The mighty Frieze London and Frieze Masters art fairs have reigned over the London art calendar for years. This October, both fairs are set up again in Regent's Park (October 9-13 2024). On one side of the park is Frieze London with hundreds of contemporary galleries from over all over the world. Then across the other side is Frieze Masters: a sister fair which bridges that gap between ancient and mid-century art. Combined, both events make the Frieze Fair phenomenon a force to be reckoned with. Oh, and in the middle, there's Frieze Sculpture too, which is nice. Here's everything you need to know about one of the biggest art events of the year.
Your guide to Frieze and Frieze Masters Oct 9-13 2024
What is Frieze?
Every October, Frieze whacks a great big marquee in the middle of Regents Park and fills it with the best contemporary galleries in the world. Those galleries bring with them their best, most expensive artists, and compete for the attention of the biggest art collectors in the world. Frieze isn’t really an exhibition or anything cultural, it’s a bazaar, a market for contemporary art. Want to buy a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin sculpture? A Damien Hirst dot painting? A Tracey Emin neon? An awful painting of a toilet by some 23 year old you’ve never heard of for £300,000 because they’re tipped to be the next Gauguin? This is where the rich do just that.
Frieze has been doing this since 2003, and in the process they’ve made mid-October the most important, busiest, chaotic, terrifying part of the art calendar. Every museum and every gallery in town opens their major shows to coincide with Frieze, because this is when all the world’s artists, collectors, curators and hangers-on descend on London.
There's also a performance and talks programme if you get bored of all the expensive paintings. The whole thing is hectic, overwhelming, and a lot of fun. It’s open to the public too, so put on your ugliest trainers and stupidest trousers and just try to fit in.
Well, what’s Frieze Masters then?
Frieze gave itself a more refined, calmer, infinitely more demure sibling in 2012 when it opened Frieze Masters. This second fair, situated 10 minutes further north in Regents Park, focuses on art made before the year 2000. Ever wanted to see how much a Picasso costs on the open market? Or maybe you want to buy a dodgy Rembrandt sketch or a Diplodocus skull? Well, this is the place for you.
Frieze Masters is always reliably less packed and chaotic than the main fair. The trainers are less ugly, the trousers less stupid, and everyone’s wearing suits that cost more than your rent. That’s just how it goes sometimes.
Ok, fine, so what is Frieze Sculpture?
Frieze and Frieze Masters, as you would expect from art events in the middle of the English Autumn, are held indoors. But walls can’t contain Frieze’s ambitions, so in 2012 they launched Frieze Sculpture, an outdoor sculpture display with works dotted around Regents Park. It opens in September and the works hang around for a few months after, too. This year it features work by Leonora Carrington, Theaster Gates, Zanele Muholi and Yoshitomo Nara, among others. It's also, unlike the fairs themselves, totally free.
How do I get tickets?
All the early bird tickets are sold out, so you’ll have to pay full whack if you want to go. Wednesday is for VIPs only, and tickets for the Thursday preview are £145 for one fair or £245 for both. But don’t hyperventilate, if you can wait until Saturday, weekend tickets are just (just!) £46, or £90 for both fairs. Get them closer to the date right here.