What to See in London During Frieze Week 2026
Can you look at this again, perhaps a better last line - Frieze sets the city alight for a week. All the big players make their way to Regent's Park, and the art world watches to see the outcome. One can't help but be swept up in it. In the never-ending Frieze tent you'll be introduced to thousands of new names; some will leave you cold, and some will restore your faith in humanity. Then, of course, there's the Frieze Masters tent, where you'll most likely find me and a slew of other interiors dreamers wandering the stands of Ben Hunter, Agnew's and Daniel Katz.
The week, though, shouldn't be confined to the tents; there's plenty going on in other corners of London. I'll make it my mission to visit the Courtauld to see the Salman Toor, and I'll also make a point of catching Louis Fratino's exhibition, Prose, at David Zwirner. Two talented women are showing at opposite ends of the city: Georgia Merritt's Refrain at M Kardana in East London, and Viola Lanari's Tendersticks at The Ragged School, Jermaine Gallacher's space in South London. And that's only the beginning. Below are the shows I'd urge you to make the journey for.
Anish Kapoor takes over the Hayward Gallery with a major exhibition spanning some of the most recognisable works from his career alongside ambitious new pieces. From reflective steel sculptures and light-absorbing Vantablack works to vertiginous voids and monumental installations, the exhibition plays with scale, space and perception to create a series of striking and immersive encounters.
Lawrence Perry: Careless Rapture, Now - 22nd October, LBF Contemporary, 13 Tottenham Mews, London, W1T4AQ
Lawrence Perry presents a new body of paintings exploring nostalgia, memory and the changing way we experience images. Drawing on photography, art history and personal recollection, Perry recreates effects such as motion blur, grain and overexposure in oil paint, transforming fleeting moments and visual imperfections into carefully constructed works.
Louis Fratino presents Prose at David Zwirner London gallery, marking the New York-based artist’s first solo exhibition in the city. Featuring a new series of paintings, the exhibition explores moments of public and private life, finding beauty and significance in both the everyday and the extraordinary.
Ha Chong-Hyun is celebrated at Lisson Gallery with an exhibition spanning six decades of the pioneering South Korean artist’s career. Bringing together early works and examples from his celebrated Conjunction series, the exhibition explores his distinctive experiments with paint, canvas, texture and abstraction.
Hernan Bas: TIME TO SHINE! (The Salesmen), Now - 14th November, Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Road, London, N1 7RW
Hernan Bas presents TIME TO SHINE! (the salesmen) at Victoria Miro, a new series of paintings exploring the characters and encounters of retail life. Set across shops, markets, galleries and seaside stands, the works combine humour, nostalgia and theatricality to examine the changing relationship between salespeople, customers and the objects they sell.
Amar Kanwar at Serpentine North presents a major solo exhibition of the New Delhi-based artist’s film practice, transforming the galleries into an immersive landscape of moving image and sound. Bringing together three works, including the newly commissioned The Charcoal Man, the exhibition reflects on history, memory, conflict and displacement through Kanwar’s distinctive approach to filmmaking.
Salman Toor: Someone Like You at The Courtauld presents 19 paintings by the celebrated New York-based artist in his first solo exhibition in Europe. Drawing on personal memories and experiences, Toor depicts moments of intimacy, connection and isolation while exploring themes of community, cultural identity and belonging.
Painting the French Riviera reveals how the colour, light and landscapes of the Côte d’Azur shaped the work of artists including Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and Renoir. Featuring more than 160 works spanning painting, sculpture, posters and film, the exhibition explores the Riviera’s role in the development of modern art and its rise as an icon of Mediterranean style and culture.
The Great Room at Studio Voltaire presents new photography and sculpture by Katherine Hubbard, marking her first institutional solo exhibition outside the US. Created over six years with her mother, Antonette Berger, the exhibition reflects on their evolving relationship, exploring care, memory, intimacy and loss.
