What to See At Frieze London 2025

Open now and running until Sunday 19 October, Frieze’s flagship fair returns to London bringing together 168 leading galleries from 43 countries, underscoring the fair’s position as one of the most international in the world. Reflecting London’s character as a city shaped by global perspectives, the fair foregrounds new and diverse voices, capturing the breadth and urgency of contemporary art today. Ahead of the weekend, Something Curated highlights the must-see presentations at this year’s edition.

Christelle Oyiri presented by Gathering

A queue has started to form beside Christelle Oyiri’s Venom Voyage, and of course now I’m even more curious. For Gathering’s Frieze debut, the Paris-based artist and DJ has transformed the gallery’s booth into a hallucinatory travel agency. Here, archival documents, family photographs, and lurid green liquids spill across surfaces, catching the eyes of visitors including Mario Testino, who I notice peering down at the scene as I enter the space. Oyiri merges nostalgia with sharp critique, examining colonial histories and environmental crises, specifically chlordecone poisoning in the French Caribbean.

Sang Woo Kim presented by Herald St

Beautifully rendered, smooth and gestural, Sang Woo Kim’s self-portraits explore the realities and tensions of cultural duality. Born in Seoul and raised in the UK, the artist returns to eyes as a recurring motif in his work. Operating as both mirrors and windows, Kim’s paintings explore ideas of perception, self-definition, and objectification.  

Alex Margo Arden presented by Ginny on Frederick

A hoard of mannequins from the National Motor Museum are encircled by a tug-of-war rope. Chaotic and eerie, this bound mass reframes the figures, transforming them from symbols of industrial authority into something sort of creepy. Alex Margo Arden’s Accounts explores tensions between play and violence, interrogating how history is staged and mediated. Alongside winning the inaugural Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation Prize, the ambitious work, presented by Ginny on Frederick, was acquired by the Arts Council Collection.

Eunjo Lee presented by Niru Ratnam

One of the very few video presentations this year, Eunjo Lee’s immersive films offer a moment of pause in the chaos of the tent. Based between London and Seoul, Lee constructs immersive digital landscapes inhabited by post-human figures, where the boundaries between man and machine blur. Presented by Niru Ratnam, The Hesapia Trilogy combines gaming graphics and mythic storytelling to explore ecological interconnectedness. Lee’s digital worlds feel both fantastical and tangible, inviting visitors to slow down.

Himali Singh Soin presented by Vadehra Art Gallery

Including Himali Singh Soin’s ceramic sculptures, Vadehra Art Gallery presents Sometimes, Ceaselessly, You Run Towards at Frieze. In 1942, scientists at the University of Chicago achieved the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, paving the way for plutonium production and the Manhattan Project that created the first nuclear weapons. Singh Soin’s Body of Light recalls “Fat Man,” one of the earliest bombs, while also echoing the “cosmic egg,” a universal symbol of creation – suggesting both destruction and renewal.

Jan Gatewood presented by Rose Easton

Using bleach, lemon juice, ash, glue, and salt, Jan Gatewood’s works activate paper and canvas through chemical reactions. Displayed in Rose Easton’s booth against a vivid green carpet, the artist’s focus on figures such as Barbara Stanwyck explores evolving standards of beauty. Gatewood interrogates how art and celebrity circulate through time, illuminating tensions between permanence and decay.

Gray Wielebinski presented by NıCOLETTı

Gray Wielebinski confronts the aestheticisation of violence through objects both seductive and threatening. At NıCOLETTı’s glossy booth, resin gun grips on a gaming-table surface shaped like an infinity symbol echo American sports culture and the repetition of school shootings. Mosaic-style ceramic panels, sourced from ballistic armour production, function simultaneously as targets, shields, and portals.

Sophia Al-Maria: Frieze London Artist Award

The sound of laughter guides me to Sophia Al-Maria’s work. Wall-Based Work transforms Frieze into a stage for deadpan comedy and cosmic critique. Performed daily for the 2025 Frieze London Artist Award, the work explores absurdity in contemporary art, post-traumatic narratives, and late-capitalist culture. An illustrated brick-wall backdrop frames Al-Maria’s oscillation between lecture and stand-up.

Julianknxx at St Mary Le Strand

Special mention: though not a part of the fair, earlier this week, Julianknxx’s Shifting / Spirit / Time transformed St Mary Le Strand into a multi-screen meditation on memory and belonging. Commissioned by BURO Stedelijk, the installation combined archival footage, live performance, and choral improvisation. The emotionally charged night layered voices, song, and ritual, spellbinding participants through repeated chanting.



Feature image: Eunjo Lee presented by Niru Ratnam