Frieze Art Fair marks the full arrival of London's Culture Season—here's what you need to see

London's arts and culture scene comes alive in the autumn, kicking off with Fashion Week and the Design Festival in September, followed by London Film Festival and Frieze Art Fair in October. The latter’s arrival in Regent's Park is one of the most important dates in the city's cultural calendar. Frieze hosts hundreds of galleries, showcasing established artists and emerging talent, and during this time, London is buzzing with new openings and events. Curator Bakul Patki shares her must sees from the fair and the maelstrom of activity that comes with it.

FRIEZE LONDON – REGENT’S PARK

With over 160 exhibitors, the sheer scale of Frieze London can be intimidating. However, this year’s redesign eases visitors in by bringing curated sections to the forefront. Highlights include, Smoke, curated by Pablo José Ramírez, which presents ceramic works exploring diasporic and indigenous histories. Nearby, Artist-to-Artist features six artists selected by their contemporaries, including Lubaina Himid, Rashid Johnson and Yinka Shonibare.

Make a b-line from here to Focus, a section dedicated to younger galleries, then take a well-deserved break in BMW’s lounge, which many misunderstand to be invitation only. Here, explore pieces from Russell Tovey’s collection, chosen in response to the work of 89-year-old Esther Mahlangu, the brand’s artist honorée at this year’s fair, who in 1991 became the first female to design a BMW Art Car, and whose mural ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ launches at Serpentine North this week.

9-13 Oct, Regents Park frieze.com/fairs/frieze-london

FRIEZE MASTERS – REGENT’S PARK

Complementing its contemporary-centric sibling, Frieze Masters is dedicated to art made pre-the year 2000. Although smaller in scale, Masters is magnificent, so give yourself proper time to explore pieces normally only viewable behind glass in major museums.

Don’t miss Bowman Sculpture’s presentation of works spanning almost two centuries, from an exquisite 1830s Jean-Jacques Feuchère bronze, to works by contemporary artists Hanneke Beaumont, Tony Cragg and Emily Young, via Edgar Degas’ 1920s 'Danseuse saluant'. In the fair’s Spotlight section, look out for The Gallery of Everything, known for their focus on outsider art, who are showing works by under-celebrated Czech painter and polymath Eva Švankmajerová’.

9-13 Oct, Regents Park frieze.com/fairs/frieze-masters

FRIEZE SCULPTURE PARK – REGENT’S PARK

Dotted through Regent Park’s English Gardens, Frieze Sculpture Park provides the perfect route between the two fairs, but extends well beyond them - launching in mid-September and remaining free for all until 27^th Oct. For the 12^th edition, curator Fatoş Üstek brings together 22 artists from five continents, connected through their conceptual and spiritual practices, exploring social and environmental themes. Many works suggest portals to other worlds - something many of us long for right now. Elsewhere, excellent longer-term outdoor exhibits include, ‘Mary Mary’, a major presentation of women artists, at the Artist’s Garden, and the latest edition of Sculpture In The City, throughout the Square Mile.

Until 27 Oct 2024, Regent’s Park frieze.com/fairs/frieze-sculpture

MINOR ATTRACTIONS @ THE MANDRAKE HOTEL / 1:54 @ SOMERSET HOUSE

Minor Attractions is the youngest of the fairs that run parallel to Frieze. Only its second year, it has already brought together an impressive selection of exhibitors to populate the bedrooms, foyers and terraces of the Mandrake hotel, including the brand new Bolanle Contemporary, who presents ‘one-to-watch’ British Congolese artist Djofray Makumbu. Down the road, 1:54, a fair founded to promote contemporary African Art, is one of the most established. Packed with a plethora of diverse works, as one might imagine from an event named to reflect the 54 countries that constitute the continent, there are too many highlights to mention. But definitely go see, and whilst there, drop into Somerset House’s free exhibition, ‘Making A Rukus!’

8-13 Oct 2024, The Mandrake Hotel, 21-23, Newman Street, W1T 1PG minorattractions.com

10-13 Oct 2024, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA 1-54.com

UN OUEF IS UN OUEF @ TJ BOULTING

Group show, ‘Un Ouef Is Un Ouef’ takes the egg as its starting point, exploring ideas that have inspired artists, including mythology, symbolism, aesthetics, and form. The exhibition’s centrepiece is Sarah Lucas’ ‘1000 Eggs: For Women’, recreated here by women, those who identify as women and men dressed as women, invited by the artist to throw eggs against the gallery wall. The work has multiple references, alluding to the egg as the traditional medium of painting, as well as the symbol of women’s fertility and reproduction, and the throwing of eggs by women as a form of protest. I’m sure many of us can relate!

11 Oct-16 Nov 2024, TJ Boulting, 59, Riding House Street, W1W 7EG tjboulting.com

KWESI BOTCHWAY @ THE FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH OF LONDON

The opportunity to see works in unexpected places is one of the bonuses of Frieze Week. In Soho, Gallery 1957 takes over the French Protestant Church, to present ‘The Sun Must Come Down’, an exhibition of new paintings by Kwesi Botchway. Placing these striking works in this extraordinary location adds a further dimension to portraits that already seem to transcend reality. Elsewhere, Bow Arts takes over 125 Shaftesbury Avenue to present ‘Take A Seat’, artist Tobias Ross-Southall curates the sixth edition of his evolving group show ‘Post Human’ within a Marylebone penthouse, and Living Land Collective present ‘Hoówen’ in Aston Martin’s old Mayfair showroom.

7-12 Oct 2024, The French Protestant Church of London, 8-9 Soho Square, W1D 3QD gallery1957.com

LFF EXPANDED @ VARIOUS LOCATIONS

The London Film Festival might not be the first place one thinks of when looking for art, but their LLF Expanded strand, now in its 5^th year, has grown to become one of the most interesting programmes of immersive and extended reality works in the world - helping the BFI to fulfil its pledge to celebrate moving image in all its forms. This edition features works by British and international filmmakers, artists and collectives, including Anagram, Imogen Heap, and Liam Young, plus pieces featuring actors Tilda Swinton, Olivia Cooke and Rosario Dawson, at venues across the city, including the BFI Southbank & IMAX, Southbank Centre's Undercroft and Outernet.

11-27 Oct 2024, various locations bfi.org.uk/lff

THE IMAGINARY INSTITUTION OF INDIA: ART 1975–1998 @ BARBICAN CENTRE

Many of the bigger institutions coordinate their autumn blockbusters to launch around Frieze. From Tate Modern’s major Mike Kelley exhibition, ‘Ghost and Spirit’, to ‘Hard Graft’ at the Wellcome Collection, or Michael Craig Martin at the Royal Academy, there’s no shortage for all tastes, to be enjoyed once the fair has left town and you’ve caught your breath. An absolute knockout is ‘The Imaginary Institution of India’ at Barbican, a landmark exhibition featuring over 30 artists making moving, momentous work during pivotal and turbulent years in India’s history, and exploring all facets of human life. The show, which is a must see, will be free 26^th-27^th October.

5 Oct 2024-5 Jan 2025, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS barbican.org.uk