A Different Kind of Pop marks the centenary of Giorgos Ioannou’s birth with the first significant UK exhibition of his work. Focusing on paintings created during the Greek military dictatorship, the exhibition explores how Ioannou combined pop art and comic-book imagery with personal memory, political commentary and his commitment to democracy and human rights.
Robert Ryman is celebrated at the Barbican in a major retrospective bringing together more than 60 works spanning the mid-1950s to the early 2010s. Known for his predominantly white, square paintings, the exhibition invites visitors to look closely at Ryman’s use of texture, brushstrokes, materials, light and space, revealing the subtle differences within his distinctive practice.
Robert Ryman in his studio, c. 1972. Photo: Timm Rautert. © Archive Timm Rautert, Museum Folkwang, E Robert Ryman, Untitled Study, 1963, oil on stretched linen canvas, 22.9 × 22.9 cm. Kenneth C. Griffi Robert Ryman installing Pair Navigation (1984) at Galerie Maeght Lelong, Paris. Photo: Michel Nguyen
The Third Line: Jordan Nassar ‘No History Of Shapes, 9th - 24th October, 9 Cork Street, London, W1S 3LL
No History of Shapes at Frieze No.9 Cork Street brings together new works by Jordan Nassar inspired by Palestinian heritage and visual traditions. Featuring intricate embroidery and colourful mosaics, the exhibition sees Nassar experiment with pattern, geometry and colour while drawing on the rich history of Palestinian craft.
Tim Walker’s Fairyland brings together five years of new photography celebrating queer lives, creativity and connection. Through striking portraits and dreamlike settings, Walker captures artists, writers, performers and activists from Britain and beyond, creating an imaginative world shaped by individuality, freedom and community.
Georg Baselitz, The Heroes 1965-66, 13th October - 18th December, Thaddaeus Ropac, Ely House, 37 Dover Street, London, W1S 4NJ
The Heroes at Thaddaeus Ropac brings together key works from Georg Baselitz’s celebrated Hero paintings, a defining series from the artist’s early career. Featuring loans from major museums and private collections, the exhibition is the first in the UK dedicated entirely to this influential body of work and its exploration of identity, history and post-war experience.
Eclipse at Long & Ryle presents work by Melanie Miller exploring ideas of light and darkness, visibility and disappearance. Drawing on the fleeting nature of an eclipse, the exhibition reflects on memory, shadow and transformation, capturing moments that appear and disappear between the familiar and the unknown.
Melanie Miller, Flicker, 2026, Oil on gesso, 80 x 60 cm Melanie Miller, Hawblossom, 2026, Oil on gesso, 15 x 15 cm Melanie Miller, Collector, 2026, Oil on gesso, 50 x 40 cm
Winifred Gill: A Bloomsbury Pioneer at The Courtauld celebrates the overlooked artist and designer who played a central role in Roger Fry’s influential Omega Workshops. Bringing together her inventive toy designs, paintings, prints, sketchbooks and printing materials, the display explores Gill’s contribution to the Bloomsbury movement and the development of her distinctive approach to colour and form.
Omega Workshops, attributed to Winifred Gill (1891–1981), Toy Design – Music, 1914–16, graphite, wat Winifred Gill (1891–1981), Toy Design – Shawl Dance, 1914–16, graphite, watercolour and bodycolour o Omega Workshops, attributed to Winifred Gill (1891–1981), Toy Design – Castanet Dance, 1914–16, grap
Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography at Tate Modern explores how photographers around the world transformed the medium into a form of artistic expression. Bringing together more than 200 rare prints by over 80 artists, the exhibition reveals the experimental processes, techniques and ideas that shaped the development of art photography.
Where The Wind Blows, Opening 17th October, Two Poems Gallery, 95 - 97 Heath Street, Hampstead, London, NW3 6SS
Two Poems Gallery is delighted to announce its first exhibition, Where the Wind Blows. Bringing together an intimate selection of drawings, personal letters and ephemera, the exhibition offers a glimpse into works and materials created away from public view and never originally intended to be exhibited.
