This year, Frieze returns to its home turf with more than 280 exhibitors between its two venues in the park: Frieze London is the stomping ground for cutting-edge contemporary art, while Frieze Masters, a good 15-minute walk away, focuses its lens on art historical works.
This year’s fairs arrive at an odd moment for the London art scene, perhaps mirroring the current moment in Britain. On the one hand, consumer confidence continues to slump, and economic anxieties abound in the country at large—a sentiment that its art market is not immune to. But on the other hand, there is a palpable energy in the city’s art scene that was immediately evident from the start of the week. Emerging and longstanding galleries mounted exceptional shows, as did London’s artist-led projects and spaces, institutions, and, of course, its constellation of art fairs.
Frieze represented the meeting point of all this excitement, bringing the full heft of the British art scene as well as international clout, with galleries from some 45 countries represented.