful debut in 2023. Here, world-renowned artists have nominated a selection of emerging artists for six solo presentations. These include New York-based painter Rob Davis, chosen by Rashid Johnson; and Nigerian-born artist Nengi Omuku, picked by Yinka Shonibare.
Since 2012, another marquee across the park has housed Frieze Masters. The sister fair displays works made before the year 2000, from ancient pieces through to art of the 20th century. And between the two lies Frieze Sculpture: an outdoor sculpture park featuring works by international artists including Zanele Muholi and Yoshimoto Nara.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Then, there's Frieze Film – a curated selection of films that will be screened throughout the week at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). Showcasing works from "early-career and underexposed" artists, this year's films were selected by a jury helmed by Steven Cairns (head of artistic programme at ICA). Among the films are Xin Liu's "The White Stone" about the search for rocket debris in remote areas of southwest China.
More a "bazaar" than an exhibition, Frieze London is a magnet for the super-rich looking to buy their next "Damien Hirst dot painting" or "Yayoi Kusama pumpkin sculpture", said Eddy Frankel in Time Out.
But it's also become one of the hottest events in the art calendar when every gallery in the capital opens major exhibitions to entice the planet's "artists, collectors, curators and hangers-on" that flock to London for the fair.
Here are some of the best shows to catch during London Frieze Week.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tracey Emin: I Followed You To The End, White Cube
"Energy radiates" from the works showcased at Emin's "rawest show yet", said Katy Hessel in Harper's Bazaar. Her powerful new paintings and sculptures explore life's most "intimate" moments from our "private worlds" – many are centred around beds and baths, and feature "vulnerable painterly lines amidst text and washes of reds, blues and pinks".
Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love, Victoria Miro
Kusama's "dizzying" Infinity Mirror Room transports visitors to "the land of her astonishing visions", said Harper's Bazaar. The exhibition also features a series of new paintings by the revered Japanese artist, and "towering soft sculptures" that return to her "everlasting interest in the polka dot".
Sudhir Patwardhan: Cities: Built, Broken, Vadehra Art Gallery
Patwardhan worked as a radiologist for three decades before becoming a full-time artist. Now, the Indian painter is having his first solo London exhibition at the Frieze-backed project space, No. 9 Cork Street. His "insightful and emotive" paintings capture the "human lives, social fabric and urban landscape" of his homeland, said Vivienne Chow on artnet.
Anna Weyant: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolves?, Gagosian
New-York based figurative painter Weyant continues her "exploration of femininity through a tragicomic lens" at this new exhibition at the Gagosian, wrote Bella Bonner-Evans on Artsy.net. Her "delicate and sensitive" renderings of female figures combine details from Weyant's life with "symbolic wit" that nods to the Surrealists.
Vincent van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, National Gallery
The aim of the National Gallery's first-ever Van Gogh exhibition is to "look past the cliches" and show that there was a "method" to the famed artist's "perceived madness", said Farah Nayeri in The New York Times. In fact, many of his works had a "specific purpose" or related to a particular place. His "greatest hits are on glorious display" alongside a series of "exquisite" drawings.
Claude Monet: Monet and London. Views of the Thames, Courtauld Gallery
Following a 1904 show of his paintings of the Thames in Paris that got "rave reviews", Monet "planned a follow-up show in London" but it never happened, said Melanie McDonagh in London's The Standard. This is the closest we'll ever get to seeing the "groundbreaking Bond Street show that never was". Don't miss out.
Francis Bacon: Human Presence, National Portrait Gallery
This "truly biting" exhibition of Francis Bacon's portraits is "the best Bacon show I have ever seen", said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. A "whirligig of horrors without a shred of connivance" it reveals both the "monstrous modernity and the timeless humanity" of the artist.
Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
-
Video games to curl up with this fall, including Ghost of Yotei and LEGO Party
The Week Recommends Several highly anticipated video games are coming this fall
-
10 upcoming albums to stream during spooky season
The Week Recommends As fall arrives, check out new albums from Taylor Swift, Jeff Tweedy, the Lemonheads and more
-
A Spinal Tap reunion, Thomas Pynchon by way of Paul Thomas Anderson and a harrowing Stephen King adaptation in September movies
the week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Spinal Tap II,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘The Long Walk’
-
Don't fly by the seat of your pants. Do it the healthy way with these airborne tips.
The Week Recommends Yes to stretching. Even more yesses to hydration.
-
'The Office' spinoff, a 'Mare of Easttown' follow-up and the Guinness family royalty in September TV
the week recommends This month's new television releases include 'The Paper,' 'Task' and 'House of Guinness'
-
One great cookbook: 'Jam Bakes'
The Week Recommends A guide to pristine jam-making, plus the baked goods that love them
-
September's books tell of friendship in middle age, teachers versus fascists, and Covid psychosis
the week recommends September books include Angela Flournoy's 'The Wilderness,' Randi Weingarten's 'Why Fascists Fear Teachers' and Patricia Lockwood's 'Will There Ever Be Another You'
-
6 products and apps to help fight jet lag
The Week Recommends Don't let travel fatigue drag you down